Cull Silver-Am I Short Changing Myself?

Discussion in 'Bullion Investing' started by Randy Abercrombie, Dec 2, 2018.

  1. Randy Abercrombie

    Randy Abercrombie Supporter! Supporter

    I often purchase rolls of cull dollars. They are easy to stack and have the added bonus of being numismatically interesting to me. Been doing so for years and have never owned a scale. Does the extreme wear of a cull dollar reduce the weight of the piece significantly?
     
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  3. paddyman98

    paddyman98 I'm a professional expert in specializing! Supporter

    Interesting question..

    No and yes.. Wear can be just movement of the metal still on the coin.
    And if it's metal that has been worn off then it is slightly lighter but not significant. That's just MHO.

    Can you show us an example of one of your coins with "Extreme" wear
     
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  4. physics-fan3.14

    physics-fan3.14 You got any more of them.... prooflikes?

    Yes, worn coins weigh significantly and measurably less than UNC coins.

    The Mint Directors annual report for a few different years did studies on how much was lost by abrasion. The conclusion that the Mint reached in the 1902 report was that larger coins lose more as they wear. Half dollar coins lost on average about 4% of their weight, dollar coins could be 5% or 6%. If you're talking extremely low grade coins (AG or G), the losses are probably even higher than that.

    If you are buying extremely low grade, damaged, or otherwise "just-barely-coins" (which is what culls are), then you should be paying a significantly lower price for them.
     
  5. atcarroll

    atcarroll Well-Known Member

    If i were buying culls and slicks just for the silver value, i'd weigh them and figure a price based on that.
     
  6. Randy Abercrombie

    Randy Abercrombie Supporter! Supporter

    Taking a break between services. I do the music at our church...... Early this afternoon I’ll put up a photo or two. When I buy cull rolls I would say most of the dollars would go G-VG. Occasionally a better coin will show up. I seldom get the slick AG dollars in my rolls.
     
  7. Seattlite86

    Seattlite86 Outspoken Member

    I think an easy way to know would be to weigh a roll and see what you get vs what they should weigh.
     
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  8. paddyman98

    paddyman98 I'm a professional expert in specializing! Supporter

    We are rehearsing worship at this moment!
    1543763496219166743041.jpg
    Why are we on CoinTalk when we are in church? :hilarious::angelic:
     
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  9. Collecting Nut

    Collecting Nut Borderline Hoarder

    Because we can Paddy!

    I buy a lot of cull silver dollars myself. Most are in the G-VG range. Some are better. Common dates get up to XF. Yes a few are almost slick (I pulled a 1890-CC from a roll of culls once) but I've gotten a few harder to get dates as well.

    I'm not concerned about silver loss on these. I've never run into anyone that cares. They are a popular minted coin. Going through rolls of silver dollars are fun and exciting. The enjoyment is very high as well. I have rolls I've never searched tucked away waiting for me to get old so I can go through them.
     
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  10. Randy Abercrombie

    Randy Abercrombie Supporter! Supporter

    The magic of the interwebs!
     
  11. Randy Abercrombie

    Randy Abercrombie Supporter! Supporter

    Dang Paddy.... You clean up right nice.
     
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  12. -jeffB

    -jeffB Greshams LEO Supporter

    I found the report in The Internet Archive (and made a donation). It'll take me a while to get through it.

    I would've expected higher losses on halves than dollars, for several reasons:

    1) Among heavily-worn coins from that era I've weighed (dimes, quarters, halves, dollars), the smaller denominations had lost proportionally more weight.

    2) Losses due to surface abrasion should be proportional to surface area, other things being equal. Relative surface area is greater for small coins, less for large coins (square-cube law). So smaller coins should lose weight faster, proportionally.

    3) From all reports I've seen, dollar coins never circulated as heavily as halves, quarters, or dimes.

    So, I'd like to see if there's additional context in the report, so I can figure out which of my assumptions are off-base.
     
  13. physics-fan3.14

    physics-fan3.14 You got any more of them.... prooflikes?

    I completely misread the numbers! Wow, hadn't had my cup of tea yet when I wrote that post. You're correct - the smaller coins lost more.

    The section pertinent to this discussion begins on page 17.
     
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  14. -jeffB

    -jeffB Greshams LEO Supporter

    And if I'm reading the report correctly, they actually didn't report silver dollars at all that year. Off to see if I can get to reports from other years.

    Oh, and this time when The Internet Archive popped up asking me to donate, I sure did. :)
     
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  15. Randy Abercrombie

    Randy Abercrombie Supporter! Supporter

    Sorry. Won’t be photos as I promised. Got home and it looks like my dog broke his leg. Back at the dog hospital. Getting to know this place all too well.
     
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  16. Sullysullinburg

    Sullysullinburg Well-Known Member

    It really depends what you are paying for them. Also keep in mind a would classify coins with holes as culls, while they may not have much wear, a hole could drop the weight a decent bit.
     
  17. Randy Abercrombie

    Randy Abercrombie Supporter! Supporter

    Well..... There is a silver calculator on coinflation.com that I use. I usually will do my arithmetic from that website and offer my guy the spot price plus twenty bucks a roll. I don’t inspect the rolls when I buy them but he has never put a holed coin in my rolls.
     
  18. -jeffB

    -jeffB Greshams LEO Supporter

    Oh, no. :( Wishing a swift recovery...
     
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  19. Randy Abercrombie

    Randy Abercrombie Supporter! Supporter

    I appreciate that. Old boy has sure been thru it this year. At least they have me internet service here in the waiting room.
     
  20. coin roll

    coin roll Active Member

    Buenos dias Pastor Paddy.
     
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  21. Mountain Man

    Mountain Man Supporter! Supporter

    I sure hope it isn't too bad and can be repaired. Give him a hug for me.
     
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