Roll Searching

Hey thanks for all the good advice. I've been using a small branch close by but now I will try the main branch in town and see what I can do there. I still could never imagine a box of hundresd of rolls, , I'm new to collecting so I will start small and see what happens. And check out some other local banks too.

Carmella

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I've also had problems returning rolls. While never rejected, I've been made to stand there and actually watch someone open the rolls and recount them -- very slowly -- probably to give a little hint at their annoyance. I'll have to look for a bank with a free coin counting machine. That would certainly make life easier, but I haven't seen that service around here yet.

I used to search rolls of halves, but I suspect I've searched every roll within 50 miles of here looking for silver, and I'm just getting the same ones back over and over now. The don't circulate much so anyone who wants to collect Kennedys can find a lot of specimens in great condition.

Thanks for the info on asking for boxes. I didn't know about that.

 

Carmella.

i too am new to this roll thing. What I did was talk to the person in charge of ordering coin for the bank, (vault lady). She was more than willing to order coin for me by the box and let me get as many or as little from the box at one time. the only thing she said to me is that she couldn't gaurentee that the coins that I didn't buy would be their when I came back for more because someone else might want them. Also, she would not re-order any more until I finished off the box.

I find it easier also to take back the smaller amounts to my bank. i might cash coin in two or three days in a row, but it is only in 200 dollar or less incriments.

good luck, its a lot of fun!!

JD

 

I was getting down on searching rolls recently--my last twenty nickel rolls only yielded five coins earlier than 1960--1948, 1948-D, 1957, 1958-D, and 1959-D. Then I realized that the 1958 is one of only 18 million, and I believe it is in VF+.

While not worth much, it gets me one hole closer to finishing my 1938-1961 folder, from circulation (buying a set is too easy). Twenty-seven down, and only thirty-eight to go...

 

nice find!

 

I went to FOUR banks in Boston today (2 Bank of America, 1 Citizens bank, and 1 local bank that has been in the same building for many,many decades) trying to find half dollar rolls. None of them had any. As a matter of fact, from the looks I received, some of the tellers had no clue what I was talking about. It was like I walked into a McDonalds and ordered a Taco Bell bean burrito. I had to assure one teller that, yes, they "still make those." Another thought I was talking about Sac dollars until I made it clear that I didn't want "the gold ones." Seriously, these people work in a bank? One teller said he could go look in the "obsolete" money drawer to see if there were some coins there. I told him I was only interested in rolls, not single coins. After leaving the bank, it suddenly dawned on me what he said: "a drawer full of obsolete money." Doesn't that sound intriguing? I am sure the definition of "obsolete" is different for a coin collector and bank teller, but I would still like to see the contents of that drawer.

 

There's a very good chance he was talking about the damaged, corroded, or otherwise yucky coins waiting to be shipped to the Fed for destruction.

 

I've had tellers say similar things to me. They will get something like an older Jefferson nickle, a Wheat penny, or a 1950s $2 bill. They'll keep it as a part of their personal drawer/bank and refuse to either give it out or turn it in because they aren't sure if it is valuable or merely unusual. Tellers at my bank have actually asked me to look through their "oddities" for anything worth keeping. I haven't found anything so far. One lady had been holding on to 2 heavily circulated bicentennial Ike dollars for over a year.

 

obsolete money

That might be right. However, when the other teller didn't immediately understand what he said he added for clarification: "Check the drawer that we keep the $2 bills in..." This was a major branch in Boston, so maybe they did have some weird stuff collecting in a drawer. Again, that $2 comment struck me as weird, because I wouldn't consider $2 bills as anything too odd. I was thinking the drawer might also contain foreign currency and coins. Damaged coins might still be fun to look through. At least I know where to get some $2 bills!

 

I would like to add some information I recently came across to my older posts to this thread:

When turning in coins to a bank:
A. Make sure they're rolled - I've not heard of a bank that takes unrolled coin.
B. If you get a box - REUSE it when turning in the coins. Makes it TONS easier on the teller.
C. Try not to turn in more than $500 in coins to any one bank on one day. Usually there's a "processing and reshipment fee." This means the bank will charge you to have a Brinks Truck (or armored car for you guys who don't know Brinks) take the extra coins back from you to the re-rolling and processing center. This fee is about $10-$20 depending on the bank (at least out by me....!).

I hope this helps anybody who is looking through bank rolls. I know I found it all out the hard way!

~AJ

 

I'd check this first. It seems to vary from area to area. None of the banks in my town will take rolled coins. They all want them loose and then run them through their own counters. One of the banks gave me a few of the old canvass mint bags, and I used them for my pick-ups and returns.

 

Really? Wow.... EVERY BANK in Arizona (where I live) - Tucson, Flagstaff, Mesa, Phoenix, Scottsdale, etc. that I've ever been to has asked me to roll them. Oy vey! Let me revise my revision then and say that you should check with your local bank to find out the best way to turn in your coins!

On a side note, I FINALLY found a bank here in Mesa that has about $200 in half dollars!!!!! And they even knew what they were!!!!! So I asked the manager to hold them for me and I'm going to go buy them up tomorrow! Wahoo! I got two rolls today from there to look through to see if there is anything good, and I found 2 1967 Silver Kennedys! I'm so excited for tomorrow!

 

I came across this site that some of you who check rolls may find helpful:
http://www.theunderstory.com/index.htm
This lists banks & stores across the country that have coinstar machines many of which do NOT charge a fee. My bank in FLA.( BankAtlantic) has them in the lobby & they're open 7days a week.I don't know if they would like you putting in $200 in pennies but maybe if you got $100 in assorted rolls once a week you could stick them back in the machines & get new rolls back at the teller & save yourself the trouble of rolling them back up.

 

My bank is a credit union, very small, and new. I explained what i was doing, and worked around them. If they were busy i would come back in an hour, etc. So, I know after asking, noone buys rolls there, all the rolls that they have are from their members, and I even save them shipping monies. they have to ship their excess change to a bigger bank. Now I will open a savings at a big bank in the big city to get the new stuff. If you have a friend that heads the bank, that's a plus!!!

 

interesting, didn't know that.. im very interested in buying by the box, pennies any way.. I am just starting to collect coins, so far I have lots of dif foreign coins just get cheap from coin shop bins ect, and im trying to collect the small Canadian penny set, right now doing so by roll searching for my missing dates, better grades keeping an eye for mint errors, rarities ect, and plain just enjoy it

I have been going in few times a week buying about 15-20 rolls or so each visit, at times even ran into them not having enough. and I hop between banks, always return them to the same bank and purchase from the others in hopes to avoid getting the same ones back (started leaving my mark on them now).

Any way, question.. I live in Canada, Ont.. is it still possible to purchase those boxes of rolls here?

I have also been hanging onto all the American pennies I get as well, so far several wheat cents and I have most dates of both D&non mark from 1960-2005, only 1 S and that's 1969, great cond though

any one know if its possible to buy American pennies or any foreign coins by the rolls IE from like currency stands ect, at face value but of course prob be a small fee.

 

How do you tell a silver coin apart from others?

 

Without reading every response to this question, I will give you my take on purchasing rolls from Banks!

I find that the best investment is to purchase cent, nickel and half dollar rolls but I also purchase quite a few quarter rolls! Due to the similarities such as color and having the same Obverse and/or Reverse, the chance of getting a few wheat cents, Silver War nickels and 40% Silver halves are fairly good. There are lots of errors to be found on Lincoln cents some of which are not even documented yet! You may also get an occasional Indian cent, Buffalo nickel and Silver Kennedy half from time to time! Also, you often get a few extra coins in the rolls and I usually get an average of 5 to 10 extra cents and 2 to 4 extra nickels for every 20 rolls of these that I purchase. Even if you do not find any semi-key, key date, error or older cents (Wheats) and nickels (Silver War Nickels), that is still not a bad investment in my book! Purchasing Kennedy half rolls is a fairly good investment and usually turns up quite a few 40% Silver-Clad coins, an occasional 1964 Silver half and possibly a few halfs with errors. Since most Banks keep very few rolls around, you can usually resell Clad Kennedy halfs especially full rolls for a small premium and 40% Silver-Clad halfs at a much higher premium at a local Flea Market. These are many times purchased by older folks that want them for their grandchildren, who are unable to get them at their local Bank. Even if you don't find any error or Silver Kennedy halfs, they are still a fairly good investment. I find that in purchasing dime and quarter rolls, you will find much few Silver coins as these are used much more and folks appear to pay much more attention to the color and the sound that they make when jingled with other coins or dropped on a hard surface. You still might find an occasional Silver dime or quarter but finding a quarter with an error is much greater as there seems to many more errors on quarters than dimes, nickels and even halves.

As for returning the rolls to the Bank. Most Banks especially smaller ones and the one where you have your account, will usually take the rolls. However, if you don't need the money, then tuck them away in a safe and secure place and you will insure that you will never have to look through them again. Look through the rolls but then re-roll the coins immediately and you won't have to do so later down the road. Although they will not gain interest or little if any value other than face value, they are still like a Savings Account or an old age Retirement Fund to be used or given away when needed!


Happy hunting...Frank

 

All dimes, quarters, halves and dollars minted before 1965 are 90% silver. They're rims will be one solid color, as opposed to the 'sandwich like' rims of clad coins.

 

Frank, I take your point about keeping what you search, perhaps so as not having to worry about looking through the same stuff again. It is a problem.

But I would only do it if everyone else on the planet agrees to keep all they search, or quit searching entirely. Seriously, storage would be a big problem for many of us. Plus inflation and the likely major devaluation of the greenback as the result of the twin deficits would destroy your purchasing power.

Willie (The Ghost of)

 

Willie I agree with you, also when I search $1000 or $2000 in halves it usually is during the days immediately following payday when my cashflow is very good but by the time the next payday arrives I've needed to have those halves back in the bank to pay the bills. I just don't have the disposable income to have tens of thousands of dollars worth of halves in my closet. I have to keep returning them, even if that means that I will occasionally see the same coins over again.