more modern top pops from rolls or mint sets?

sinin1

While reading a couple other threads about the virtues of their pennies - it was stated that more good coins can be found in rolls than mint sets.


That is interesting to me, as I have thought the average grade usually is higher in mint sets.


What do you think - are the highest grades found in rolls or mint sets?


I realize it is easier to look at 1000 coins from rolls than from mint sets


edited to say - edits suck - reread your post before hitting enter

Datentype

Oh shoot! I hit #2 and meant to hit #1. i wish i could edit that one. I love that comment though.

pontiacinf

I Hit it for ya Bobby

bushmaster8

Interesting question...I have thought of posting same question.

I would have too say mint sets. Especially the clad coins. I have made a good many pop tops and most were cut from mint sets or bought from dealers who had done the cutting/packaging.

And there is nothing more tiring than trying to "see" if a mint set on the bourse floor has any goodun's in it. I really like to stumble onto dealers who have cut and packaged a lot of mint set coins and put them in boxes or albums. Much easier to view. But it's hard to find dealers that do this due to the low profit margin for the dealer.

But when you find a coin for $2 that you know is worth hundreds, it gives you a second wind!

supercoin

Well, depends on what you mean by modern, first, and from there I think it also depends on the series, and even the date.

In Ikes, for example, more 1971 top pops are from rolls, while more 1973 top pops are from mint sets. (Coin geek joke.)

I'd say generally speaking the mint sets have superior coins. But of course there are fewer to choose from, and they are more expensive to obtain and search in quantity. And for whatever reason there are some date/denominations that are generally found TERRIBLE in mint sets, perhaps a whole batch of bad planchets or something was struck and that's what was packaged up the mint sets.

In the series I'm most familiar with, and generally speaking... I'd say most of the top Ikes are from mint sets while most of the top SBAs are from rolls.

cladking

A few of the clad quarters I've never seen in solid date rolls that weren't assembled from
mint sets. I've been collecting these since 1972 so do know what each date looks like if
it were in a roll though. I've probably seen uncs of at least a few hundred different die pair
for every date, and most of the others with just a little wear. In all probability I've seen ev-
ery die combination in mint sets. (except souvenir sets). For many dates it is probable that
there are no gems whatsoever in rolls. While there were gems made for every date, probably,
in some cases the mintage was so small that it's improbable that any were saved in the tiny
number of rolls that were set aside.

There are two or three dates in the sets that come pretty bad because of scratches and the
like, and the rolls do appear for them occasionally. So it's very possible that some of these
will be easier in rolls.

The other denomination are much less familiar to me in rolls and circulation since I paid little
attention to them except in sets so have no basis for comparison. Yes, I've looked at many
thousands of these other rolls and bags but only on a catch as catch can basis.

Generally one of the biggest things keeping any of the moderns from gem status is strike. Large
percentages of the roll coins have too weak a strike to achieve gem status. This is not a partic-
ular problem for any of the coins in mint sets. These coins were all struck with new dies under
increased pressure so large numbers of nice full strikes are found in the sets. The problem be-
comes one of finding unmarked coins though this can be a major hurdle for some of these.

Rolls are very important though, not only for gems which may be elusive in sets but for the many
important varieties which simply don't appear in mint sets. Future collectors are going to find
some of the best coins of this era were not saved at all, that all existing specimens will have wear.

sinin1

wow -

thanks for the clarification from Supercoin and Cladking


I guess a generalization is just that, with specific examples that go against the majority

CoinHusker

Supercoin, I know this may be a dumb question but, when you say rolls for finding top pop Ikes, do you mean mint rolls or bank rolls? And are there unopened rolls still around?

cladking

If I might answer for Supercoin...

He actually said most of the top pop Ikes are from sets. Saying the 71 and 2's are found
nicer in rolls is a joke since these were not included in the sets (just as the '73's were not
found in rolls). The mint never sold rolls of Ikes as these were all distributed as business
strikes in $1000 bags and mint sets (there are a small number of exceptions).

Original rolls and bags of Ikes can still be found and do sometimes contain gems. These are
much less common than they once were simply because these coins have had a substantial
premium in high grade for many years. Even as far back as 1988 there were people advertis-
ing to pay large premiums for gem Ikes. Only in much more recent years has there been much
interest in the other denominations. The Ikes have had much more time to be checked for gems.

supercoin

Unfortunately there are not any "original" Ike rolls as the term is usually used. You don't find a big box of "bank-wrapped" rolls like you can with other denominations.

The most "original" an Ike roll gets is one that an individual put together from coins out of a bag, before the bag sloshed around for 30 years. And of course that means they can be easily picked over before you buy them.

That's my experience anyway... if anyone has ever seen some bank-wrapped Ike rolls I'd be curious to hear about it.

XpipedreamR

I would have to say rolls. I've just gone through about 50 state quarter rolls, and I got jack, squat, nada, zilch... At best, an MS 66. But the best I've gotten in my mint sets is much lower, like maybe 64 on a good day. I regularly find better stuff in circulation. I've always thought the mint could do a better job putting nicer coins into the mint sets, maybe taking earlier strikes and collecting them seperately from the ones going into circulation.


P.S. I'm basically talking about quarters and nickels here. The mint set nickels have been absolutely horrid in my opinion. I have seen some decent halves, though.