Hypotheticals: Bank roll searchers
RYK
Posts: 35,800 ✭✭✭✭✭
I do not search coin rolls from the bank, but plenty of folks do, and there is even a regular column in Coin World dedicated to it. A hypothetical I tried to post on another thread was hijacked (I guess I was the original hijacker, so I was fair game) and interrupted.
A. You buy a roll of half dollars from the bank. Among the clad Kennedy halves, there is a Franklin half dollar. Legally, you feel that you own the coin. However, you know that it is unlikely that anyone would intentionally give away an extra $4.00 (or whatever a circulated Frankie is worth). Do you pocket the Frankie or attempt to find the person who owned the coin?
B. Same as A, but on the paper roll there is an eight digit number. You realize that your account at that bank also has eight digits, and this is likely someone's account number. Does this change your answer?
C. Same as A, but this roll has a stamp on it which includes the name, address, and phone number of, presumably the depositor. How does this change your answer?
D. Same as A except instead of one Frankie, the whole roll is filled with Franklin halves. No one in their right mind would intentionally deposit a whole roll of Frankies at the bank. What do you do next?
E. Same as B, but again, a whole role of Frankies.
F. Same as C, but again, a whole roll of Frankies.
A. You buy a roll of half dollars from the bank. Among the clad Kennedy halves, there is a Franklin half dollar. Legally, you feel that you own the coin. However, you know that it is unlikely that anyone would intentionally give away an extra $4.00 (or whatever a circulated Frankie is worth). Do you pocket the Frankie or attempt to find the person who owned the coin?
B. Same as A, but on the paper roll there is an eight digit number. You realize that your account at that bank also has eight digits, and this is likely someone's account number. Does this change your answer?
C. Same as A, but this roll has a stamp on it which includes the name, address, and phone number of, presumably the depositor. How does this change your answer?
D. Same as A except instead of one Frankie, the whole roll is filled with Franklin halves. No one in their right mind would intentionally deposit a whole roll of Frankies at the bank. What do you do next?
E. Same as B, but again, a whole role of Frankies.
F. Same as C, but again, a whole roll of Frankies.
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Comments
Russ, NCNE
<< <i>You should make every effort, including hiring a private investigator if necessary, to track down the rightful owner and return that Frankie.
Russ, NCNE >>
I'd like to see someone top this!
What if a dedicated Lincoln Roll Searcher found an 09SVDB. Would he/she be under any obligation to return it?
-Amanda
I'm a YN working on a type set!
My Buffalo Nickel Website Home of the Quirky Buffaloes Collection!
Proud member of the CUFYNA
<< <i>Would it be any different than finding a roll of extra leaf quarters? >>
Then you should compensate the Government for thier mistake.
No.
Keep the Franklins!
People deposit strange things all the time. I haven't searched rolls myself in a long time, but I wouldn't think twice about keeping the loot in any of your scenarios. Just because we know what they're worth more than face doesn't mean that anyone else does, and even if someone else does, that doesn't mean that they care to figure out how to get the extra value (witness Coinstar). Lots of people still remember when Franklins were circulating, and it might not even occur to them that they're worth thinking about.
Now, if you you change your scenario to something more outrageous -- a roll full of gem BU Barber halves, for example, I might change my answer for that one...
jonathan
If you went to the bank to make a deposit / withdrawal / cash a check / get into your safety deposit box and a teller friend of yours shows you a walker half and tells you that, "Little Bobby who is ten just brought in 3 rolls of silver quarter, 4 rolls of Franklin halves and 2 rolls of silver dimes, do you want them", then I think you should ask the teller if he / she had contacted little Bobby's parents to make sure that the coins were his to deposit. If the teller answers no, then I would pay for the coins and ask him / her to call the parants and that I would return later in the day to pick up the coins or my money. It doesn't take a rocket scienctist to realize that little Bobby didn't get all that sliver from his paper route. Even if the Teller told me that when little Bobby came in, he said that he got the coins from his granmother, I would say that it still needs to be verified by calling the parents. (If little Bobby had taken the coins without permission, what would he tell the Teller besides "I got them from my granmother"?). I suppose that you could just keep the coins and sell them for a profit, but to me 'you have to sleep with yourself first', if you have no conscience that these coins may have been stolen from a fellow collector then go ahead and enjoy the "rip".
JMHO
Contacts the original owner and forwards the profit !
When monkeys fly out my butt !
Russ, NCNE >>
I'd like to see someone top this!
Okay, I noticed that Russ did not suggest putting an ad in the paper and offering a $1000 reward for information leading up to the discovery of the identity of the person who misplaced the beloved Frankie in the roll.
<< <i>I would want to keep them, but I suspect I would feel very guilty. >>
Not to worry, you'll grow out of that.
<< <i>Okay, I noticed that Russ did not suggest putting an ad in the paper >>
That was included in the "every effort" part.
Russ, NCNE
<< <i>
<< <i>I would want to keep them, but I suspect I would feel very guilty. >>
Not to worry, you'll grow out of that.
Do I want to grow out of that?
-Amanda
I'm a YN working on a type set!
My Buffalo Nickel Website Home of the Quirky Buffaloes Collection!
Proud member of the CUFYNA
finders keepers, loser weepers.
<< <i>Russ has ofiicially killed this thread. I can't answer seriously anymore. >>
I agree ........How about if I found all proof Acc Kennedy Hair ..
Today I came home with 27 Ikes
I knew no adult coin collector was going to put those kinds of coins into Pac Man or Space Invaders. I pulled them all out of my deposit and put them in the safe. A day or two later, a very angry father (and coin collector) came storming in to tell me how my arcade was destroying the youth of the nation, responsible for psoriassis, I made his kid a coin thief and a bunch of other stuff. I said 'give me eighty bucks and you can have your coins back'. He left with a very red face.
Is this a serious question?
I found this one in a roll a short while back. It's quite the gem.
I kept it, with nary a twinge of guilt. I also found a proof Kennedy. Kept it too! Am i evil?
Now let's say you find a roll of seated liberty halves, all choice BU 1879's. I would suppose you'd pocket those as just a stroke of luck?
roadrunner
I've also composed a rough draft of a letter to my senator. Clearly the mint must be losing money making all these old coins and I intend to put a stop to that!
<< <i>Finders keepers. >>
In this case,I agree completely.
B. Same as A.
C. Same as A.
D. Same as A.
E. Same as A.
F. Same as A.
And since we're dealing in hypotheticals... who's going to drive across town to collect a coin worth $4 when the face value is $.50 and the cost of gas is near three dollars a gallon? Not to mention their time... and the dealer's mark-back when they buy it.
David
Didn't wanna get me no trade
Never want to be like papa
Working for the boss every night and day
--"Happy", by the Rolling Stones (1972)
B. Nope. They deposited it. And the bank is not likely to share the contact info that went with that number.
C. Okay, maybe I would be tempted to call them and ask if they knew what they were doing when they deposited that (or if they have any more stuff to deposit, which I would offer them more than face value for). But maybe not. (Edit: probably not).
D. Same answer as A.
E. Same answer as B, probably. Maybe I would try to contact them, if the bank were cooperative. But I wouldn't go out of my way.
F. I would almost certainly give them a call.
<< <i>Should we track down the owner and demand that he replace the Canadian cents we found in the roll of pennies? >>
Yeah, what about that darn worthless French 10 Centime (1917) that was in a Brinks roll of halves?? Oh yeah, there were 3 Franklins and 4 Walkers in there too.
They were wrapped by Brinks.
Those coins (U.S. anyway) are legal tender and bearer instruments.......I SAY MINE!!!
No dilemma here.
Oh yeah, my grandfather once paid his doctor with 4 rolls of silver quarters (in 1975) because he had no other money at the time. He knew they were worth a little more, but they at least were worth $10 per roll and that fulfilled his debt (they were mostly his slick Wash and SLQ culls
<< <i>But what if the nickel roll you bought to search was all $3 gold pieces and there was an account number. Hmmmm! >>
What about a name and address too? Are these regular strikes or proofs?
The whole reason for searching half rolls is to find franklins, walkers, barbers, and the occasional silver Kennedy!
When I find it.............its mine!
The name is LEE!
B. No. It may have come from a vendor and there is no way to track it down.
C. My bank does not allow someone to put that kind of information on rolls - so that is very unlikely to happen to me.
D. No. same as A.
E. No. same as B.
F. No. same as C.
Once someone deposits coins in a bank for face value-They have no recourse-They are allowed to do it. That is the reason for searching through rolls-to try to find collector or bullion coins. It makes no difference if it is a frankie or a 1909-S VDB cent. JMHO. Bob
<< <i>This is perhaps the screwiest hypothetical I've ever read RYK!
The whole reason for searching half rolls is to find franklins, walkers, barbers, and the occasional silver Kennedy!
When I find it.............its mine! >>
Sure, out of context, it sounds silly. On the day I posted this, a major dealer started a thread in which he retold the story of a banker calling him when an adolescent brought in what was clearly his family's silver coins rolled up and deposited them in the bank. The dealer then bought the rolled coins at face value and flipped them for a several hundred dollar profit for himself and posted about it on the forum. We got into a long discussion of the ethics of doing so.
So, Lee, I guess if you were away from the home, it would be perfectly fine for a family member, who may be non compos mentis or an adolescent looking for gas, drug, or video game money, to bring to the bank some of your rolled Franklin halves and exchange them at face value for bills under the guise of a teller who knew exactly what was transpiring.
<< <i>
<< <i>This is perhaps the screwiest hypothetical I've ever read RYK!
The whole reason for searching half rolls is to find franklins, walkers, barbers, and the occasional silver Kennedy!
When I find it.............its mine! >>
Sure, out of context, it sounds silly. On the day I posted this, a major dealer started a thread in which he retold the story of a banker calling him when an adolescent brought in what was clearly his family's silver coins rolled up and deposited them in the bank. The dealer then bought the rolled coins at face value and flipped them for a several hundred dollar profit for himself and posted about it on the forum. We got into a long discussion of the ethics of doing so.
So, Lee, I guess if you were away from the home, it would be perfectly fine for a family member, who may be non compos mentis or an adolescent looking for gas, drug, or video game money, to bring to the bank some of your rolled Franklin halves and exchange them at face value for bills under the guise of a teller who knew exactly what was transpiring. >>
I can fully understand the situation you are describing as a breach in ethics but the thread had to do with bank roll searchers and not bank tellers. I personally know of a banker that noticed a young one turning in the family's silver dollars for face. She contacted the family (small town) to let them know what was happening but this is an ethical decision the banker must make, not the roll searcher that just goes in and purchases random rolls at face. I don't feel any ethical responsibility over what I find. Especially opver a single franklin half which is what the thread was originally written about, not a whole roll of franklins.
The name is LEE!