Unopened Cent Rolls On Ebay

I think we all want to believe the seller is telling the truth. Unfortunately there are more snake-oil salesmen/women on ebay, you can't swing a cat without hitting one. Don't expect too much.

Not a chance they're "unsearched." Not. A. Chance. Go ahead and buy a couple for amusement, if you wish, but plan on it being money thrown away for a fun time. The value for what you paid will last about as long as a beer at the local pub.

Thanks for the advice, I think I will keep my ten bucks and buy a couple nice Buffalo nickels :)

Consider a hypothetical situation where a real, old stash of wheaties is found after 75+ years. Would anybody say to themselves "There might be something rare in there, but I won't bother to look. I'll just put it on ebay and hope the bidding goes high."

--My thinking on why there's not a chance that truly unsearched coins remain that way. I suspect 99.9% of the LWCs out there have been recycled/searched multiple times,

I think most of them are scams. However; it is still possible. I went to my sisters to help out with a project. While I was there I noticed a couple of dozen rolls of pennies on the kitchen table. She reminded me that she had gotten the old "fire hydrant" coin bank from our Grandfather. Now she got that back in 1980. I can remember Gramps throwing pennies in there all my life and I am pretty sure he started in the mid 50s. I asked her what she was going to do with them and she said that a friend said she could make money selling them on ebay. Needless to say I purchased them from her. So far nothing fantastic, but lots of MSred 40s and 50s, and are and RB 30s, A good selection of S mint late teens and 20s. Gramps lived in San Francisco.

Bottom line, still possible, but not probable. If my sister who comes from a family of coin collectors could do that, then I guess someone else could under the same circumstances. Remember not everyone on the bay is a coin collector, some are just cleaning up junk.

lol@Just Carl. Yeah, I agree that 99 percent of these are scams. On the other hand to think that every single person in the United States who comes across a small hoard of coins is a coin collector; or has the time or inclination to search through said hoards is a bit.....unrealistic.

Lets switch this around. A couple months ago I came across a large collection of records; 45s. I don't collect 45s. I spent hours researching the records I thought would be worth money. None of them were. So after spending 20 or so hours and coming up with nothing, I just put all the records back in the box and closed the lid and put them back in the garage. A couple of weeks later I ran into an old friend from High School and while catching up I mentioned all the time I wasted trying to sell those records. Turns out HE is a Record Collector. He goes through the box...garbage...garbage...garbage....HOLY @#%$#. Bottom line he goes through and finds 3 out of a few hundred that were worth anything. HE was a collector, he knew what he was looking for.

I am not a record Collector; I do not know what to look for. How then can we assume that every single person who wants to sell coins/comics/records/militaria/stamps/car parts/ video games/ect ect; has the knowledge to know what every single thing they have is worth?

I have pulled extremely underpriced Comics from "unsearched" boxes. I bought a set of 71 GTO HO Heads from a buy for $20; because he was a Chevy guy. I think all of us have similar stories. All of us have made deals because of the ignorance of the seller.

As a Cop I heard all sorts of stories. And; everyone was innocent. You know what? Every once in a while it was true.

Having said that,I don't buy or sell "unsearched" rolls. While I do believe it can happen, I know the odds are wayyyyyy stacked against me, and I have better things to spend my money on. And IF I were so inclined I would not buy any rolls from a dealer ( really? unsearched? Really?), or one that has dimes in it ( who does that? I have never gotten a dime from a bank wrapped role), or ones that have BU VDBs on the ends ( come on, if you knew enough to advertise the "vdb" then you know enough to search it for a coin that could be worth a couple thousand)

Pardon the ramblings, as an old Detective I am just hard wired not to make assumptions, and to let the evidence tell the story rather than my preconceptions. I guess I just have a problem with "absolute" statements.

I play it safe by bidding only what I am willing to pay for the end coins therefore any others are a true surprise and extra

Take a stab at a couple of these rolls it will be a great learning experience for you. Ultimately you will have to make desisions like this in the future if you plan on collecting coins as a hobby. The school of "hard knocks" is a good school!