I've gone through over 20,000 quarters. Found a half a dozen foreign coins, several doubled dies, and a few cuds. But have only found this 1942 D out of 20,000 quarters. All I can figure is the rolling operators at Loomis are doing a good job of picking the silver out.
I never found any silver quarters either. I believe they were picked out of circulation at a higher rate than any other coinage due to their size. The half dollars never circulated much, and it's my belief that when you find them roll searching it's because someone just dumped a change jar. Quarters have a much higher circulation rate, so they have many more chances to be picked out of circulation. Oddly enough, I found dimes to be pretty productive and I can't explain why it's easier to find them compared to silver quarters...
Thank you for your reply. Keep in mind when you go to the bank asked the teller if she has any half dollars, and asked her to asked the other tellers if they have any. I have done quite well up in Washington state, not so well down here in South Florida. Get to know the teller at your bank. They can be a pickers best friend.
I think that's because people are far more likely to save smaller change (pennies, nickels, dimes) in drawers, jars, piggy banks,etc. whereas quarters are far more frequently put right back into circulation because of their larger size and value. I know I throw all my change into a drawer but whenever I need to grab change out of it (because I need coins for vending machines, car wash, etc), I always grab the quarters. So the smaller change can tend to accumulate in such places for years. And for some people that can turn into decades. So when Grandma passes away, the kids roll up the change they find in her change drawer and if it's been there for a while there is a good chance there is some silver in there, but more likely dimes than quarters.
I searched a $1000 bag once and found a solitary '64-D. Quarters are generally not worth the effort. Nickels, dimes and halves are.
I think another reason why there are far less silver quarters in circulation than dimes is the quarter's larger surface area. Because the date is so much larger on the quarter, the average person (ie. a non coin collector) is far more likely to inadvertently notice the old date and hold onto it. On the other hand, the date on the dime is so small nobody is going to notice an older date unless they inspect it. Heck, I am a coin collector and I once got a silver dime in change and didn't notice it. I didn't realize it until I went to roll the dimes in my change drawer years later. So I think silver dimes that do get reintroduced to circulation are far more likely to circulate for a while before someone notices they are silver and pulls them out of circulation again. But any silver quarter that gets reintroduced into circulation probably gets pulled out very quickly because it won't take long for even a non-collector to notice it's older date.
Quarters and Dimes are generally frustrating in terms of finding silver. You need to go through a lot of boxes usually just to find one. Whereas you'll typically find about 1 War Nickel per box, and a Half Dollar or two per box (though this varies a ton).
Finally found myself a bank that orders half dollar boxes for me,just picked up one box last week and managed to pull 3-40%s out of it,was rather surprised actually to get any silver. I will be buying about 2-4 boxes a week soon.
I found a 1959D silver Rosie in my change recently, and awhile before that, a 1938 Jeff nickel. Sometimes, you get lucky.
I used to have a vending route for newspapers, candy & chips etc. and used to collect from $400 to $800 a week in change and had a bank that let me run the coins through the coin counter, all the silver and foreign coins would be spit out into the reject bucket. I figured it was because the weight was different and rejected.
You must've done quite well. During the off-season when I had the time up in Seattle, used to go up to Denny's for lunch. I always ate my lunch in the bar, this was back in 1999 when the state quarters were just coming out. One day the vending machine guy came in. He generally came in every couple weeks. I noticed he had a burlap bag of quarters, that he would put the bars quarters in. I bought him lunch one day and after that he would let me go through the quarters while he ate his lunch. Basically I was looking just for this state quarters and especially if they were the Philadelphia mint. I had one of the older tellers at the bank that kinda had a liking to me, she always kept the new issue coins off to the side for me. I still have quite a bit of rolls of the presidential dollars. been meaning to sell off a bunch they're all Denver mint. Thanks for your reply.
