OBW Rolls - a Photographic Study (Partially Done for Now)
FlyingAl
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I saw a post here recently on a OBW roll of 1943 cents, and found it rather interesting. I've bought a couple of OBW rolls, and figured it would be fun to buy some cheap ones, open them up, and post the pics here.
I bought three rolls, a 1956 nickel roll and 2 1959 cent rolls.
Here are the rolls as they sit wrapped:
In the process of opening:
And some of the coins themselves. I will add to the thread with individual die pairs as I have time, but for now I'll post the best of the best.
I identified a couple MS67 candidates for the cents:
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A single MS67FS candidate for the nickels:
and one additional MS67 candidate:
Coin Photographer.
6
Comments
I'm curious if the experienced graders ("not me") think those are shot 67. I think the luster might be lacking on all of them?
Looks fun. What are you using to determine the grade? Just a loupe and a light?
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The die polish lines on the 3rd Lincoln are quite dramatic.
My favorite obw rolls are Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Los Angeles Branch. Second favorite obw roll is Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Pittsburgh Branch.
It is upsetting to see such an obw roll broken up. Such roll kept intact is much more valuable and desirable in its unopened state.
I like the second 59-D cent best. 67 on a cent is a pretty tough grade to get, I would bet 66 on them.
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What I have found with the old original Jefferson rolls is that they get this dirty look to them. Try acetone on a few of the lesser grade ones and see if it removes the grime. IMO the top Jeff is a 66FS and won't 67. All of the Lincolns are 66RD IMO as well.
Some cool die polishing on the cents!
Those rolls are in part two of the unwrapping episodes.
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Brief clear ammonia dip and liberal rinse works well for nickel grunge....
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I agree with this. These are coins I'd probably submit if I had an extra voucher at the end of the year, and a 66FS would cover all costs. Lincoln #2 is probably the best shot at 67, but even then 66RD is more likely. > @erwindoc said:
There is! I'll take some pics tomorrow of some of the die pairings and post them up. > @oreville said:
I've personally never been a fan of Schrodinger's cat. In this case, none of these rolls are rare or valuable.
Coin Photographer.
The Cincinnati roll looks like it was previously opened.
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That may be the case. The paper wrapper is in pristine shape, no fuzziness, and the crimps look tight. The end coins are un-toned. So there are two options I see:
These rolls have been stored in a dry, sealed environment since being rolled back in 1959. This is not out of the question, as I've purchased many such rolls that were purchased by coin dealers new from the bank and put away in ammo boxes. Beautiful and pristine rolls come of those ammo boxes!
Someone got hold of, or manufactured, some paper tubes and wrapped a bag of 59-D Cents using a quality crimping machine.
One thing to note is that Cleveland Fed rolls are the most widely re-wrapped / counterfeit roll tube. Usually they are marked Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, but the branch banks are also widely seen as rewraps.
I too like the LA Branch SF Fed rolls, and indeed all SF Fed and branch bank rolls. Many of the "ammo box" rolls I've purchased were from the Seattle Branch.
Also agree about breaking up OBW rolls, but I'm guilty of opening many of them over the years. These days I only open the damaged ones, and put the nice ones aside.
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JMHO, that "MS67FS" candidate looks neither MS67 nor FS. Also, all the rolls look as though they had been opened at least once.
I totally agree with the non FS but I'm not experienced enough with coin rolls to determine if they were previously opened or not.
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FWIW, I think there's an immediate disparity between what qualifies as 67FS in a NGC holder vs. PCGS. It comes down to value - and I don't think it's a $2k coin. $100-200, maybe. These are also rough grade estimates that I just threw out, and I need to put it in acetone and then reevaluate.
Here's a NGC 67FS.
Two PCGS 66FS:
I will note the FS standards for this date seem to be a rather low bar to meet based on the coins I've seen. I can't comment on the total originality of the rolls with any certainty. It does seem like a lot of work to fake a roll this cheap though.
Edit - looked at the coin again this morning - I definitely agree with the comments here. No more than 66, shot FS though. I'll have to go through the coins one more time to see if anything else pops out.
Die pairings to come soon hopefully.
Coin Photographer.
Agreed on the grade but cannot evaluate whether the roll(s) had been previously opened strictly from a photo.
If you acetone it those two hits on the lapel will guarantee it won't 7 but may make it a really nice looking coin.
I gave up on either PCGS or NGC grading Full Steps on Jefferson Nickels maybe 20 years ago, neither seems to agree with their own standards. When there are bridges/contact marks going across the steps it precludes the FS designation. The coin pictured as the MS67FS has a deep gouge across step 1 at pillar 3 --- no FS designation. Yet both TPG's have chosen to overlook such things.
As to the rolls, the crimp on the Cents as shown clearly look to have been opened and re-rolled to show a crimp. That's just what roll searching has taught me. The Nickel roll, although neither end is pictured, shows a "tear" on the left hand end coming from the crimp.
They change over time. The 1943 Double eye can't be a FS due to how the die was formed but a bunch of them are and it was maddening to me that nicer coins would not get FS designation and the older ones did. I found in an original roll 9 of them and made many of the 66's and tried a bunch of times to have PCGS be consistent with the variety.
Also there have been times when a planchet flaw would not be struck out causing a vertical break in the steps. Sometimes it gets FS and sometimes it does not. The Rev of the Jeffs in the 60's, especially D are rounded like the rev of 39's so they are especially tough. The 68-S requires nearly a 6 step coin to get FS. When I made the first 68-D I was excited, it is FS but one of the lines is weak.
The OPs top coin is a FS coin. I would like to hear what @leothelyon says.