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 Replies: 17 / Views: 4,474 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3276 Posts |
Hi, I only search nickels and dimes, but want to start looking for silver. I'm not looking so I can sell or melt, I will definately keep all of my finds. I just think they are real neat, and want to keep them around for future generations.
so... to all of you searchers out there, do you get best results from dimes, quarters, or halves? what is your average per box for silver for each of these denominations? I'm interested in seeing averages. if you post please tell me where you are from. I'm from san diego by the way.
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Valued Member
United States
163 Posts |
You look like you've been around long enough to know but the general sentiment is that quarters are hardest, dimes are somewhat easier although still pretty hard, and halves and nickels are easiest. The problem with nickels is that they are of low purity. The problem with halves is that they are becoming rarer at an extraordinary rate and seem to have crossed into the territory of not productive enough to make a profit but still productive enough to hook you into a silver addiction causing you to lose money and time chasing phantoms. I've only found 1 quarter and 1 dime through active searching although admittedly I only looked through a few years old hoard and some stray rolls here and there for these denominations. I've found 2 War Nickels without really looking for them. I have about 20 silver halves, 5 from box searching. I've done two boxes...one was a skunk. This is in california. I love my hoard but it is a pitiful drop compared to others, some who are sitting on hundreds or thousands of silver coins. Edited by jarwulf
05/23/2011 04:57 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1150 Posts |
It seems to me that the coins searched the most will be drained of silver at a faster rate than the other denominations. Hence, I've also noticed less and less silver halves in rolls, same with quarters. They are more noticeable, too, so when someone gets one in change it most likely gets saved, instead of tossed into the coin jar and later spent or rolled up and sent off to the bank. To that end, dimes and nickels have proved more fruitful for me. I've averaged at least a few (3-6) dimes per box. I was having good luck with nickels for a while also, until recently, when they too have seemed to drop off. I've probably gotten 15 to 20 boxes of nickels in the last few months and have found maybe 3 or 4 War Nickels. Go figure. Even people I know who work at gas stations are coming up with less and less silver than just 6 months to a year ago. It seems to be drying up fairly quickly. |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
3276 Posts |
I want to try halves and dimes. not only do I want to get silver, but I need a change. cents are getting boring for me so I need some change. and I can start circulated sets for halves and dimes since I have none so far.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3345 Posts |
Dimes, dude. There isn't as much as a rush to search them and they don't get recognized as often because of their size.
Other than that, nickels. I have 19 from 12 boxes and various rolls of searching, although it seems as though they are getting scarcer.
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Valued Member
United States
103 Posts |
murrellington, I average about one dime for every $100 searched here in OHIO. It seems that it is a modern day gold rush (silver) everyone is getting into coins.
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Valued Member
United States
103 Posts |
Do post your results. Curious to see how you do on the left side.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3276 Posts |
i bought a box today. i'll post what I get. it's my first box so I have no idea what to look for besides silver. any good dates, or other things to look for?
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Valued Member
United States
103 Posts |
i usually just look for silver. If a DD catches my Eye I will grab it.
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Valued Member
United States
103 Posts |
Dont know all the varieties, 67 DDO and 70D DDR off top of head |
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Valued Member
United States
103 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3276 Posts |
cool, thanks. and after 4 rolls I got a 1957 d
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Pillar of the Community
United States
508 Posts |
74 D DDO is another Also you can set aside any coins from 87 or 2002 - present.. Those are all NIFC dates 4 rolls in and already scored a Frankie, pretty nice! Edited by Deltron
05/23/2011 9:15 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3276 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
687 Posts |
If you think cents are boring be prepared to be REALLY bored with dimes. Until you find your first merc or barber. If you search long enough you will find mercs and barbers. Dimes are consistent producers, when I was actively searching them I was pulling around 1.5 dimes per box. Rarely do you skunk with dimes and if you're lazy they're easy to edge search. The biggest problem with them is, however, that you're much more likely to be short changed by coin counters when you feed them dimes. It's a problem and it's annoying. Nickels produce 1 war every 55 rolls or so for me - less than dimes but more than quarters. I like nickels better because they're more fun and you have a chance to complete the entire set. 35% War Nickels are a lot harder to sell for full melt value though - especially considering that it's technically illegal to melt them. Halves are the biggest "gamble" - you have a better chance of hitting the big score (a big load of silver) than you would in a dime or nickel box. If you're in a low pressure area, they can produce. I'm in a high pressure area. I average 1 40% every 50 rolls and 1 90% every 250 rolls. You really gotta do 10 boxes or so to get a feel for it. I'm more in it to complete the set, so it's still worth it for me. Much higher percentage of proofs in half boxes and some of the DDOs are pretty easy to find if you like those. I haven't searched enough quarters to comment too much on them, but the general feeling is that they were tapped out long ago. I'm not sure anyone is searching them enough for reliable statistics. Oh and I'm in Chicago. Edited by RollHunter
05/23/2011 9:42 pm
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Valued Member
United States
83 Posts |
First of all, you will find it hard to get silver nickels as the only ones that were produced using silver were minted from 1942 to 1945 and are only 35% silver.
As to the dimes, you can still find them but you would need a lot of them to sell for silver value. Half dollars are much the same, most people have kept them or already sold them.
Here is a simple tip to save time searching through rolls of coins looking for silver. As in the old days, every cash register had a marble shelf above the cash drawer, this was not simply for looks but a way for the merchants to check a coins silver content. If you tap a silver coin on a piece of marble it makes a distinctive sound.
I have a friend who constantly buys rolls and rolls and he simply slowly dumps a roll on a large piece of marble and if there is a silver coin, you will hear it once it bounces on the marble. Or as another poster mentioned you can view the edge to spot the silver coins.
Good luck in your hunting.
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Replies: 17 / Views: 4,474 |
Posted 05/23/2011 05:20 am
