(Fake/Searched/Tampered/Etc) "Unsearched Rolls" Of Any Denom

I'm kind of unsure about exactly what it is you are asking based on the way you worded your post, however, you will find two types of unsearched rolls listed on ebay....

Unsearched rolls that have been searched and Unsearched rolls that have been put together by the seller with interesting coins planted on the ends.


It is true that real bonafide unsearched rolls do pass through the market. I read a story about a dealer that got a roll of BU 1936-S Washington quarters once... but these are more likely to be happy accidents- some situation where a relative was disposing of someone's coin collection without regard to its contents... someone who sells coins for a living, as most of these ebayers are, would never part with unsearched rolls of potentially choice coins.

My advice to every new collector is this, you'll never be able to afford to buy every "good" deal that comes down the pike, nor will you ever own every great coin ever minted... with the resources and time you have learn as much as you can about the coins you want to collect, and make the best purchases possible within your budget. A collection of five or six truly wonderful coins that you care about and chose wisely is better than a binder full of junk that you bought here and there.

CC,

I apologize for not attaching the links! Must have thought I did and forgot!

Below is an example that I read about:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-QUARTER-R...em35b3e98c88

To clarify my rambling, I am very new to this hobby. I am confused about why people pay over face for listing such as these? Every reply to the topic about those quarters was saying how it was like not "worth" it.

I am sorry if my questions are not that clear, I recently started collecting to fill the void after my first "real" break up (after 2.5 years. LOL I know!). My brain is still off in outer space!

Thanks and sorry for not being more clear.

SDcoinguy,

Thanks for your reply!

Before anyone asks, I did not mean to sound as if I was bashing anyone who bought rolls that are "searched". I just wanted to see if any collectors here had any experience with this topic.

I guess I am too honest and would feel bad selling someone an unsearched roll if I knew that I just searched it LOL.

Thanks for all the information everyone.

Welcome to CCF, Corey!

Have you, perchance, seen this thread?

You are certainly not alone in your opinion of people who sell "unsearched" rolls. The general consensus around here, in fact, seems to be that they are all scams of one sort or another. The number one question you have to ask is how can the seller claim to know that it is a roll of "wheat cents" (for example) if it is, in fact, unsearched? It could be filled with modern coins, slugs, Canadian cents, etc.

The most honest examples of "unsearched" rolls I have seen is where the seller admits that he put the roll together himself from a large collection of coins but that he didn't individually look at every coin before rolling them. If I bought a 30 gallon barrel of wheat cents, I'd probably do the same thing, since it just wouldn't be worth my time (and failing eyesight) to examine each and every coin for key dates.

Unfortunately, most sellers won't admit this is what they do. It always has to be a secret "hoard" of coins they bought from some old geezer who had been collecting them for years. Or else it's a stash of rolls that were found in a "secret" room that miraculously all have a 1909 VDB and an 1909S showing on each end.

I have purchased a few of these rolls, simply because I wanted some Wheat Backs and Indian Heads to give to my 6-year-old son and I was able to get the rolls relatively cheap. If you actually think there's even a remote chance you might possibly find a valuable coin in these rolls, however, you are deluding yourself.

Because usually they are newbies who are buying "dreams and wishes" rather than actually considering the odds of truly getting something worthwhile. They buy a roll of "unsearched" wheat cents and think "If they are trully unsearched there is a chance their's an SVDB in there!" And sure there si a "chance" But look at it this way. If you took all the wheat cents ever made, mixed them up, and pulled fifty at random to make a roll, the chance that that roll would have an SVDB is about .005% Now considering that the vast majority of the SVDB's have already been pulled out of all the wheat cents available, your real odds are MUCH MUCH worse. (This is why dealers that buy a lot of bulk coinage don't bother to search it. The odds of finding anything are so small it isn't worth their time to do it.) So to make money dealers roll up bulk coinage and sell it to the dreamers and wishers. And the seed the bulk with a few goodies just to keep feeding those dreams and getting them to come back again and again.

You will see people buying Unsearched lots of wheats hoping to find a bunch of stuff from the early years and then claiming it was a rip off because almost everything in the group was from the 50's. They never bothered to realize that about 90% of ALL the wheat cents struck were struck in the 50's. What would you expect to find in an unsearched group? I'd say about 90% from the 50's.

to CCF!