I am just getting into the hobby I have been through $1000 dollars in halves $150 in quarters and $100 in dimes and have had no luck at all? Can anyone give me any pointers? Thanks!
Hi Coinman77, welcome to CT and to the hobby. First thing I can tell you is don't get frustrated. People on here have gone through as many as 10-15 straight boxes without finding anything. The next thing I've learned from the great members here and my own experience is it is all about volume. In the grand scheme of things, the amount you have searched is not enough to get a good grasp on what is available in your area. The more you are able to search, the more chance you will have to find something. Lastly, it depends on what you are looking for and what denomination you are most drawn to. I don't search the dollar coins so not sure what is best to suggest there. I think halves seem to be the best option for finding silver, however, some banks won't order them for you and finding silver in customer wrapped halves seem to be feast or famine. Dimes seems to be the next best option for silver, but it seems to be slowing down a bit. Quarters look to be the most difficult to find silver in. Nickels are great in that there are the silver war nickels, buffalo, and V nickels, plus there some great condition older Jeffersons to be found. Cents are very popular as you can find a decent amount of wheats still and the occasional Indian Head. Error coins also seem to be most prevalent in cents as well. Then there is copper if you want to hoard copper coins. I hope this information is helpful and good luck!
I forgot to mention in the earlier post that you can't side search cents and nickels so they take longer if time is a factor as well.
I have not searched in three years or so, but I found dimes to be a good option for finding silver. Halves can be a pain to get from your bank, and were a pain to return, while dimes are always available and had about as much silver.
I do dimes and get some about every 3 or fourth time searching. the point is do not expect it. but the main thing is enjoy the hunt. keep searching and you will find some silver. pennies my girlfriend Jenny always finds wheaties and some foreign coins.
You're starting a bit late. I began searching boxes of quarters & halves 15+ years ago. At that time, I could find numerous 40% & 90% silver in just about every box. After 6-7 years, those numbers dwindled drastically. By the time silver hit $30/oz. and soared past $40/oz. everybody and his brother was searching rolls. Yes, it is still possible to find some silver occasionally, but they are fewer and farther between. Chris
This was largely my experience as well and eventually I found the time involved in picking up, searching, and returning the coins was just not worth it, a minimum wage job or learning a series and buying to resell would pay more. While I don't think it's a great way to make money, it can be a very fun way to spend a couple hours. I found a box of pennies and a loupe to be the most fun, just search for varieties. They may not be worth much, but the hunt was a lot of fun.
I am not a roll-searcher, but from what I have read here and what seems to be common-sense, coins from smaller banks in smaller towns will yield better results. Perhaps the coins come from local people who rolled them themselves. It is really a crap-shoot.
I am not in it to make money. I am in it for the hunt and treasure hunt feeling i get when I find it. I do dimes because I can afford $100-200 every other paycheck that is not rent check. so far i am up to 20 silver U.S dimes and 7 silver Canadian dimes. my second to last find i found my first mercury dime 1924-D in vf-xf grade. I have gone 3-4 times with finding nothing (skunk). but the next time i searched I found 2 silver roosies dimes. not this paycheck but next i will go for $150 in dimes.
I would stay away from quarters if you are looking just for silver. I've done $4,500 in quarters and only pulled 3 silvers. Not worth the time. I have been having decent luck with dimes so far this year, I've pulled 20 silver roosies out of $5,750 searched(just over 1 per box). My main interest are nickels and cents. Nickels give the most variety I think(Buffalos, Wars, Proofs, Foreign, etc...) and cents give up some cool stuff (Indian Heads, Wheats, lots of different errors and varieties.) Like someone above said though, volume is the key. I liken it to a strip mine. You have to move tons of crap to get to the gold.
