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 Replies: 15 / Views: 1,963 |
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New Member
United States
3 Posts |
Hello I just currently started to collect coins. I have gold and silver bullion but collecting coins is more exciting and I am in love the whole roll hunt. I am hoarding Lincoln cents 1982 and prior years. The 1982 cents I am weighing to ensure they are copper and not zinc. Is this a waste of time? I also just started searching nickel rolls. Not as fun as cents. Can someone tell me what are the best rolls to search now a days? I would like to search 50 cent rolls but cannot find them anywhere. I have completed some research but if someone could please guide me in this rookie stage of collecting I would appreciate it. THANKS!
*** Moved by Staff to a more appropriate forum. ***
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Valued Member
United States
256 Posts |
Cents are fun to search for wheats, but of course, no silver will be found. I believe nickels are one of your best bets to find silver. I know they're only silver for a few years, but nickels haven't changed since recently, so it isn't rare to find a coin from the 40's in a roll. Half dollars can pull in silver, but lately, people have been having droughts. Perhaps people are figuring this out and everyone is hunting Kennedy's? Not sure. I've heard dimes can produce silver at a nice rate, although I've never searched them. The occasional Merc can be found, too. Don't bother with quarters unless you want a state set or ATB set. Silver is very scarce now with quarters. Just depends on what you want to collect. That's the beauty of the hobby. |
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Bedrock of the Community
 United States
12839 Posts |
 ronb2nd! A lot of us here enjoy coin roll hunting (CRH). In fact there is a forum here dedicated to it, where this thread will probably get relocated to: http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/...FORUM_ID=147Lots of good threads in there to peruse. As to your questions... 1. I don't think weighing 1982s is going to make you a millionaire, but regardless a lot of us do some sort of sorting of 1982's. I personally use the ring test because I feel it's faster. It's not a waste of time if you're watching TV or wasting your time otherwise!  2. Best rolls to search... hmm... that's a tough one. Like TC3 said, depends on what you like and what sets you're trying to put together. I think you can find some really interesting things in cent and nickel rolls. Dimes to me are boring but there are plenty who search them. Sometimes I get a box of quarters if I want to upgrade my state and ATB Quarters, but that's about all they're good for as TC3 said. 3. Kennedys/halves: most banks don't keep rolls or boxes of these but you should be able to order them. Good luck and have fun! |
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New Member
 United States
3 Posts |
Thanks to the both of you for your input. I went out and bought 50.00 in nickels this morning and pulled out only 1 1940 nickel. But I pulled approx 20 1964 and earlier nickels..... Wait so 1964 and earlier nickels are not all 35% silver. Am I mistaken? Please clarify... thx
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1747 Posts |
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Valued Member
United States
352 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4409 Posts |
War Nickels were struck from 1942 to 1945, there is a huge mint mark (P, D or S) above the dome on the Monticello. -MV
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New Member
United States
3 Posts |
Thanks for all the info everyone. I appreciate it. So I guess it is safe to say that the only rolls that are really worth the time to search are basically cents for the copper, and half dollars. I mean I have no luck with nickels, no luck with dimes and quarters are a waste of time. I have been checking loomis rolls for nickels and I bought fifty dollars worth and did not get 1 silver nickel. I got the years all around the nickels that are 35% silver but no nickels that were silver. Could it be that loomis is some how sifting these coins out? Should I go with rolls that others have rolled personally instead? But what if they are doing the same thing as I. Also can anyone tell me a place to order them online. I understand a small fee for the rolls plus shipping but getting them from different parts of the states would be nice...  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4333 Posts |
I have searched halves, nickels, cents and dimes for years. Halves will give up the silver, but the finds are too few and far between for me anymore. Currently, I search dimes and have maintained an average of 1/$150 for six years. I love dimes because of the frequency and variety of finds. I have found Barbers, Mercury dimes, many silver Canadians, and clad and silver proofs. Good luck, and HH. When I listen to LED ZEPPELIN...so do my neighbors...
Roll hunting since '77
Dirt fishing since '72
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4333 Posts |
Forgot to add, I have searched thousands of dollars worth of quarters. I find more silver by weight than I do searching the same volume of half dollars.
As with any other type of roll hunting, the key is to search VOLUME.
When I listen to LED ZEPPELIN...so do my neighbors...
Roll hunting since '77
Dirt fishing since '72
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Valued Member
United States
256 Posts |
I've found war nicks in a loomis roll and a buff in there too. most people on here, including me, save nickels pre 60. I'm actually saving 61's as well because that's what the set calls for that I'm working on. Nickels are worth it, trust me. You won't find silver every time. Don't give up.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
1. Although copper cents ARE worth 2-3 cents each depending on copper spot, I wouldn't recommend going that route as a get rich quick scheme. It all boils down to opportunity cost. Let's say that you get $100 face in pennies, and average 20% copper per box. That's $20 face, which at 3 cents each would yield a profit of $40 if you could sell at fair market value. That sounds like a good deal, but what did it cost you to get that $40? If you're an extremely quick sorter, you could maybe finish all 4 boxes in 5-6 hours bank-to-bank (4 hours to search, 1-2 hours for bank trips). Let's say you make that $40 in 5 hours. That's $8/hr *before* you factor in the cost of gas to and from the bank, plus ebay and shipping fees. At the end of the day, you'd probably find that you'd be better off spending that Saturday working at McDonalds. I'm not saying not to keep the coppers if you're searching for wheats, but the economics of searching specifically for copper just don't work out in your favor. 2. I've found that nickels are my favorite denomination to search. I've been out of the game for a while, but I used to search 1 box every week or two (2009-2011, Brinks boxes from a Metro Atlanta Bank of America) and consistently found a minimum of 1 War Nickel and 1 Buffalo nickel per box, plus 10-25 pre-1960 nickels per box. All told, I found about 50 War Nickels, 75 Buffalo nickels (one box had a solid roll), one V nickel (1891), and several hundred 1938-1959 nickels constituting a full set minus the 1939-D and a couple War Nickels. 3. As far as best denomination, that's a hard call. Cents and nickels are consistent, but rarely cough up anything worth more than 25 cents by itself. I tried dimes once, but found no silver and only a couple foreign coins. Quarters are fun for a box or two, but aren't worth it unless you are trying to build a set of the state/territory/ATB quarters. Halves are fun and yield lots of silver, proofs, and collector-only coins per box, but they're a bear to get and even harder to dump without making enemies at your dump bank. Ikes are nonexistant, and small dollars are a waste of time unless you want a collection of coins that are worth $1. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1747 Posts |
Finn, in talking about the values, you cannot really consider time and wages as part oft he cost of Coin hunting, this is a hobby not a sport, or a job. All Hobbys cost time, luckily ours sometimes offers us back a small stipend when we find a piece of silver or a rare variety. How much does it cost for golf clubs, golf balls, and golf membership's, probably a whole lot more than the few dollars spent gathering the rolls from the bank.
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Valued Member
United States
256 Posts |
Finn, you found the elusive 1950 D? Impressive!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
@ace: I agree that roll hunting is best seen as a hobby, but there is a distinction to be made. Building a collection for the sake of having a collection is a hobby. Mining boxes to pull precious metal is a job--there is no emotional involvement and money is the only motivating factor. When weighing the pros and cons, it is absolutely necessary to consider the opportunity cost of your payoff. I was mostly concerned with profit when I started collecting, but I came to the shocking realization that I was a collector when silver hit $49/oz back in 2011 and I couldn't bring myself to sell all of my silver, even for the $450 it was worth at the time. I'm of the philosophy that you need clear goals before you begin box-searching. I didn't when I started and now I have ~100 pounds of copper pennies sitting in a pretzel barrel in my basement. I don't want to dump them at a coinstar, but I'd net *maybe* $50 if I bought the necessary equipment to weigh them and sell them over ebay in 10lb batches. And to this day I still sort the copper out of my change and toss it in there because I've come too far to quit now. @TC3: I actually found it back in ~2010 along with the 1938-D, 1938-S and 1939-S in a single box. Had that not happened to me, I probably never would have tried to complete the series from circulation. |
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Valued Member
United States
256 Posts |
That's an amazing box you came across! Congrats! I wish I was that lucky.
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Replies: 15 / Views: 1,963 |
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Posted 06/06/2014 12:57 pm
