How many coins in a roll of Half Cents?

Apparently with too much time on my hands, I have Googled around and cannot find any reference to a "roll" of US Half Cents.

If there were such things, how many coins would or should there there be in a roll?

For that matter, how about 2 cent pieces, 3 cent silver and nickel pieces, and 20 cent pieces?

 

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I don't believe any of the odd denominations were ever produced in rolls.

 

@Kirkuleez , not that I don't believe you, but how were they then distributed? In bags?

 

If I'm not mistaken, the coin roll is a fairly modern development. Prior to that, coins were distributed in bags or cases. Sometimes even large barrels for large quantities.

 

You don't believe me, I'm sad . Not really. I was trying to find the answer to when rolls were first used, but I can't nail down an exact date. I believe they started in the early 1900s, before that, yes, the coins were distributed in bags.

 

Rolls date back to the 1870s, but not from the mint, rather banks and other currency handlers wrapped coins in brown paper for convenience.

Then pre-made rolls and machine rolling came into being and for many years coins were distributed from the mint in rolls.

Today, ballistic bags (one ton) are sold to the coin terminals (Loomis et al) and they do the rolling for their customers (banks and cash handling companies like fast food).

So rolls didn't really exist at the time of the half cent.

 

Rolls were not really used for distribution of coin until the 1920's. It was remittance of coin that drove the development of coin wrapping machines. The rise of the coin-op vending machine, and paying for public trolleys and such, created a need to send coin back to the banks in large volumes. Coin counting and wrapping machines were created to meet this need. Prior to these machines, the counting and wrapping was done by hand, but as volumes increased, new inventions were needed. I would presume that re-distribution of coin that came in from the vending companies created a demand for rolled coin, and banks began using the machines with new coin as a method of distribution.

 

Problem is, what is the definition of "Original Bank Wrapped Roll"?

If we are talking about a roll that was wrapped from a hand-cut sheet of Kraft paper, with the ends folded-over and wax-sealed, then I believe the anecdote about the Half-Dimes.

Today, this type of roll would not be considered to be OBW because it does not have machine-crimped ends with at least one coin visible. The machine that wraps coins in this way was invented about 106 years ago.

See this thread I wrote a while back...before I became a member of this forum...

http://www.lincolncentforum.com/for...rn-from-the-earliest-patents&highlight=patent

 

The machine to do the wrapping may have been invented in 1901 but the wording in the description sentence of the patent. "...covered with a paper jacket, as is common, so that..." indicate that the practice of wrapping them was already established.

 

Yes of course. Perhaps you should re-read my post: "If we are talking about a roll that was wrapped from a hand-cut sheet of Kraft paper, with the ends folded-over and wax-sealed, then I believe the anecdote about the Half-Dimes." As Burton Strauss III said, rolls date back to the 1870's (I think they might go even further back) but they were hand-rolled. The practice was widespread, or as it says in my first cited patent, "as is common", by the beginning of the last century. The machines initially were designed to help with counting and wrapping by hand, and within a decade were wrapping what we know of today as OBW rolls.

My point is that if you received a roll of such coins, there would be no way to tell they were wrapped by a bank, or by hand, or what was inside of them. There may be a handwritten note on the outside, but the practice of putting the name of the bank where the roll was wrapped did not start until the 20's.

 

Large cents and half cents left the mint in wooden kegs. I haven't been able to find out the dollar amount per keg yet.

 

When Matthew Boulton packaged the coins he struck for shipment they were wrapped in paper rolls and then packed in kegs. This was in the 1790's. Machine wrapping came much later but paper wrapped coin rolls date back over two hundred years. When Boulton personal collection was sold around 2012 there was at least one of those original rolls in the group.

 

My guess is a half a roll.

 

I'd expect a pre-made roll to be made by machine, and if so, there would be a patent application for that machine. I have not seen such a document, or reference to such a machine, in any of my patent searches, so I would conclude that pre-made rolls were not available until sometime in the teens or 20's.

Keep in mind that a pre-wrapped roll tube is only secure on one end. The other end had to be folded over unless a crimping machine was available. Such a machine was not available until the teens.

From the patent record, there was a slow uptake of coin rolling "gadgets" such as counters/sorters/rolling assistants until around 1913. You can read Batdorf's 1913 patent (applied 1911), but the gist of it is that the rolls that were being produced were not secure enough for commerce. I consider Batdorf's 1913 patent to be the seminal patent for OBW rolls, in that it's the first machine that could roll a "tamper-proof" roll that was tightly-wrapped and exposed a coin on both ends.