I wouldn't call myself a "roll searcher" but I've been working on various Whitman folders with my six-year-old so we usually go to the bank every week and ask for a few rolls. We've been working on quarters for some time and he only needs one for his state quarters album (Puerto Rico) and maybe 5-7 for the National Parks (all 2010 and 2011). Usually I just get four rolls a week but we really haven't been making any more progress so one day I decided to go big. I went to the bank and asked for a whole box of quarters. I figured surely this will at least get us most of the way there. So after opening up all the rolls, we filled ... exactly zero spots! It's so frustrating how these last few coins are so elusive. I found one W in the roll, no silver, and nothing else remarkable. The good thing is it doesn't cost anything but I'm disappointed. I know some of you do this all the time but it was a big step for me to lay out $500 and get this box and then basically get skunked. I know I could just buy the quarters we need on eBay or something but I really want to complete this on our own.
I sympathize with you. I can't tell you how many boxes I have looked through in halves, quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies and came out empty. If I spent more time with a microscope and and burning my eyes out, I could probably find more varieties but I don't really care about those. I have two accounts that I used to go back and forth with in ordering change, but neither bank will order for me since COVID. Here's the great thing though.... If I were you, I would try it again. There are times I have been skunked repeatedly and then suddenly found a really good box.
I agree that I'm not at all interested in varieties or looking closely at every coin. I want to fill the holes in the albums and hopefully find a few W's, S's or silver as a bonus. I don't even find any foreign coins. I'll probably try again but when your first try goes so poorly it's not motivating.
I didn't start coin collecting until about 10-15 years ago (I think.) What got me started were the state quarters. I almost quit several times. I couldn't find a couple of the territories. I got frustrated and bought the remaining quarters. Something told me that I had cheated, so, I decided to do the Parks. It took a while but, somehow, I got them all by myself. I felt a lot better then. Keep at it. My son is now a 52. When he was 12, he joined the Scouts. I was the troop advisor. I thought that all I had to do was arrange Scouting activities. I had a blast working with the Scouts on their activities and Merit Badges. I was 36 then. I encourage our Scouts to work on their Merit Badges. Many of them chose the coin collecting badge. Working with them was like putting out little fires that were surrounding me. Working with our kids is great fun, especially when one of the kids are yours.
