Unopened Cent Rolls On Ebay

These "truly unsearched" auctions are BS. I bought a roll that was claimed to have been bought from an estate sale on a farm, in an attic, of a little old lady...bla,bla.
I think the best date I found was a 1912. All others were common 40's and 50's. Crapola.

"Unsearched rolls" on ebay are about as legit (and with the same rules) as TV wrestling.

While I am still in the camp that believes that "unsearched" rolls on ebay are very unlikely - something occurred to me about 10 years ago, that allows me to believe that it might be conceivable.

I was in an antique mall, (the kind that charges its' tenants a rental for showing its antiques to the public) - and I came across a stall that had bunches of military medals, uniforms, swords, helmuts etc... from previous wars for sale. Everything looked fully priced - though I am no expert in military items. In the corner, in an sloppy pile were a stack of old National Geographics . I've been collecting them for years, and could easily see that the cover style indicated pre 1910 issues. Upon closed examination, I found they were all from 1904! . Now if your a Geographic collector, you know that this year is generally considered the rarest year of the 20th century! (according to Edward Buxbaum anyway). The entire stack of 11 issues was selling for $44 (only the Dec. issue was missing). He wanted just $4 per issue . The magazines were so mis-priced, that if he were present in person, I would have been willing to offer easily $50 per issue. I bought them quickly - feeling a little guilty for not having to pay more... I sold the 11 issues on ebay - one issue per auction (with each netting at least $125.00) One issue had a rare map in it that was worth more than $44 by itself. Netted over $1400 profit on the purchase!

The lesson I learned (if you are looking for a discount), is to never buy the items the seller is an expert in ! I never hit a score like that again, but was able to find other bargains from other sellers through the years. I've bought scarce beer cans from coin sellers, and antique marbles from the sellers of rare postcards, and once a scarce 1st ed. magazine of "Unknown" from a guy selling rare old fossils. So I guess it is possible, that some guy selling an unsearched roll - could actually be unsearched (though this possibility fades to zero - IF the guy is a coin shop or coin seller!

This is why I like looking for ebay auctions that look to be true "garage sales". Guys that don't sell that much, and not high volume sellers. So it should go without saying, that a coin seller is not going to be selling an unsearched roll, anymore than a rare magazine expert is going to sell a rare magazine with a Maxfield Parrish insert still attached! (not cheaply anyway)


And of course if the guy is selling many rolls with a scarce coin (that just happens to be on the end), and he is selling rolls of these coins again and again - it stretches credibility to believe that he's on the level..

Just my thoughts!

That's a great story! I've also perused antique/militaria shops--and found some nice coins that were otherwise unnoticed. Generally speaking, it's very hard to find "key" US dates/varieties at US dealers, as most have the books. You have a much better chance at finding key Australian, Canadian, or other world coins. One of my favorite antique shop finds was this coin for just $1.50.




That is a possibility. Everyone looks for that--and you have to filter out all the auctions made to appear like somebody doesn't know what they're doing.