Buying 'boxes' of coins

Hi - I'm new, so please go easy on me!

I have read on this forum about people not getting what they expect in a 'bank-rolled' roll of coins - such as all the same date/mint. But what about when you buy a box - such as this one:

eBay auction

Can I be guaranteed that these will all be 2009 Denver dimes?

Also, what is N.F. String wrapped?

Thanks in advance!

 

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I would say that nothing is guaranteed when purchasing on ebay, no matter the quantity. That being said, this particular seller has very good feedback, so I'd be inclined to believe his postings. And at 275% markup, what reason does he have to lie...?

http://toolhaus.org/cgi-bin/negs?User=26elmgrove&Dirn=Received+by

N.F. String is the brand of paper wrapper the rolls come in - http://www.nfstring.com/

 

Thanks. After I posted, I realized - oops, someone is going to say something to the effect that 'nothing' is guaranteed. So, I deserved that.

I suppose I should have worded it more like this - the seller seems to be implying that these coins were not rolled by him/her, but rather purchased pre-packaged this way (a whole box of rolled coins of the same date from the same mint). Is it possible to purchase a box of coins this way?

Also, why is the N.F. String wrapping mentioned? Other auctions (like this one) imply that it is something to be avoided. Thanks again.

 

Well, I couldn't wait any longer, so went out on a limb and bought four boxes of 2009-D nickels (not the dimes I linked to in the previous post). Here's the auction. 2.5X markup, but here's my reasoning (tell me if I'm crazy):

- The composition of the nickel (currently 75% copper, 25% nickel) is about to change. My guess is 2012, but it might even be sooner. When this happens (and it will happen), the demand for the current nickels should go up. The 2009 nickels are very rare (in modern terms), so they should command a premium (I'm betting way more than 2.5X face value).

- Nickels (as opposed to the dimes I linked to earlier) have that 'base metal' value to support them as well (currently about $.073). That reduces the premium I paid to around 1.5X 'melt value.' I am [obviously] betting that base metal prices go up as well.

Anyway - I hope they're all really 2009 nickels in those boxes! I'll crack a few rolls open to check - but the majority will be saved for the kids/grand kids.

 

think there's going to be a big run on nickels? you could have simply got them over time from the bank. you can order them I believe. or you could have simply bought a bunch of nickel and copper. what gave you the idea to do this?

 

I would get nickels and dimes. Best chance to find 2009 and 2010 in GREAT condition, especially the dimes
Just in my change, I've found 6 2010-D Dimes, the best being about MS66.

Nickel composition will likely change, likely be kinda like the penny backwards (thin nickel layer (2.5), copper core (97.5))
New quarters and halves are rare in circ. Cents get stains on them really easily, and tarnish quickly. Dollars get too many scratches.

DO NOT buy on ebay. You usually buy searched rolls, and they cost more than face.
Get them @ the bank

No offense, but bad idea. I think that paying 12.5 cents a nickel is a little unusual, especially for 50 rolls of them! Melt value is only 7 cents, and it is illegal to melt them

 

at what point ill this person have let's say a 55 gallon drum full of nickels and how much money will they make off from the nickel and copper? what a bunch of nonsense.

 

I still don't get why people buy boxes of present coins. I could literally just go to the bank right now and get a box of nickels uncirculated. Maybe i should start a business on ebay.

 

$275 for a $100 box of nickels makes very little sense to me, especially with a metals argument behind it... if that's your plan, have you thought about how you will be melting those, separating out that precious nickel, and found a buyer who will take your nickel bars? If yes, you could have just gotten plain old nickels and done that, no need to get uncirculated ones. And a few nice samples of each mint would be fine, but... yeah :dead-horse:

 

Wow, wasn't expecting the hostility. Ok, let me answer your questions...

I do 'hoard' the nickels I get in pocket change, and I have purchased a few rolls from the bank. I wish my parents would have done this in 1964 with dimes, quarters, halves... before they changed the composition of those (from 90% silver to essentially junk). The thing about buying nickels from the bank is that YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT DATE YOU ARE GOING TO GET - which, was actually the point of my original question.

2009 Jefferson nickels have a total mintage of 86,640,000. That's the lowest since 1959, and makes it a prime contender for a 'key date.' Since I can't purchase a box of BU 1959 nickels anywhere (or afford it if I could), I'm betting on the 2009 instead. Don't you wish you had 8,000 1959-D nickels in BU condition? Heck - even in the 1960's, they would have been worth more than 2.5X face value don't you think?

The composition of the nickel has been the same since 1866 (except for the 1942-45 'war nickels' that contained silver instead of nickel because of the wartime demand for nickel). When the metal value of coins becomes greater than the face value, the government (wisely) changes the composition to something cheaper. The government is currently writing us (taxpayers) a check every time they make a nickel (because of the cost of materials, transportation, fabrication, etc). This cannot continue (nor should it). When it changes, the demand for the 'old' nickels will naturally increase. HOARD NOW OR SORT LATER.

I do not plan to melt anything down - it is illegal to melt copper pennies (those minted before 1983) or nickels. However, I feel that the law of supply/demand will not prevent others from doing so - and I'll be more than happy to sell to them (as long as they don't tell me their plans of course).

But seriously, the key date issue alone is the real reason I bought the nickels. I'm actually shocked that folks on this forum don't 'get' that. Jeesh. What gives?

 

The U.S. government is about to lose its great credit rating. When this happens, inflation (major inflation) will ensue. Precious metal (gold, silver, etc) and base metal (copper, nickel, etc) prices will skyrocket (relative to the eroding dollar). That's where I got the idea.

For the coin metal composition info, here is a great place to start: link

 

Maybe you should. Look, here's my point: IT'S ABOUT THE DATE.

I have absolutely nothing to do with this auction: link
But I'm going to use it to try to illustrate my point. It is 3 DAYS FROM ENDING (at the time of this post), so I have NO WAY of knowing how it will turn out. I just did a search on eBay for 2009 Jefferson nickel roll (which I hopefully just bought 200 rolls of), and picked one that didn't have a high starting bid (I feel high starting bids scare people away). So anyway, let's see how this auction turns out in 3 days. Then multiply that price times 200. If you still need help with the math after that, PM me.

 

I've gotta say cvicisso, when I first started reading this thread I thought you were going waaay out on a limb. But after researching completed listings for unc bank rolls, if you can sell all 200 rolls, you stand to make a nice profit.

One of the lower prices per roll in some of the most recent closings were around $11. You take out ship, material and seller fees, and let's say you're closer to $7 net. For your 200 rolls, that's $1400. You take out what you paid, $980 ($245 x 4) and you're clearing around $420. And some of these rolls are going for much more.

-LTB

 

he can't make up his mind whether they're valuable for metal or valuable for the dates.
think of all those people smelting nickel after civilization collapses. then who's rich ?
HUH?

 

As i suspected. paranoid survivalist pablum

http://www.survivalblog.com/nickels.html

 

Just... wow. I must have struck a nerve or something. What's up? Seriously.

I'm actually going to have to agree with your point about me not being able to make up my mind between the dates or metal content. In fact, I mentioned this earlier. And, again, not to insult you or anything, but THAT IS THE POINT:

The 'date' argument: If the government figures out some magical way to pay its bills in the next few years, then the numismatic community powers on as well, and I own 8,000 of the rarest Jefferson nickles minted in over 50 years (excluding errors, of course).

The 'metal' argument: We've beaten this horse already, but... here goes [again]: Jefferson nickels cost the Mint more to make than their face value. Even the METAL content is worth more than their face value. This fact resulted in two recent laws:

1. It is currently illegal to melt U.S. nickels (presumably for their intrinsic metal content). The same law covers pre-1983 pennies (because of their 95% copper content).
2. A law was signed in December which now allows for the changing of the metal composition of the Jefferson nickel.

When this happens (when nickels start being made of steel or zinc or whatever), the BOTTOM-line value for ALL Cu-Ni Jeffersons will default to the 'melt' value. That means ANY nickel made before the switch - regardless of condition - will be worth AT LEAST its value in metal alone. The same is true of pre-1965 silver U.S. coins. Unless there's a hole drilled through it or something, you will not find a 1964 Washington quarter for less than its 'silver' value (currently about $5.90). This reaction (as applied to Jefferson nickels instead of silver coins) effectively reduces the premium I paid for the nickels - just as soon as the composition changes, which I expect to be 2012.

And I never said anything about civilization collapsing - just major inflation.

 

you'd be money ahead simply salvaging copper from thrown out junk. so you have 2 thousand dollars worth of nickels. what do you think you'd "make"?

 

Thanks LTB. And I'm actually not planning on flipping them. At least not for a while - and not all of them. Some are going to the kids.

 

You're probably right about the salvaging copper... but who wants to sort through 'thrown out junk?' Plus, like I said earlier, I OWN 8,000 OF THE RAREST NICKELS MINTED IN OVER 5O YEARS. That feels better than sorting through trash. Sounds better too.

How much will I make? Who knows? Maybe nothing. Maybe a lot. The auction I mentioned earlier might give some indication three days from now (linked again HERE), but I don't plan on flipping these. It's an investment. You obviously don't agree with my logic and I'm cool with that. Do your own thing, man - I wish you the best of luck (as long as you quit acting like such a tool).

 

I agree with FryDaddyJr.

I know that buying anything at 250% over face is insane. And I know that you will not sell ALL 200 rolls. How much were you going to buy the dimes? Here's $600 (about 250% markup)/ WAY too much. You must hoard those coins!

http://cgi.ebay.com/2009-D-Dimes-BOX-of-50-BU-ROLLS-N-F-STRING-SON_W0QQitemZ150532019923QQcategoryZ39460QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4340.m263QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%