CRH Beginner - What To Buy First And Look Out For

I have all the time in the world and my goals are silver and interesting looking coins and old.

So you wouldn't bother with nickles, dimes, or quarters?

What do you mean by 'complete a full set' ?

I had the most fun with nickels; I got about three coins away from the full set when I finally had to stop due to no longer having nothing better to do. Due to the war, nickels were made with 35% silver from 1942-45; about the same net silver content as a silver dime. And there aren't as many in the public who save old nickels versus wheat pennies.

Half dollars are also good, but more expensive to keep, and they are hard to cash back in, unless you need a $450 Amazon gift card from coinstar! Most banks charge a fee for ordering half dollars, and will refuse to order them again if you dump a few hundred back on them. Half dollars also have the largest percent chance of finding a proof or not for circulation coin (all halves since 2002).

I love to hunt cents and nickels myself. I get a few halve rolls here and there as well. I also buy any/all dollar and halves out of bank teller trays when I am at the bank. I've come out pretty well a few times doing this. Bottom line, do what you enjoy! That is what matters!

jflournoy. Half dollar boxes are $500, although some banks will require at least 2 boxes when they order, hence the $1000. It depends on the banks, but from my brief experience some have limits of what you can order. I have never experienced a down payment or money upfront to reserve though.

There is no "best" coin to hunt, it's all based on location, personal preference (as you can see) and hunting pressure.

No matter which coin you decide, Never, ever dump your coin back at the same place you bought them.
Thet key to success is to search volumes.

I searched half dollar about 10 or 12 years ago and found many silver halves. I quit looking when the average find fell to zilch. It is not fun packing them home, going through them and them packing them back to the bank when you don't find anything. If I were you I would figure out what is also collectible in the half dollars and look for them as well. In particular I would look for the no FG coins, DDOs and DDRs. When I quit looking these were about all you could find. They are probably worth as much as the silver coins anyway. The bags on the counting machines around here hold $1000 dollars so if you take them all back to one location you will probably fill up the machine and someone will required to change the bag out. Good luck. You may hit the jackpot or you may find none at all. It really varies by box. If I was going to be serious about looking through them I would pick them up local and then drive them to a different carrier service area to dump them. I would then continue to do the same process to try to go through all the local carrier had. If not then you could be getting the same coins time after time.