"unsearched Wheat/Indian Cent Rolls!", Are They Worth It?

To participate in the forum you must log in or register.

Author	Replies: 18 / Views: 7,902	Page: of 2
JOE Valued Member United States 164 Posts	Posted 09/17/2008 04:25 am This has probably been asked a few times before, But I had a burning question I wanted to ask about a type of ebay auction that seems too good to be true. The type of auction is the "Unsearched wheat and Indian cent roll", That numbers in the hundreds every day on ebay. What it is pretty much is a mixture of (mostly) Wheat cents and Indian cents, And the seller claims that it is unsearched, And that there could be some quite valuable Indian cents in the rolls... You can see a lot of these auctions here, Or just by going to ebay and typing " Indian cent roll" http://search.ebay.com/search/searc...l&category0= Seeing as how landing on, For example, A 1877 Indian cent, In pretty much any condition would be worth a pretty penny(Bad pun), I convinced myself to buy one. It was almost entirely wheat cents (Unsurprisingly) and about 8 Indian cents, All of which were in or around the 90's, And in somewhat bad condition. I also at first glance, Did not find any good variety wheat cents or any errors. This is almost enough to convince me that all of the rolls are rip-offs, But reading the replies, I've seen some incredible stories... Some people say they've found an 1877 Indian cent, Others say they have landed upon some 1909 V.D.B wheat cents, Some even claim that over half of the entire rolls they searched were filled with Indian cents. Since these auctions seem to still be going strong, There must be at least some truth to these claims... Searching auctions from the past, The price for these rolls also vary, Dramatically. Sometimes the rolls will go for as little as 9.00, To an about average price of 13.00, To 20.00, And even as high as 60.00 depending on what the coin is at the end of the wrapper. I'm just a novice, So I was wondering what your opinions were on these "Unsearched" Wheat/Indian cent rolls, Are they worth the hunt, Or is it a waste of time and money purchasing one? I'm probably going to purchase another soon, Mainly due to curiosity, If anybody's interested, I can report my finds from it. Edited by JOE 09/17/2008 04:33 am Report this Post to the Staff

1sikevo Pillar of the Community United States 1130 Posts	Posted 09/17/2008 04:32 am I've never bid on one but I've heard to steer clear of them. There is no such thing as truly unsearched lots. The few people that claim finding rare coins are probably their own circle of friends who post those feedback to excite potential bidders. Report this Post to the Staff
DL20K Pillar of the Community Poland 3201 Posts	Posted 09/17/2008 04:37 am I'd say based on my experience here - if the coins don't look like there were dug up from the ground - they're 100% searched. As for metal detecting finds that are sometimes sold, the chance is about ~50%. Report this Post to the Staff
SeatedNut Pillar of the Community United States 2797 Posts	Posted 09/17/2008 08:15 am Quote: Some people say they've found an 1877 Indian cent, Others say they have landed upon some 1909 V.D.B wheat cents Man you just have to love "Testimonials". These remind me of the healers around the turn of the century who would travel from town-to-town offering miracles for a price. A woman in a wheelchair comes forward and by some miracle is able to walk on her own again! Funny though, no one in that town had ever seen her before or would see her again. She was part of the show ... as are those ebay feedbacks. Some may be real buyers who were fortunate enough to receive the "salt" that the seller inserted. To call these offerings "unsearched" ought to be a crime! Report this Post to the Staff
cpfull Pillar of the Community United States 603 Posts	Posted 09/17/2008 09:28 am I won't say you can find "unsearched" rolls, but some of the sellers are ok, you just have to find them. There are people who buy estates to sell and don't search the coins. First, never buy a roll from someone who uses stock photos, and /or a fixed price per roll, unless you just want large numbers of common wheaties.. Even if they say what is on the ends the coins are probably in sad shape. I buy from those who take photos of both ends of the roll, and either buy one or two cheaper rolls with common end coins or 1 with a key/semi key. I attempt to guess a grade on the key and pay about one grade higher, and the s mint indians, assume it is a 08. when you get the roll, keep a list of any non-common/higher grade coins and decide if it's worth it to buy again. One seller I don't buy from, I got a roll with 10 IHC's but they were all culls. It may have been bad luck on my part, or he "seeded" the rolls. It is a risk you take. I have found a VF 08s IHC in a roll I paid less than 30 bucks for, so it can work out. I have also found several flying eagles, from AG to F+ and I think I have a dozen or so copper nickel indians. I grade the better dates and use Coin World and numismedia to get a value. I know its not exact, but I am usually within 5 to 10 bucks between "book value" and what I paid. sorry for the length of my post, but if you take the time to read feedback and don't expect to hit the jackpot, you end up paying only slightly more than you would at a dealer, plus you get to go through some rolls, which is always fun. Report this Post to the Staff
mycrob Pillar of the Community United States 2602 Posts	Posted 09/17/2008 09:35 am ASSUME all rolls of coins of any denomination are searched at all times and also assume you will get commons and largely low grade culls. Then, if you get something better than that, it is a nice bonus. Those rolls you see on ebay are done with store-bought wrappers and a crimping machine. I would only pay what you consider comfortable for a mixture of wheats + Indian cents, assuming 49 wheats and 1 Indian cent, unless the seller makes some guarantees, like 5 avg per roll. But if they make guarantees, they are basically telling you it is searched. It amazes me how many of these so-called bank-wrapped Indian cents just so happen to have a tougher date or an S mint mark showing at the end of the wrapper. It is "seeded" there purposely so that the final bid is very high. As for the positive testimonials, I can tell you that in my experience of selling coins on ebay, that I know for a fact that the buyer got keys or semi-keys from my lots. Never did they leave a feedback in which they said the specific key date they got. There may be a few out there that will leave such testimonials, but it seems to be uncommon, even if they in fact received a key or semi-key. So when I see a seller have tons of feedback with specific testimonials on key dates being received, I am highly skeptical. It could the be that ebay seller's friends or family doing it by "shill bidding" and winning the auction and then pumping the seller's feedback. Maybe every once in awhile the testimonial is correct. But I am very skeptical and you should be too. Only one time did I get a key date from an Indian cent lot from a seller (1909 S VG!) and it was my 4th or 5th time winning a large auction from the seller and it is my belief that he put the coin in there to keep me coming back and/or to say thanks for all the business. I still do not believe the coins were unsearched. And I did leave a testimonial saying that I got a key date. The one thing that you can say about coins, however, is that most lots are not searched thoroughly for rare varieties or errors. I think this is because there are so many to look for and you have to know what you are looking for. As an example, just last week, I got in some Indian cents and it was low grade cull material, no tough dates, mostly 1890s and 1900s, not even a 1909. But there were two 1897 "1 in neck" varieties. So it was searched for dates, but not varieties. Also, be careful of the word "unsorted". A lot of sellers are using this word to imply unsearched, but unsorted just means "a pile of coins that need to be sorted". Good luck on your searching! Report this Post to the Staff
mycrob Pillar of the Community United States 2602 Posts	Posted 09/17/2008 09:40 am I also echo cpfull that it is fun going through the rolls, but it is also jsut as much fun getting them loose. And you do have to try a few sellers before you land on one in which you get quality for your money. There are a few sellers on ebay (perhaps many), that for Indian cents at least, go through the lots and take out 1885, 1886, 1894 and 1909 and everything pre-1880 and then dump the rest on ebay. I have gotten a lot of lots like that. Report this Post to the Staff
yechi7 Pillar of the Community United States 717 Posts	Posted 09/17/2008 09:49 am Also, "unsearched" could mean that someone else searched them but the seller did not. So as far as he is concerned, they are "unsearched" by him. Report this Post to the Staff
sublime118 Valued Member United States 406 Posts	Posted 09/17/2008 11:45 am I would steer away from these. I bought a "unsearched lot" from penniesdotcom, and it was crap. $30 worth of junk. I went to my coin shop, and for $80 bought a 10 lb bag. They have buckets and buckets of them that they never go through. In my bag I got about 1300-1500 wheats, a few culls, 3 rolls of 1910-1919, 4 rolls of 20's, 6 rolls of 30's, and a bunch of 40's and 50's. Some coins were bright red, and even a few really good steels. It was quite enjoyable to go through. some pics: Did I find any coin that is worth more than a few dollars. . . no. Was I completely entertained for a couple of days. . . . yes. Will I get another one. . . . . oh yeah! Report this Post to the Staff
Steamwalker Valued Member United States 201 Posts	Posted 09/17/2008 6:48 pm Just my opinion: Don't pay more for an "unseached" lot than you would for a searched one. Even if the seller hasn't searched them, they've likely been searched one or multiple times before that seller acquired them. Report this Post to the Staff
nlp coins Pillar of the Community United States 2373 Posts	Posted 09/17/2008 7:10 pm I just picked up a bucket yesterday from a dealer I trade with. 11,000 wheats for $330. Only sorted through about $5 worth so far and found a 1909S in G-4. He buys loose coins and dumps them in a bucket for sale later. The 09S has a weak date but nice reverse for the grade. And, yes I have tried the unsearched bank rolls only to find what was visible on the end that had any value. Who has the patience to unroll them and reroll the bank rolls. nlp Report this Post to the Staff
xshift Pillar of the Community United States 2669 Posts	Posted 09/17/2008 7:46 pm nlp and sublime18.. do your dealers ship?! Report this Post to the Staff
KurtS Pillar of the Community United States 5318 Posts	Posted 09/17/2008 8:18 pm I'll just add--that I do enjoy reading about everyone's experiences with these "unsearched" lots. I'll admit that I bought one once on ebay too with big hopes, but once I catalogued the dates, I realized the date spread was all off, with huge gaps. My only guess is these cents were carefully sorted and "seeded" with a few better dates. Not that it's impossible to find an "unsearched" cache, but they're quite rare, and it's not something that will ever be sold in quantity by dealers. For the sake of argument, let's say granny brings a cache of IHCs and wheat cents to a dealer, saying they were gathered over 100 years by a few generations. If there's any possibility of key dates in there, I guarantee the dealer will do a thorough search. Anyone smart would not sell a possible windfall for bulk wheat prices—imo. Lastly, I'll just add you have better odds finding unsearched foreign coins with US dealers. On several occasions I've found valuable coins in bulk lots that were obviously unsearched--such as Canadian or Australian coins. Good luck! Edited by KurtS 09/17/2008 8:33 pm Report this Post to the Staff
chrsb Pillar of the Community United States 936 Posts	Posted 09/17/2008 8:56 pm Check out this thread, it is a little dated and some sellers are not around anymore- https://goccf.com/t/29995#29995 I have been buying rolls from this seller lately- http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA...=AllFeedback and have had good luck with the rolls, not so much as key dates but finding early dates in MS-AU condition. My last 20 rolls had AU VDB, 15D,16D,17D,19DS, 24PDS and some MS teens, 20's and 30's. Report this Post to the Staff
nlp coins Pillar of the Community United States 2373 Posts	Posted 09/19/2008 09:06 am xshift---The only thing I'm aware of them shipping is precious metal purchases to refineries. But I will inquire next trip and PM you if they do. nlp Report this Post to the Staff
xshift Pillar of the Community United States 2669 Posts	Posted 09/19/2008 10:25 am That would be awesome - thanks nlp! Report this Post to the Staff
	Replies: 18 / Views: 7,902	Page: of 2

Last 15 Replies

To participate in the forum you must log in or register.

All Forums Category: eCommerce and Online Auction Forums Forum: eCommerce | eBay, eCrater, Heritage, Paypal, Auction Houses, etc.

Silver Gold Bull US is the United States leading bullion dealer. We deliver gold coins, gold bars, silver coins, silver bars and precious metals to your door. Order today!

The First Dollar, your premier source for bullion and rare coins. See our bullion list on the site and the coin inventory on ebay.

View Last 100 Active Topics

Disclaimer: While a tremendous amount of effort goes into ensuring the accuracy of the information contained in this site, Coin Community assumes no liability for errors. Copyright 2005 - 2026 Coin Community Family- all rights reserved worldwide. Use of any images or content on this website without prior written permission of Coin Community or the original lender is strictly prohibited.
Contact Us | Advertise Here | Privacy Policy / Terms of Use

Coin Community Forum

It took 0.5 seconds to rattle this change.

"Unsearched Wheat/Indian Cent Rolls!", Are They Worth It?