I was in the bank today and my friendly and long time teller told me that he had two mint rolls of Sac $ P & D someone had just cashed in, he knows I'm always looking for special coins when I visit, and did I want them. Sure enough two "Mint Issue" yellow rolls in excellent condition. I gave him $50 in paper and left. When I get home I noticed that the end coins in both rolls are tails and as on all mint rolls there is no date written or printed on the roll. Question, 1) Are two tail rolls common or are these unusual? 2) Is there any way to tell the year without tearing the roll?
With X-ray glasses!!! This is just a theory, I have never tried it, but I bet it might work. Try X-raying them. Seriously. I work in a die casting facility, and to check for casting quality, we will x-ray the part in question and it reveals every little nuance from one side all the way through to the other. It shows all of the segments and cores of the part almost like looking at bones in a foot x-ray. It also shows any cracks or porosity in the aluminum castings that aren't visible from the outside surface. I don't see why you wouldn't be able to make out a date on the back side of a coin using this method. Unless different types of metals respond differently to the x-rays.
If you have any fingernails at all you can very very carefully unroll the end, work a coin out, turn it over to verify the date and then replace it. Takes a little practice to learn how to re-roll the paper but it can be done. It is not unusual to get a roll tails to tails so turning a coin if the only real option you have and if you don't want to bust the roll, so to speak, carefully unroll the paper! It will work as I have done it many times. Rolling it back down is the pain in the whole process. Take your time!
