so, i have decided to start really focusing on my lincoln cent collection. I had only been focusing on the older coins when i first started, but i should really keep up on the current stuff as well. just wanted to know the best way to go about getting minty fresh rolls of years 2000-current. i live in Philadelphia, so getting the philly mint stuff shouldnt be to hard, but denver may prove to be a bit more difficult. any ideas to help me out??? thanx a bunch! Greg
this is turning out to be harder than i thought. i have already called 3 banks in the area asking to order a box of 2008 cents, and they have all told me that cant do it, because they cant guarantee that they will all be 2008. yet my local coin shop and the us mint both told me i woould have to go thru the bank to order them. this is crazy, and i really dont wanna pay $3 a roll on ebay.
You might try reading this - Mint Mark Trading Partners As for the banks, doubt you'll find one that will say they can get rolls of a specific year. What you have to do is just order them and take what you get. Search them, keep what you want and turn the rest back in. But don't take them to the same bank you got them from. That way the bank you got them from will be willing to get you more.
no bank can guarentee a bow, not even a roll of any straight year penny, because where ever they get it from, whatever AC service they use, those people make the boxes of coins and the rolls in them. which, correct me if im wrong, is just a big machine they dump circulated coins in along with a big ole bag of newer coins. so the only play your going to get a whole box of new single year pennies is the mint.
I have found that if I am patient, at some point during the year, I will be in a bank when they have new coins and I will request a roll or two. They never seem to mind, and I get my coins at face but make no mistake about it, I also pay a price for my coins. My price is diligence and patience. I look all year until I get them, and at some point, it happens... well, with cents at least it does. I also never look for rolls of anything other than the current year because when I find a bank that has the new cents, chances are that they also have fresh, new solid rolls. Over the years I have had several trading partners and have made some excellent friends. You should try this route in the future and bite the bullet for the rolls from 2000-2007.
Dang, I just turned in 20 dollars in new 2008P cents. I buy at least two boxes of pennies a week from my local bank to go through and two weeks ago I got a box of nothing but 2008's. First time this year I got them. So I kept 4 rolls for myself and sold three rolls to a coin dealer I deal with all the time, who said he couldn't find any rolls of 2008's all the rolls he had managed to obtain to date were mixed. Dave
If you know anyone who works a cash register, ask them to watch for rolls of pennies where both ends are super shiny. I regularly ask for a roll at our grocery store. If they hand me one with "shiny" ends, I hand it back and ask if they have one with "dirty" coins on the ends.
2008 cent thur dime are hard to find in Bu rolls in Alabama. but State Quarters are everywhere! * I hope that 2009 is better
Nice Lincoln's Memorials are not easy! If you really want nice Lincoln memorials you are in for a job. I have bought and searched at least 20,000 bank wrapped rolls since 1997. I typically get the $25 boxes much earlier in the year than this year for face value. I go through than separating the "gems" and looking for doubled dies of course. To get a problem free roll it generally takes about 1000 coins. That's right 1000, some times many more. With the blotchy black marks from the wash to the ones with scratches and dents this is not easy at all. I am very picky though and others may not be but every time I sell coins people are very pleased. Some dates come nice and some you will never find a gem roll of. Some of the rolls that come nice are 1996-D to date, (Denver rolls are most often better), the earlier 1990's are usually good. The bad ones are 1971,72,73,74-S, with 73 & 74-S being the worst. 1982 smdt. zink along with most 1st and 2nd years copper coated zink cents such as 1983, 84, & 85, until they perfected the plating process. The later 1970's such has 76, 77, 78, can be good or bad but mostly bad and early 70 P&D are good. The sixties suffer from overused dies and range from great to horrible. I often see 1956, 7, and 8 rolls that are better that most 1960 thru 1985. Week before last I bough 50 1984-P rolls and did not keep one coin, (plus there were no doubled dies either). The best way to get them is at bigger shows and through dealers that get them from time to time and take them all, 100 rolls or whatever. They may not want to carry them home. I have never opened a roll of memorial cents and was satisfied enough to keep all 50 coins in mint state although I have done that with a few B.U. Wheat rolls. Also, now is the time it will soon be to late as they are absorbed into this upcoming market excited by the design change!! Good Luck! Ben Peters
I agree with everything Ben says about the Lincoln Cent rolls! There are specific Dates and Mints that generally have nice coins and others that most of the coins are just totally trash that no one wants. I have purchased many 1972-P and 1984-P OBW rolls that came out of hoards and although they were sealed tight and untouched, the coins inside were absolutely horrible. You also have to be extremely careful and knowledgeable when buying so-called Original Bank Wrapped rolls, whether it is buying off of eBay, from a local Coin Dealer or from a Dealer at a Coin Show. There are many Coin Dealers that have the own Coin Rolling Machines and they roll up Lincoln Cents and sell them as OBW rolls. Study and learn the different types of paper and logos for the many known OBW rolls. I have seen Coin Dealers and many eBay Sellers selling 1960's or early Wheat rolls as OBW rolls but they were wrapped in rolling paper that was not produced and used until the 1970's. I believe that there are sites that show examples of OBW roll paper along with the Dates of production and use. There are also Dealers that sell OBW roll paper of many different Dates of production and years used and they cater to Coin Dealers that make up the so-called OBW rolls. I have purchased quite a few so-called OBW rolls that were supposed to be original as they were shipped to the Banks from the Coin Wrapping Service Companies that supply the Banks. These coins come directly from the Mint in bags, are dumped into hoppers where they are counted, then rolled up, so they should be untouched by human hands. Well, most if not all of the coins (mainly Cents) in some of the so-called OBW rolls that I have purchased and searched, had fingerprints on them. Although some Dealers have guarantees on the OBW rolls that they sell, once you pay for them, you have very little if any recourse as they will always claim that they received the rolls as they are and/or they were unsearched by them. So before you hit the Coin Shops, Coin Shows or go to eBay looking for OBW rolls of Gem BU coins, know your OBW rolling paper and the time periods (Production Dates and Years used) and you may save yourself some time, money and frustration! Frank
