You Lose Some. And Then You Win Some

Last week I learned that the same bank where last month a teller had handed me ten 40% Kennedy coins out of the 16 coins that I purchased from her had acquired 42 customer-wrapped rolls of half dollars. When I purchased them I thought I had hit another jackpot. Eight of those rolls were in old mustard-yellow wrappers with the date 1980 hand-written on them. Surely they must contain some silver coins! Nope -- all of them were copper-nickel Kennedy half dollars minted between 1971 and 1980. The other 34 customer-wrapped rolls also didn't contain anything interesting. Then earlier this week, the teller at my regular bank told me she had ordered a $500 box of Loomis-rolled half dollars for me as a courtesy. When I opened that box I found two enders (1st Photo). A good sign! I found a total of 36 silver coins in that box -- including one 1964 Kennedy coin and a 1941-S Walking Liberty coin (2nd photo) that has numismatic value. One roll contained three silver coins, and three rolls each contained two silver coins. I gave that teller $35 in Starbucks gift cards to share my good luck ($1 per silver coin). But as I opened the last few rolls in that box, I sympathized with Alexander the Great standing on the banks of the Indus River (who mourned that had no more lands to conquer).