Where are all of the halves at?

Hey guys, I'm new to the forum and thought I'd share some of my local results for CRH. Well, here there are…..yup pretty much nonexistent. I go about 3 times a week to 2 different banks in my area (greater Pittsburgh, PA) and its been about 3-4 months. I've got 1 roll of half dollars and thats been about it. Out of that one roll I picked up a 1967 40% Kennedy so that was pretty sweet. But I was wondering if everyone else is seeing the local banks pretty much phase out the half dollar? Anyways, I look forward to hanging out here & hearing everyone else's experiences. Have a great day!

~Bryan

 

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Order a $500 box from the bank.

 

Half dollars are basically non-circulating, and rarely do you find any at the local bank (you have to order them). Sometimes I get lucky and someone has just cashed out a bunch.... picked up $45 worth recently with (7) 90% & (12) 40% in the mix. I guess it's "hit or miss".

 

Ask at more than two banks. If you are in a "coin counter" region, you may have to order boxes. I live in a "coin counter" free region and rolled halves are common.

 

Thanks for the great tips guys, I appreciate it. Has anyone ran into issues ordering boxes when you're not an actual customer of the bank? I do all of my banking with USAA, and they don't actually have any physical branches. I'd rather not open up an account in order to obtain the boxes if possible.

 

You will most likely have to open an account with the bank. If you decide to open an account, make sure they do not charge you when you order a box. If they do I would pass.

I just did $500 boxes with no luck, but it was still fun trying.

Good luck!

 

I looked at 4 boxes of Halves or $2000 worth and only got 7 40% silvers. I did find an off-center specimen too which is pretty cool.

 

Wow $2000 worth of halves for 7 - 40%'s. You sir are dedicated lol!

 

V6...is that a Corgie in your avatar? Has a derp smile going.

 

Ha, no that isn't my corgi. I was too lazy to pull the pictures of her from my desktop onto my macbook so I just adopted that photo. Agreed…totally a deep smile! The good news is my corgi is just as sweet only without the funny looking smile.

 

I actually meant to say two boxes with no silver findings. I did find some decent 1990's and 2000's to go into my kids Whitman folder though. I will probably give it another shot next month.

 

Hey there, Bryan. Welcome.

I've been doing this for about a year or so. I actually have a half dozen or so bank accounts. These are usually savings accounts that are over the minimum balance to avoid fees. This can be, depending on your resources, a substantial amount of money. Some banks are for ordering boxes, some banks have coin machines for dropping off. I rotate through them so that no one bank sees me too often. That also gives me access to a number of different commercial vaults. I do pay for boxes at one bank that has a free machine for customers because I want them to feel I'm a paying customer. I use that machine as a primary drop off point and feel that buying a couple of boxes every other week or so is a reasonable cost of doing business. I do about 2K per week, which is a comfortable amount given my schedule.

I tell every bank right up front that I am a coin collector and why I am interested in opening an account with them. If they can't help you, they'll let you know right then. Banks that are close to cash business, like fast food, are usually ones that deal with lots of coin and are more likely to say OK. Even if they say OK, it doesn't mean that someone higher up isn't going to step in and start trying to change the terms for buying boxes or using coin machines later on down the road. Be prepared to walk away from the relationship if it goes bad or they will fee you right out of all your cash.

This is not without it's expenses. It isn't "free silver," it's just lower cost silver. It will cost you time and gas and some cash. It's about averages and patience and persistence and slow accumulation. Good luck with it and let us know your results in the results thread.

 

I read that twice and I think it is not what you meant, but stranger things have happened.

A bank which has a coin counter (accountable to the vault) will usually sell you the bag contents any time it fills up. I have seen them set to 100$ and $500. Those are your local circulation coin sources.

I am not aware of a bank without a coin counter now a days, but I suppose they might exist somewhere.

Some banks have rollers also, then you can get local coins in rolls. In small communities with roller banks the coins tend to be more local.

 

Some regions don't accept rolled coin so half dollars that come into the bank are run through a counter, bagged, and shipped out. No counters in my area so all coins come in rolled. That makes it easy to buy rolled half dollars without having to order boxes.

 

Not sure what you mean by region, but that doesn't matter. If the bank doesn't have a counter, what happens when you show up with a pail of coins for deposit?

 

Around here, we all know there aren't any counters at the bank. You bring them rolled or you take them to the coinstar at the grocery store.

 

Seriously? Your bank wouldn't take a pile of halves for deposit? Is that even legal?

 

Wow, thanks for all of that information man! I really appreciate it. Yeah it seems as though the biggest part of the hunting is the consistency & numbers you're working with. I'm going to be stopping at a few banks this week to inquire about opening an account possibly. Thank you!

 

What banks are you guys using? I've tried a couple and they all want to charge to get coins more than a few rolls at a time, and that's only the regular p/n/d/q not halves.

 

To tell you the truth, any bank that will order boxes for me or has a coin machine. Some branches of banks have told me no, but sent me to other branches of the same chain to talk to the vault managers there who have been agreeable. So you can't really say that Big Bank chain so and so has a policy for/against roll hunters. You are just going to have to do the leg work to find a branch willing to deal with you.