Took A Risk, $9.94 For A Unopened Roll Of Cents.

Open it

I agree that the vast majority of such 'unsearched' coin rolls have in truth been carefully searched by the seller. In fact, many sellers boast that you will find 'x number' of Indian Head cents in the roll, or "at least three or four wheat cents from the 1920s" or the like. How would they know that if they did not search through, or more likely select, the coins therein?

There are a few regular ebay sellers who offer reasonably priced sets of wheat cents at auction, with accurate descriptions of the contents, e.g., "circulated wheat cents in AG-F condition." If you're careful to not overbid, you can purchase such cents for wholesale prices. Of course, these lots tend to contain the more common LWCs, so one must ask, "What will I do with these coins?"

Very occasionally one will find lots of wheat cents that the owner has searched through for key dates, e.g., 1909-S VDB, 1909-S, 1911-S, 1914-D, 1922 'No D', 1931-S, etc., but he or she has not closely examined each coin and one may find several nice coins for a bargain price. These sellers usually do not specialize in selling coins, e.g., they might sell antiques, or other collectibles, but have purchased the coins as part of their day-to-day business.

Pro Tip: Read the seller's positive reviews, as well as any neutral or negative reviews, for clues as to what coin rolls or lots likely contain. I recommend positive reviews because many buyers will note in the free-form text what the coin roll or lot contained. It's akin to a subtle communication system amongst more knowledgeable buyers--a way to signal whether or not the seller offers a reasonable deal or not. Buyers often choose to rate the overall transaction as positive because they want to maintain a positive reputation with sellers, or for other reasons.

When you bring up the seller's reviews, select "Feedback as a seller" at the top (so you don't have to wade through reviews of them as a buyer), and then search (Cntl-F or Command-F) for 'coin rolls', 'rolls', 'lots', or similar so that you focus on the most relevant reviews. Perhaps faster, you can use the "Search seller feedback" option and search for a keyword such as 'cent', 'roll', 'lot', or a combination thereof. The default setting is to search for reviews submitted in the past month, but you can change it to the past year.

~ Mark

If you sell it on Facebook or wherever only state you haven't searched it. You have no idea if the seller searched it or not. He never states that it is unsearched by him. He talks about it being a vintage window roll, but I'd bet anything you can get a hold of unused wrappers like that today, stick a bunch of worthless wheats in it (with maybe 1 or 2 dates with slight value) and sell it as though it is an old roll without actually saying it.

My opinion (which is worth the $0 you paid for it) is that you seem to be very seriously interested in this hobby and are looking to become a professional numismatist. These "unsearched rolls" are just a step away from being a scam. You don't want to develop a reputation of being a questionable or deceptive seller. Take the high road and don't sell them that way.

Yeah, I would love to see the results!

Buying mystery cent rolls on ebay seems to be part of the ebay learning experience. I still buy some occasionally but only bid based on value of end coins & hope the non-exposed side of the end coin does not have issues.

My days of buying a $30 cent roll with 4 or 5 low grade/cull Indian Head cents along with a few bu 50's cents + mix of common cents is over....

I watched a couple of your videos Drew. You know a ton about coins! When you enter the job market, PCGS might have to outbid other numismatic companies to meet your salary requirements.

Just hit my 4300th post.