Interesting Find From Circulation

Not too long ago I visited virtually every bank branch in my town over about a 3 to 4 month period (older bank, newer bank, it didn't matter) to gauge the level of service each had to offer. I asked around during the process and discovered that they all got their coins from the same delivery service. The delivery service got them from the nearest Federal Reserve Bank (Denver). The Denver FR bank machine-rolls them from change turned into them by the various bank branches. It is kind of a cyclical process, but at least the odds of my getting the same coins over and over again are remote since hundreds and hundreds of "local" banks are serviced by the Denver facility.

All of the banks I visited had at least a few rolls of halves on hand, and some had many more of them than others. A couple of branches were very helpful, others were not. Some of the tellers acted "put out" when I asked them for halves, others couldn't wait to get them for me. I waited in line at one bank branch, made it to the teller's window, then had to wait an additional 20 minutes to get 5 rolls of coins. Needless to say I'll never do business there!

Some banks will order you halves specially. They come in boxes (pallets) of 50 rolls ($500). Some banks will do it for free, others will charge you a handling/stocking fee of about $20. I guess it depends on where you are and what you ask them to do.

I now go to two branches of my bank each week when I want rolls. We have a nice arrangement worked out. There are two others that I visit on occasion, but not regularly. Over the years I've found a little bit of everything ranging from a 10 Peso coin (worth about $1) to 4 proof Kennedys, to a nice little assortment of Franklin and Walker halves that popped up every once in a great while. I've gotten a solid start on a Dansco Kennedy album too. It is a fun way to spend a couple of hours each week.

The key to remember is to maintain consistency, whether it is pennies, dimes, or halves. Don't give up because you've gotten 200 rolls and they were all 1998-Ps: Keep searching and you'll hit paydirt sooner or later. Good luck!

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

This may not qualify as a "found in circulation," but I think it comes close.

My wife and I were doing a tour last weekend of Civil War battlefields in west Tennessee, and we stopped at a gas station near Fort Campbell, right before we crossed into Tennessee from Kentucky. Not only was the gas $1.97 (!!!), but the gas station had a gum-ball style machine that dispensed collectable coins. They advertised that they had examples of all the silver coins (except dollars) since the Barber designs, and had all the nickels of the same period, Indian cents, and wheat cents as well. They also had $1 silver certificates. I could see a silver certificate and a mercury dime. Only 75 cents each. I got a 1962 dime, and a 1952D cent. Circulated. Not exactly a great value, at least for what I got, but I like the idea. And I'd never seen one before.

 

I've seen though's machines in Indiana as well. My son got a buffalo nickel, I forget the year but it was quite worn. They are kind of a neet idea.

 

Went to the bank yesterday got 50 dollars worth of pennies. From seaching the rolls I found over $1.25 extra in coins included 5 dimes. I found 11 wheats and a few canadian cents

 

I have been wanting to get some half dollar roles from the bank to search through. I drove around my area one day last week and stopped at about 8 different banks. Most of them had a few loose halves on hand, but none of them had any rolls. After the 3rd or 4th bank I started asking the tellers if they could order them for me. They all said, "no, we can't do that." As a previous poster mentioned, some of the tellers acted very 'put out' that I even request half dollar rolls. One girl even told me that the mint didn't make them any more, and she wasn't even sure if they still were used as money!

On the last bank I went to, and believe me, I was in a mood by then, I went and sat down on the chairs where one sits to wait to speak to a manager-type. When I got to talk to one I asked her if she could order me some rolls of halves. She said, "well, I do the ordering on Monday and Wednesday mornings, so if you let me know I could order a box for you, or however much you need. She didn't even ask if I had an account there. (I didn't)

See, my problem was in asking the tellers. They just want to move you through the line and get on to the next customer...at least where I live. The managers, like in many stores, have more power to actually assist you with requests that may seem out of the norm.

Now I just need to convince my wife to let me take $500.00 out of the account for a box of halves.

 

WOW! A 1911 V Nickel and a 1920 Buffalo on the same day of searching!

 

I got a box of pennies last night, and I did pretty darn good. Found:

1. 1917-D in G4
2. 1934-P in VF
3. 6 1958-P/D
4. 1970-S Small Date Doubled Date Error
5. 3 1959-P/D

So, not my best box ever, but then again, the Doubled Date Error was a nice find!

~AJ

 

Here's what I found searching through 2000 pennies (40 rolls):

1940
1952-D
1954-D
1972-S
1963 XF
2000 off center?
15 canadian (with 3 before 1965)


1941-D
1944
1946
1952-D
1958-D
1968-S (this one was so shiny!)
1970-S
1974-S
11 canadian (one from 1946! My first king george penny)
1968 penny from panama (this one surprised me)


1957-D
1970-S
1971-S
1974-S
1975 XF
1976 XF (these were really shiny)
7 canadian (one 1958)

 

You found 33 Canadian Pennies in 40 rolls? Sheesh, I wish I had that luck! Are you from near the Canadian border?

 

You must live near the Canadian border.

I would love to find Canadian cents, but seldom do. Maybe two or three in the last couple of years.

 

I rarely find them in change, but I find about 15-20 in every box of $25.00 worth of cents my wife and I go through. (she collects wheaties, so she gets all of the wheaties, and I get anything else that is interesting.) I also have found 2 Lincolns with JFK's profile counter stamped on them, and a penny from the Bahamas. I have even found a few proofs. I keep anything out of the ordinary, and dump the rest back into the free change counter at my bank. I live in Delaware, so I am not exactly close to the northern border, but I don't know where the local banks get there coins from.

 

EagleEyed:

In about 50 years of searching, I have never found a proof coin in circulation.

Have a ton of coins from the Bahamas, because I was there last summer!

 

We search alot of cents, and I have found two. Both were from the late 1990's (I will look for them for exact dates) and I assumed they were from people cracking proof sets and for whatever reason spending the cents. Neither of them are in great condition, but they are proofs nonetheless.

 

I live in ohio. I find so many canadian pennies, I am sick of it. There are more canadian pennies than wheaties!

 

I live in SWVA and ratio is about even

 

I live in Michigan and Canadian coins are just as common as US. I have found what I would consider half way decent finds for 1 cents.

1939
1943
1945
1947
1956
1959

I've added these to my ever going collection.

 

I just searched 2000 MORE pennies. Here are the finds:
1942
1950
1952-D
1960 XF
1962 XF
1969-S
1969-S
28 canadians.

 

Massachusetts State Quarter.

Big deal?

Nope, except it's five years old and absolutely gleaming perfect.

Maybe it had been saved and somebody decided to spend it.

 

I did 800 nickles over the weekend, and the only thing worth writing about was a 1943-S (silver). This is my second silver nickel in the last three months.

Other than that, I found a 1957-D in F. Now lony 35 holes left in my 1938-1961 folder (from circulation, since buying them is too easy).

 

i found a 1970 s penny in my change today! its got a nice dark brown color, but not scratches or anything. the s's always excite me for some reason haha.

how do you know when you've come across a proof coin?