I attended an auction tonight (physically, not online) and finally walked away feeling pretty good. . . 57 silver dimes (48 Mercury and 9 Roosevelt) for $70!!! Made up for it a bit by overpaying for 5 Walkers.
My first coin auction was similar - I bought 7 rolls of Roosies for just under melt (which was good, because at least 50 of the dimes were post '65), and bought a bin of unsearched wheaties for $2/roll (there were almost 110 rolls). I unknowingly sold the best one on eBay, but found my share of early teens and a VDB or two.
I sold it on eBay - I guess they found two VDBs and the rest was mostly teens - left it on the feedback, yeah...
Live auctions are a heck of a lot better then the online ones and you can get great deals. Over a month ago I went to one and bought a container of 12 mercs, 3 roosies, 3 pre 64 kens, 2 pre 64 wash quarters. All for $30 and one of the dimes was a 1921D. Best one I hit this year for the value.