New to coin hunting... any tips?

Good evening everyone,

I'm a new coin roll hunter who is needing tips and tricks. For those who are experienced, what should I be looking for in pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, half dollars, etc? I've gained some knowledge through various searches, but would like to learn from you all as well. Any information is greatly appreciated and I look forward to hearing from you all!

Respectfully,
Tyler

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

coin rolls hunting is BS IMO

 

Why's that? what do you prefer?

 

its like winning a lottery ... but you can look up for 1992 close AM varity

 

Welcome to the neighborhood, Tyler!

I'd suggest that you try to learn more about the minting process before you start looking for errors and/or varieties. You've got to keep in mind that there are billions and billions of coins in circulation that may or may not be damaged, but without an understanding of the minting process, you will probably find a lot of damaged coins for which you won't find a plausible explanation that are really just post-mint damage (PMD). We get this type of "unusual" coin posted here all the time, and the typical comment we get from many of these newcomers is that "they have never seen anything like it". Of course, that should be expected since there are billions and billions of coins floating around out there.

Chris

 

Welcome to CT Tyler!
As Chris stated, becoming familiar with the minting process is essential knowledge if looking for errors.
If I were you I would stay away from quarters entirely, as they circulate frequently and you will rarely ever find silver in a roll. Dimes don't seem to produce much either but are better than quarters in the silver department.
If silver is mainly what you're looking for I'd pony up for Half rolls, if you're doing it just for the sake of finding cool coins and building up a collection cents, nickels, and/or halves would probably be your best bet.
And I wouldn't consider it to be like the lottery, sure... maybe in that you get that same rush when you find a nice coin, but unlike the lottery if you don't win CRHing you can just return your losses and recoup your money.

I haven't roll searched in a solid half a year or so, but may dabble in it again at some point, it provided a solid starting point for my cent and nickel collections, and I once even got lucky with dimes and found a full roll of silver

Absorb all the knowledge you can and give it a try, if it's not for you all that's been lost is a little bit of your time. Happy hunting!

 

We're sorry, then, that you ended up posting in the Coin Roll Hunting forum of CoinTalk. Don't forget to wipe your shoes on your way out.

 

Welcome to CoinTalk!

A lot of us came to this hobby because we're naturally oriented toward detail, patient, and persistent. You absolutely need the last two to get anywhere with CRH; the stronger you are with the first, the better your odds of finding something good.

Mere silver-hunting is really easy; it's hard to miss silver, because it's clearly indicated by date and/or appearance of the coin. (You'll find some threads here where people think they've found "off-metal" coins, struck on the wrong metal for their denomination or date. That's a big deal when it happens, but it's extremely rare, and most are false alarms.) You won't find much, though, because people have been "mining" the silver out of circulation for many years now.

Hunting for different designs (wheat-ear cents, Buffalo nickels, etc.) is also easy. Wheaties still turn up in every few rolls of cents, and are fun to find, but not especially valuable.

Foreign coins turn up sometimes as well. If you find them interesting, they add more fun.

If you're very detail-oriented, you can look for varieties and errors. As @cpm9ball said, you'll more often find damaged coins, but with practice you can learn to distinguish those. I never pursued that much myself; I'm pretty detail-oriented, but I found variety-checking too strenuous.

Keep in mind that it costs banks actual time and money to get in rolls of coins and to process ones you return. Try not to abuse their service, and be nice to your tellers.

Bottom line, from my point of view: If you enjoy roll-hunting, it's easy to pursue, and about the cheapest way to participate in coin collecting -- you never pay more than face value for your coins (unless you get a roll that's short or contains the wrong coins), so you can always get back what you paid. If you're just looking for financial reward, CRH is a poor choice, because you'll effectively be making much less than minimum wage at it.

(If you want a cheaper way to get into the hobby, check out the "CoinStar reject finds" thread, and keep your eyes on the ground as you're walking around. )

 

Welcome to the forum, Tyler

For general knowledge, a guide book of united states coins (the red book) is a great book to get and read. The reading is great but don't pay attention to the prices as they are outdated as the book goes to press.

Read the book, then buy the coin.

Also, buy the coin, not the slab. If the coin appeals to you, then buy it.
Do join a local coin club and attend their meetings. Can learn a lot just talking to other members.

Same for attending coin shows and conventions.

A lot to absorb but will stay with you a long time.

 

Yep.

I think you missed the part where the OP was asking about coin ROLL hunting...?

All sorts of coins appeal to me when they're available at face value!

 

Good luck at finding silver coins at face value...also Tyler may want to expand from ROLL hunting to other areas.

 

"Good luck" at "face value" is kind of the point of the Coin Roll Hunting forum...

 

I remember roll hunting with my dad back in the late 50s. He found a 1909 VDB in a roll, and a 1922 D as well. Dad hoarded up coffee cans full of standing liberty quarters, walking liberty halves, mercury dimes, any silver. We managed to mostly fill up some of those blue (Whitman?) coin albums. The cans of silver grew legs one day after some low life burglar swiped them all. That was an early reminder to not let others know you collect treasure at home. Now a days I find no Lincoln pennies or Buffalo nickels in my pocket change, but that may be because I live on the other side of the planet. I certainly would not discourage any new, young wannabe collector from roll hunting.

 

I CRH Halves for silver. If I get Frankie's and Walkers they go into my collection. The advice I have is persistence and patience are a must as mentioned before in this thread. Next is getting smart with your logistics. Make sure you read the Coin Roll Hunting FAQ in this forum if you haven't already. They touch on key points like NEVER dump where you pick up your boxes. Also build a route of pick up and dump banks that utilizes the least amount of gas as possible. Gas money is part of your overhead in this hobby. For me not every bank has a coin machine and not every bank has halves so I have to be careful with my Hunting when it comes to gas. Also, you are dealing with random reward when CRH so it can become addicting.

 

But you missed the part where "Tyler may want to expand from ROLL hunting to other areas." Reread post.

 

No, just didn't see any reason to comment on it, positive or negative. I don't comment on every sentence I read; it just seems that way sometimes.

 

CE Harris boxes of tubes although I prefer the more expensive Guardhouse since I can soak my coins using acetone xyelene while stacked in them which greatly reduces the cost of sanitizing them.

I wish the Guardhouse tubes were optically clear and still impervious to wicked chemicals.

Coins from rolls are FILTHY and will try your immune system.

First step is to learn how to sanitize them and then sorting in a way that doesn't take over your work area and life.

Get organized, get tubes when you can afford them and many more than you think you'll need, buy flips for good finds and good optics to examine them.

A flat clinch stapler is also nice to have.

If you're serious, get a good used stereo microscope which reveals far more detail and works you much less than straining with a loupe. Neither sounds like work even after stacking and sorting and cleaning etc?

Try looking at coins all day long with a loupe.

A used Bausch and Lomb StereoZoom (SZ4) is cheap and quite good for coins.

In the event you decide coins aren't for you, the stereo can be used for tons of other things and is simply nice to have. You can always sell one and where you make your money on anything, is when you buy it so, don't pay too much.

For variety and error hunting, which is where the paycheck is in CRH'ing, a loupe will limit you to generally finding virtually non-existent and naked eye obvious DD's such as the 1955, 1969 and 1972 with huge spreads, and result in your giving up while a guy like me will gladly buy your tubed or rolled coins, typically paying twice to three times what your local coin dealer won't even offer, to pick off what you missed after you did the lazy easy stuff like pluck key dates and snagged errors/varieties that can be seen from across the room.

Pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, halves........... start out with cents then work your way up. If you have the money to buy boxes of nickels, dimes, quarters, and halves do it and even keep the copper cents as well as nickels. Check all your pocket change.

From pocket change, I do most of my business in cash and often request rolled coins for change instead of notes, I hit 4 or 5 each and every week. It isn't so much about luck as it is having the tools to do it, the eye for detail, the willingness to seek the knowledge and file it on your pc where it is accessible, etc etc.

I never dump coins back at the bank. I keep them. From time to time local hang-arounds attack sorting coins with me (it is easy labor intensive) and none ever complain about being paid with bank boxes of partially sorted but un-inspected coins, most often zinc or clad. I keep copper and nickel coins, period.


I will say, I disagree on the quarters as I'm not a silver harvester like that since hunting varieties is much more certain and pays better. I take what silver I find but generally acquire silver coins from ads resulting in people bringing it to me since I pay much more than the pawn shops and coin dealers. I will also pay fairly for coins that aren't "melt coins" and pawn shops, and even dealers, will generally try to buy any coin for spot minus whatever, even if the coin has 'book value'. The quarters are great for finding varieties and mostly errors for putting back long term. Some of them are good paychecks right now.

 

Well, then I am right. If Tyler wanted to expand into other endeavors of coin "anything", (besides CRH) then "Good luck at finding silver coins at face value" is an appropriate phrase.

 

Searching through rolls of coins can be fun entertainment if you don't expect to find the holy grail. Your source of coin rolls is important. You can get rolls of coins at face value from banks. You may get lucky and get rolls that were turned in from an old estate and find silver or coins not typically found in normal commerce. EBay is full of people selling "unsearched" rolls. Beware of these as more likely than not they are seeded rolls with some key or semi key dates put on the ends to sell them at high prices. It's one way for a seller to unload inventory. I've bought some of these in the past and ended up with a lot of common coins which were difficult to get rid of without taking a significant loss.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone! I definitely enjoyed reading each comment providing information about coin roll hunting. It definitely seems to require a bit of knowledge, but I look forward to learning all that I can! Once again, thanks for all of the information!