A Super Cool Item I Found in GC Archives

FlyingAl

I was recently browsing GC archives and I found this super cool item. It is a lot of fifty rolls of 1963 half dollars from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. GC images.

This is a super cool part of mint history, one that is often lost. The mints would ship finished coins in one thousand coin bags to the Federal Reserve Banks where they would take the coins, roll them, and then distribute them to banks. A few large banks were the exception to this rule, but almost all finished coin went to the Federal Reserve Banks by the end of the 1920s. A lot of these rolls were used and therefore relatively few exist, but they can still be acquired for a reasonable amount, usually a percent amount premium over a BU roll. The premium, of course, depends on the rarity of the roll. These fifty rolls went for nearly $16,000, which is roughly $320 per roll. This is the only existing lot I've seen with a bag, though I haven't searched very hard. It's probable more exist, though not many.

Thought this was cool enough to share.

Maywood

The only "uncool" thing about that lot is that all the rolls look like they were opened and searched. Bummer.

FlyingAl

@Maywood said:
The only "uncool" thing about that lot is that all the rolls look like they were opened and searched. Bummer.

I agree, this is probably true, though this could be the way the Fed wrapped them. Probably not though. I remember a rumor of the Fed only tightly wrapping on side of the roll, but I doubt this statement as I think you would too.

With this lot in particular, however, the buyer probably ends up with an original bag of a thousand coins. If this is true, the opening of the rolls doesn’t matter as much. The coins are straight from the bag no matter what roll they end up in. Just my thoughts.

TomB

@Maywood said:
The only "uncool" thing about that lot is that all the rolls look like they were opened and searched. Bummer.

I wouldn't be too certain about those rolls having been opened. In my experience, those type of rolls have a tendency to flatten out on the rims over time and the weight of the coins over nearly 60-years could have flattened all of the edges.

2windy2fish

I would tend to believe they are original as all of the end coins appear toned about the same

gumby1234

$16 per coin. Hopefully there's some high grade stuff in there.

ricko

If original rolls, the possibility of high grade coins would be good.... though probably not more than MS67... a 68 would be a super find. Cheers, RickO

erwindoc

Would only take a few coins in high grade to make it worth the search. However, too rich for me!