So, I go to the bank today and ask for a couple of rolls of cents and a roll of halves. The half roll was a (what do you call it? a shotgun roll?) and every coin in it was a 1996-P. So -- tons of questions? Where does such a roll come from? I couldn't possibly be getting a mint roll from a bank 13 years after issue, could I? And, what do I do with it? Pick the best one for the album, and then trade them in for another roll? The coins pretty much look all Unc, most have some scratch-type marks, one or two look mightly fine, some look more than minimally scratched. I think none of them has any wear on it. Might the nicest one be an MS-65, which, it seems is worth $10-$15 (according to numismedia)? Thoughts?
It's probably just how the coins were sorted. I've gotten many rolls all with the same date, even some hand-wrapped rolls. I would do just what you said, pick the best one, and cash the rest back in.
Half dollars haven't really circulated since 1996. Indeed, there might be a few out there dating back as far as 1994 yet.
Yes it is very possible that it can be an original roll. After all they don't circulate. In 1988 I came up with an unopened mint bag of 1976-D halves at the local bank.
It's not unusual It's not unusual we see them all the time - if truly Unc. and bank wrapped they would have been rolled by Brinks or one of the many coin distributors not the mint (at that time). There is no numismatic value in them - we get people paying us with them all the time. Seems there is a lot of 1996 & 1997 around, I don't know why. I did find a beautiful clip in one once, sold it to cheap but "what you gonna do"? Pick the best to keep and spend them.
I would pick out the gems and keep an eye out for silver ones (1964-70), and spend the rest wherever you can. People say they don't circulate. Well, bringing the searched rolls back to the bank won't help that problem. I try to spend a couple thousand dollars in halves and dollar coins every year. I might get some unusual looks, but they generally get over it.
