Since the thread about Statehood quarter rolls has popped up again, I figured it was time to put an end to some of the myths. I found a 1909-S VDB in an unsearched lot. I found a 1955 Doubeled Die in an unsearched lot. I found a 1943 Copper Cent I found a two headed/tailed coin I found a silver cent I found a gold cent I heard a copper 1943 cent sold for 1 million plus I got a good deal on a coin bought on TV My grandmothers hoard was found in attic contained a rare $10,000 coin I found a MS-69 MS-70 coin in a roll at the bank I found an original colonial copper mixed in an unsearched lot I found an original Confederate Half Dollar These are the most common myths circulating throughout the coin community. They are perpepuated on TV and in magazine articles. They are talked about in coin forums. While each of the above myths have a slim possibility of some truth, your odds of this happening to you are far greater than stumbling across Big Foot on a walk through the woods. Now if you feel that you have the luck of the Irish running through your veins, play the powerball. Your odds are better and you will get rich much faster. While the student of the hobby will find RPM's or Double dies, or small errors, the major finds are not found in circulation. Yes on rare occasions, but even most of these are considered suspect by those of us who spend most of our time in the business. The whole thread about mintage numbers of the Mint wrapped rolls is very misleading. In what price guide are you finding roll values that differ from Bank wrapped to Mint Wrapped to Dealer wrapped? Anyone paying extra to receive quarters or nickels in a mint wrapper should really consider why? They WILL NOT receive more money for them when it comes time to sell. Yes there are SOME dealers who perpetuate the myth also. They sell Mint Wrapped coins like they are special in some way. The United States Mint makes it very clear that these coins are circulation quality only. They are in no way treated or handled differently than any of the other hundreds of millions of coins. They are created using the same dies, fall through the same riddling machines, and still wrapped using machines. They come with bag marks, scratches and all other problems that any rolled coin will suffer. Dealers who play the registry game, buy many mint and proof sets in search of that "Perfect" coin. Many times they are wrong and spend $28 to slab a $5 coin. It is part of the game. I have NEVER heard any credible person tell me that they have found a ultra gem in any roll. Do not allow yourself to be mislead into believing the myths. Truth and knowledge are easy to come by in this business. You just have to take the time to learn it.
Well, I don't have any examples of this, but I know someone who bought an "unsearched lot" of early Lincolns and found a 1924-D and a 1931-S. That's hardly an '09-S VDB, but not bad. Maybe the exception that proves the rule?
Don't get me wrong. I am not saying that good coins cannot be found. I still find Barber coins mixed in with rolls. I even once found a Seated Half. It is easy to stumble across a nice coin who's owner did not know or appreciate the numismatic value. Finding a $50 coin in a bag of coins is not impossible. Finding a $1000 coin? I am not trying to burst the bubble of anyone here. Just to get people to think beyond what they hear. There is an old saying that you should believe none of what you hear, and only half of what you see. I don't wish to have a member or lurker of this forum to fall prey to these myths. Don't spend hard earned money on a chance. Know your material and you will enjoy the purchase for a very long time. Leave the risk taking to the fool hearty.
Certainly there is a great deal of truth in all the points made. Rare coins are just that- rare. If these were available in gramma's attic or in circulation then they would certainly not be rare. I would pick a little though at the assertion that there are no high grade coins in circulation. Many of the highest grade coins are rare but not all of these were made in very small numbers. They are rare much more because the coins weren't saved than that they weren't produced. Another factor which makes them improbable in circulation is that in many cases the mint set coins will be superior. These are struck at slower speeds with new dies so often will be nicer than anything that went into circulation. It's also trus that in recent years the odds of finding top rate coins in circulation seems to have decreased. While the average quality has improved (largely as the result of lowering the relief), the best quality has come down. But in any case it has been possible to get top rate coins in circulation for the last few decades. It's not a simple matter of going down to the bank and buying a brick of new coins and looking for the best. The odds of finding one this way is not very good because only 15 or 20 die pairs will appear in the whole lot. The odds are that none of these will be a really nice gem. The "easiest" way to find them is to watch your change. Eventually you'll get a nice very well made coin. It may be marked a little but that doesn't matter because there will be some from the same pallet or bag which aren't marked. Ask where the store does their banking and go there and get a box of that coin. The odds of finding them will go from a long shot to very possible. The last really nice coin released around here were the NJ Denver quarters and I never did find their source. There have been other releases of note around here with one of the most spectacular being the 1979-P type "d" reverse quarter. These were released in such large quantities that they accounted for nerely 50% of the coins in circulation. Now they're kind of hard to find and are in only F condition.
True enough. The bottom line is not to pay more for "lots" like these than what the lot would be worth to you if it were all common stuff without any date/mint/condition premium. A lot of wheaties? To me a common date, late circulated wheat cent is worth two cents, so I'd buy a lot of 1,000 for up to $20. A roll of silver dollars? Assuming they are all silver, I'll give you melt value plus a dollar per coin. That way, if nothing is better than worst case, I haven't been taken -- and anything better is a bonus. No one should pay a premium for "unsearched" hype. Having said that, it's possible to find pleasant surprises, but the odds of finding an '09-S VDB cent or a '93-S Morgan in the lots mentioned above are astronomically low.
My grandmothers hoard was found in attic contained a rare $10,000 coin. My wife's grandfather is 82 years old and was a coin collector in the 50's when his children were growing up. Every now and then he'll pull out one of his 13 1-quart mason jars full of silver coins "collected" from that time. He's a cantankerous old fart and won't let anyone look through the coins. Certainly not likely to be any in there worth 10k but I wouldn't be surprised at all if a 1921 or 21-D dime or nice 21-S half was in there. I hope I can get to the pawn after the inevitable happens. He won't be cold before some the grandchildren go through the house. Anyhow, my point is that this type of situation is taking place all over the country as coin collectors from the 50's begin to pass away. You can bet there are plenty of really really good coins, and some worth thousands, still in jars in the back of the closet.
There weren't any coins worth $10,000 in today's money in the 1950's or even the '40's or '30's. You'd have to go all the way back to the mid-1920's to find circulating coins worth this kind of money and these people are long gone or have long since gotten rid of these coins. Sure there are coins from the '50's that are worth $10,000 now but these are not the kind of coins that people were pulling from pocket change. They were pulling coins like XF '26-S cents and if they got lucky they might find a VG '14-D or even a F '21 dime. The valuable coins that were in circulation weren't saved. No one paid any attention to something like a gem '53-S half or a full step '60-D nickel. In those days they filled albums with circulated coins and hoarded BU rolls and bags "for future generations". The odds of finding these coins randomly in circulation in those days was very remote. On the off chance such a coin did make it into someones mason jar it has long since been jostled down to an unattractive AU condition. There are probably lots of coins in circulation that will be worth $10,000 in today's money in the future but that's because people aren't saving these either. This isn't just high grade examples but it's the varieties and other various coins that are rare. The older people who have $10,000 coins which will come on the market paid a few hundred dollars for them in the '50's and many are or recently were active coin collectors. But they did not find these coins in circulation, though in some cases perhaps their parents or grandparents did.
Please read my post again. I said...."Certainly not likely to be any in there worth 10k but I wouldn't be surprised at all if a 1921 or 21-D dime or nice 21-S half was in there."
You're no doubt correct that there will be many nice coins coming from this source over the next several years. My point was merely that there was little left in circulation of much value by the mid-'40's and virtually nothing by 1960. Few of these coins have a lot of value even 50 years later.
