This is probably a very basic question and i may already know the answer to this, but do you just go to the bank and buy a few rolls of whatever you're interested in then take them back for more or what? How successful is this? It actually sounds a lot more interesting than just buying whatever it is you're looking for.
Kinda, I personally like to have a dump off spot. Which means you figure out whats banks have what you want, buy them from them, than dump them at a different dump bank. Reasoning being is some banks dont like giving you $50 in dimes and receiving $48.20 in dime the next day. Get what Im saying?
Just make sure you don't go in one day get a butt load of change, open the rolls then dump it back the next day. Find a way of changing it even if you have to go out of your way... like going to wallmart or something. My bank just stopped giving out bulk change (unless your a business) because it's a small branch and a lot of people have been doing this with Kennedy halves due to people searching for silver...
Another benifit of returning coins to a different bank is that you don't end up searching the same coins over and over. You may have to search a little to find banks that have and will part with the rolls, and also to find a bank that doesn't mind taking back all the rolls when you are done without charging an arm and a leg to cash them in.
There's a new one born everyday hoping to strike it rich roll searching. With all of the people doing it there is alot left to find. Banks are also becoming more strict. Good luck. There is a wealth of information that can be found on this forum by searching.
I decided to jump on the bandwagon. Getting 2 boxes of halves later today. The bank said I was the first person to ever put in such a request. Going to look for silver, proofs, and errors. I have no expectations except for the thrill of the hunt on some cold snowy evenings. My only concern is, how heavy are $1000 of half dollars, and how do I get them to my car???
A bit over 48 pounds. I've learned to carry them, hold them against my chest with one arm, and open the door... I often do other change as well, and have gotten rather good at opening my car door with whatever is available to me.
Good luck. It is fun and can be very rewarding (it can also give you a long drought). Check out this thread for reports: http://www.cointalk.com/t10176-570/
buy at one bank & sell to another About 2 months ago, I asked my bank teller if she had any half dollar or dollar coins. She quickly said "We have $480 in halves do you want em". I asked how she knew there were $480 worth & she told me they have to include them in their count every day and they sure would like them to go away. I swiped my ATM card & bought them. She put them all into one of those thick clear plastic bags which they normally use in the coin counting machine. I sorted them and kept the best two of each date & mm. After all my sorting, I had pulled about 160 coins ($80 worth). It filled about 80% of the Kennedy book (without proofs) and I sold the remaining duplicates to a friend of mine for face value. I kept all the 40% silver coins for myself. I was missing the coins dated 1964, 1966, 1970, 1982, 1983 and several common D mint coins. It surprised me that I had found the silver coins & one MS example of each year from 2000 to 2009. I think that perhaps someone's collection was mixed in the $480. Most of the coins I kept are actually in AU and MS. I made a list of coins needed including some desired upgrades of those that were EF and worse. That list was filled after a few coin shows for about another $80. Today the book is full and my total out-of pocket was below $200. The project provided much roll searching fun during the Fall. I dumped the remaining $400 worth of searched rolls at a different bank where the wife & I have a joint account. When I was looking through a 50%-off box for Kennedy halves, I couldn't resist upgrading about 20 additional coins to coins from mint sets. The dealer had many Kennedys in mint cellophane marked $2-$3 which meant they were only $1-$1.50 each. I put them in the book and spent the original pieces. The new Dansco book cost $21. It really is a nice looking Dansco book.
Just to follow through with my previous post. The boxes of halves are very manageable to carry - my two boxes at the same time wasn't even bad. First box down: no silver and nothing otherwise special.
