Help! Tough decision!!!

Discussion in 'Coin Roll Hunting' started by mrweaseluv, Aug 12, 2020.

  1. mrweaseluv

    mrweaseluv Supporter! Supporter

    One of my "Flea Market" coin dealers called me tonight, he just got in 2 sealed and dated rolls of pennies from FRB NY... Dated 1909 one has 2 pretty BU indian tails showing.. the other BU 1905 indian and Flying Eagle on the other end... He's asking 250 for the pair or 150 each...... so the decision... splurge for both or grab one and hope the other lasts "if" the 1st was worth it..... On a side note, he has been very honest/dependable so i do trust that he hasn't searched them and believes them to be unopened rolls........ Decisions decisions... (off hand not buying at least 1 of them was never an option lol) The reason I ask for advice was when last i was buying rolls of indians they were 50-75 a roll.. now almost double that (though checking ebay 140ish seems the present going price) Thoughts? Opinions?
     
    Last edited: Aug 12, 2020
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  3. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    111 year old "unopened rolls". From a flea market dealer. :rolleyes:

    Umm... yeah. Right. Smells shady. :shifty:

    Then again, if you can see three BU Indian cents and a Flying Eagle, and the Indians are really BU and not whizzed, ask yourself if you want to gamble.

    If the contents of the rolls are all Indian cents and not loaded with culls, then maybe it's worth a shot. Maybe.

    Doesn't pass the smell test with me, though.
     
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  4. -jeffB

    -jeffB Greshams LEO Supporter

    Would you buy one if it were listed with that description on eBay?

    If you know and trust him, can you explain why he wouldn't tear into them himself immediately, if he thought they were genuine?
     
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  5. mrweaseluv

    mrweaseluv Supporter! Supporter

    Off ebay? oh hell no. even these I won't buy until i see the rolls with my own eyes, as for why he wouldn't tear into them himself... they worth considerably more "sealed" and it is hard as hell to reseal an old opened roll so that it won't show. Sort of the same as asking why the guy that owns his own convience store doesn't scratch all the scratch tickets... rolls like this always a gamble :D add to that he probably got 5-10 rolls and I was only offered 2 lol
     
    Last edited: Aug 12, 2020
  6. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

  7. mrweaseluv

    mrweaseluv Supporter! Supporter

    My question was more to the point of the present "value" of Indian rolls... god knows it's easy enough to unload most of em for a buck or 2 a piece as single coins on ebay to recover most of the cost and that was 5-6 years ago. The dealer in question I trust not to screw me over... at least knowingly...
     
  8. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    If they're not culls, yeah. Might be worth a go.

    If you trust the guy, that helps, but how's he gonna know what he's selling you?

    I generally won't buy a pig in a poke. But sometimes - sometimes- it can pay off.

    It all boils down to how much of a gambler you are, I suppose.
     
  9. -jeffB

    -jeffB Greshams LEO Supporter

    I often will buy a pig in a poke -- but only if I'm quite sure I know more about what's in the poke than the seller does.

    Most of the "original sealed rolls" I see advertised are on eBay, and clearly come from experienced poke-stuffers. I guess there are legitimate rolls out there, but I'm inclined toward skepticism.
     
  10. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    Ditto. Especially when there's weird stuff showing on the ends. Like BU Indians and Flying Eagle cents.
     
  11. mrweaseluv

    mrweaseluv Supporter! Supporter

    Well I decided to start with one and if I like grab the other Sat morning if it doesn't go elsewhere 1st. As for buying a pig in a poke, I honestly have to admit I've gotten most of my "prized" coins in just that manner. I've spent too many years hunting via pocket change, bank rolls and mint rolls to change now :D
     
  12. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    Good point. It's a different rationale, I suppose. Good luck.
     
  13. spirityoda

    spirityoda Coin Junky

    short answer...... nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
     
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  14. Kentucky

    Kentucky Supporter! Supporter

    Buy one from him and open it immediately. If it's good go for the other one quickly.
     
  15. fretboard

    fretboard Defender of Old Coinage!

    Sorry but I don't believe the seller at all, if you know him really well it's still a huge gamble. What makes you think he didn't put the rolls together himself and there's nothing in there? Because he told you?? I wouldn't buy it and that's my answer!
     
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  16. thomas mozzillo

    thomas mozzillo Well-Known Member

    I would just question where have those "unopened" FRB-NY rolls been hiding for the past 110 years. But then again, I've lost more than that trying to hit the jackpot in Vegas and AC so I might give it a shot.
    Edit. If you go for it, please let us know the results.
     
  17. mrweaseluv

    mrweaseluv Supporter! Supporter

    getting at least one and I will try to do an "opening" video :D or at least photo's of the goodies lol
     
  18. Burton Strauss III

    Burton Strauss III Brother can you spare a trime? Supporter

    We go through this all the time... Certainly wrapped coins existing from at least the 1850s, but the automated crimped roll we typically call "OBW"?

    https://www.ngccoin.com/boards/topic/305239-obw-rolls-what-can-we-learn-from-the-earliest-patents/

    https://patents.google.com/patent/US691435A/en

    (What you look for in the above is that there is no prior art identified)

    If you follow along the NGC article, you're up to about 1911 before what we would today recognize as a crimped OBW exists.

    https://patents.google.com/patent/US1073575A/en

    You then have to allow a few years before the machines become ubiquitous - and there was that war to end all wars thinggy.

    So what are the odds that a random roll of circulating coins from say 1920 would have only coins 20 years old and more???
     
  19. dwhiz

    dwhiz Collector Supporter

    Run Forrest RUN
     
  20. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    I was going to bring this up. If the rolls mentioned in the OP are "sealed", how would you be able to see the end coins, unless these are machine-wrapped rolls with crimped ends, which have an opening that shows the end coins?

    (Which shouldn't be possible for rolls sealed in 1909, if such machinery didn't come along until a few years later.)

    If, on the other hand, these are regular paper wrappers where you have to open the flaps on the ends and peek inside to see the end coins, then they're not "sealed".

    Either way, it pretty much renders the idea of "rolls sealed in 1909" very dubious indeed.
    Please do. I want to see what these rolls look like and what's inside them. :shifty:
     
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  21. Robert Ransom

    Robert Ransom Well-Known Member

    This should be interesting.
     
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