Jefferson Find Rates @ 150,000 Coins Searched

i know out here on the WEST/LEFT coast I get a lot more S's. if I find any, I will let you guys know..

I think you will find customer rolls a hit-miss proposition. I have gotten less of everything from customer rolls except Liberty nickels. That being said, I have hit some real treasure troves in customer rolls also, for example, one roll had 4 Liberty nickels and 8 dated buffaloes,IN A SINGLE ROLL! That makes up for a lot of searched boxes. Most of my key dates were from customer rolls,50D,38D,39S all from customer wrapped rolls as well as about 1/3 of my War Nickels. I have had much less luck lately with Brinks rolls. I agree the problem is short rolls from customers,I had 10 out of 20 the other day short 3 coins each. Really makes me angry.

There's hope on the 38S, I just pulled one yesterday! Funny thing was I had one in my folder, but when I popped it out to compare I saw that it was a 39S! I think it has been in that folder spot for over 20 years!

David,
Thank you and the numerous others who contributed for the detailed informative dialogue and discussion on this topic. IMO, it should be archived with a direct link for future reference. It could be titled "must read for dummies" . On a serious note

Based on my limited reading below are some reasonable deductions I have made about silver and gold in general
1)The War Nickels were only intended for limited circulation due to material constraints and were supposed to be melted once the war ended. From my understanding that's why the mint mark was placed above the dome on the reverse to identify them easily. The smart folks back then easily could have hoarded them and or melted them at some point in the future.
2)2 years back legislation was passed to stop the "Melting and Exportation of Coins". This legislation mainly circled around Nickels (regardless of date) and Pennies (pre 82) as the metal content alone reached around 8 cents and 3.5 cents respectively. For the politicians to have passed the law indicates that there was clear evidence of mass scale melting. How much has gone this route we will never know.
3)Apparently it is very difficult to find South African Gold Krugerrand's dated prior to 2007. Spec here is that it's been melted.
4)One of the coin dealers told me that some older dated US gold coins were heavily melted in the 06 to 07 time frame. I do not doubt his story.


Below is a link on Coin Exportation and Melting Legislation in case you have not seen it. I also believe a similar legislation was passed (60's or 70's) for Silver Half Dollars.

http://www.usmint.gov/pressroom/ind...lease&ID=771

Pardon me for some what deviating from your original post but the melting is worth while taking into consideration. The only issue I see is that it will be very difficult to prove this out unless someone gets busted and is wildly publicized in the media. Only then would we know the scale of the obsolescence related to melting. Mathematically, I am some what sure that this DOES not make a diff on your numbers. Enough rambling by moi.

Peace