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 Replies: 18 / Views: 3,841 |
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Valued Member
United States
55 Posts |
Living in Salt Lake City, I'm a short 90 minute drive from Wendover, Nevada and a few casinos. Has anyone used a casino as a source for coin roll hunting?
I don't believe the slot machines pay out coinage anymore, I think it's just a ticket that you redeem for currency. I guess I should tell my wife we're heading out to the buffets and make a quick stop on the gaming floor to see what they have! I know a few years ago they had 50 cent machines that took halves. The dollar machines take a proprietary token, or at least they did...
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New Member
United States
14 Posts |
Tried once in Las Vegas. Not successful for 50cents; but very good for Nickel; I found two War Nickels and one 1939p and more than 50 pieces of 1960 and older. You should at least try once and report back to us. |
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Valued Member
United States
60 Posts |
That's an interesting idea. Let us know how it turns out.
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Valued Member
United States
302 Posts |
I would think you would do fine on nickels but they would be pretty beat up. Chances are silver coins wouldn't be accepted by the slot machines because of their metallic makeup.
What you might want to check is pawn shops in or around casinos. You never know what someone might pawn trying to make it home after someone forgot when to say when
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1934 Posts |
I rue my oversight, back in the days (70's), when in Reno, theyd give out dollar coins in change for everything, including buying gasoline -- I scrutinized none, nor kept any. There are still many casinos in Louisiana that take quarters and half dollars.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6326 Posts |
Yeah....my dad (70 years old) remembers when Las Vegas machines gave out Morgan and Peace silver dollars ! And my Uncle (84 years old) received bonus's from his work in Morgan silver dollars (thousands $$$) .....he worked for a rocket factory in California a long time ago. The Government actually tried to come after them for taxes with that and LOST in court !!  They all regret not saving them or seeing the "future value" of them ! In the 40's & 50's & 60's how much were they worth ? 2-3 dollars ? (for non-coin collectors anyway......and there weren't too many collectors in those days) Edited by eaglefoot
02/20/2008 09:29 am
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Valued Member
 United States
55 Posts |
Ok, I'll see if I can convince the wife to make a trip there in the next weekend or two. I've always had luck getting free decks of cards (as mentioned in a previous thread, when I'm not cracking backs or coin roll hunting, I'm an amateur magician and I go through a LOT of cards) from the pit bosses, usually 40-50 at a time!
So I'll try my luck with coins and see what I find. I imagine they'll be pretty dinged up, but it's worth a shot!
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Valued Member
United States
226 Posts |
Unfortunately most casino's are going to coin-less slot systems as they are much less expensive to maintain, otherwise I would have to say they are/were a great source for searching. Back in the mid 80's I worked at a casino in Lake Tahoe, Nevada as a count team supervisor and was able to monitor the handling of ten's of thousands of dollars worth of coins daily ! In just 3 months I was able to assemble a complete silver Roosevelt dime collection (1946-1964 PDS) and the majority of the Franklin half series. I would pick them out and have the cashier hold them for me until the end of each week and then buy them for face value. Every now and then morgan and Peace dollars would show up. there was also a few times were it appeared someone spent their coin collection, for I periodically came across Merc. dimes, Barber dimes, Walking halves, etc. In the two years that I ran that department I was able to acquire over $300 dollars face value of 1964 Kennedy halves, unfortunatly I didn't save any of the 40% halves! I sure miss those days !! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2602 Posts |
Here in Northwest Louisiana, most of the slot machines are going electronic (no coins), because the casinos can make their money faster, and because less maintenance for the machines. There are a few casinos here that have both coins and electronic. I tried $200 in halves and it didn't have anything in it. I think the silver content coins get rejected by the slot machines, so I am guessing the silver has already been removed. Nickels would be good- probably similar to what you'd get at a bank except the casino coins will be more banged up. And as said above, I don't know if you'd find silver War Nickels in the casino mix. The nice thing is you can dump the nickels back onto the casino and keep searching all day if you want, because I don't think the loose coins get re-rolled the same day (so you wouldn't be searching the same group you just searched). |
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Valued Member
United States
55 Posts |
How upset would my wife be if I suggested a weekend away at one of the hotels attached to the casino...and I spent the weekend going through roll after roll of coins? I don't see that going down well at all! Of course, nothing ventured, nothing gained! ;)
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Valued Member
United States
328 Posts |
You'd probably find Vegas Dollars or otherwise beaten up coins.
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Valued Member
United States
161 Posts |
About 7-8 years ago I got rolls of Halves at Harrahs in Cherokee, NC and was able to get a lot of dates that I didn't have. Most coins were really beat up and it was obvious what was a slot machine half compared to normal circulation. No silver dates in the few rolls but some 2000s. Good cheap way of getting filler dates but you have to be willing to accept lesser conditions. Bank rolls are probably better.
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Valued Member
Australia
372 Posts |
Coin hunting at casinos is pretty popular here in Australia.
Alot of mules [2000 10c obverse/$1 reverse], mintmarks [not released for circulation]rabbitears etc, turnup. One of the hardest $1 has turned up a couple of times from the pokies, the VC $1.
I believe that's how the top 3 graded mules here were found as well.
Our pokies only take $1 coins and notes, now, and it can be a goldmine for some.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1934 Posts |
mycrob, there are still some coin machines in Lake Charles.
:)
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Valued Member
United States
143 Posts |
Lived in Vegas for 20 years. The main thing about all the coins or I should say most of the coins, they really take a beating. Most are so marked up you wouldn't want them in your collection. Long gone are the days when you could get Peace and Morgan dollars, Binion had a nice hoard! |
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Valued Member
United States
111 Posts |
Accepting Silver coins in a slot machine *shouldn't* be a problem. I used to work in the coin counting industry, and you could easily get sensors that could be programmed to take clad and Silver. But they cost more. Given the quantity of slot machines, one would think the cost difference would be minimal. So why wouldn't the casino take silver? But I'm just thinking out loud.
As mentioned, the casinos are getting away from coins. Besides wear and tear to the machines, coins are labor intensive.
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Replies: 18 / Views: 3,841 |
Posted 02/20/2008 12:26 am
