Questions about Halves please help me out here

80sJunkie

Well I'm not much of a coin collector im the cardboard type. But i frequently enjoy reading the coin threads. Read one a while back about searching through some halves from the bank. well i was at the bank and thought i'd ask. Well they had a 1000 in halves.. I figured what the heck this might be fun.
My problem is other then franklins and silvers I know natha are there any other dates mints I should be looking for while searching through these. Any help would be appreciated

mhammerman

Well, it is a lot of fun for those of us with coin deficiency syndrome. You go to the bank and every time you go, you buy a few rolls. Every now and then you take a few back. You will find that anything more than about $50 in halves will require a bag or something so about 4 or 5 rolls seems to be plenty for each trip.

Searching for silver is fun, anything pre '64 is 90% silver/10% copper to equal .36 oz silver for each pre '64 half. '65 to '70 were silver clad and are called 40% silver or .15 oz silver. After '70, they are all clads except for a 71 silver clad mistake (correct me if I'm wrong here gurus) that can be found but I haven't found one...wouldn't know it if I did probably.

Filling up a Kennedy book from bank browsings is kind of fun, I like doing it...about 1/4 done so far, all for the face value of the coin and that is what they are worth but it's fun to collect them and upgrade as you come across better examples. I suspect, if you can find a lode, that you could get walkers and frankies too but I'm not so lucky because the banks I go to either don't have any halves at all (lying dogs!) or the stuff they roll is picked over big time. I have yet to find anything cool in maybe $200 that I have been through in the last few months. You might do well to chat up a cutie at the teller window, maybe over a month or two, make a few deposits, and then tell her your brother/son/grandchild/wife likes halves and ask her if she has any rolls you could buy. Start her out easy at first then after you have the deal working pretty good, hit her up for a box. Don't expect a particularly cooperative response...coin collectors are a pain in the seat for tellers because they can make mistakes, they may be lazy, there might be other things that need done besides messing with you...so, you have to hunt and peck.

I'm going to branch out though and look for some new banks. Very fun activity and something kind of intersting too. You could make money at it if you can find a bank that hasn't had all their halves picked over and when I find one...I'm gonna buy some boxes ($500) but till then, I'm just picking at different banks, looking for a good source. Have fun!

Coin ON!

Maybe some of the more serious halve guys will check in on this thread.

fishcooker

coin collectors are a pain in the seat for tellers because they can make mistakes, they may be lazy, there might be other things that need done besides messing with you

And a box of halves is as heavy as a boat anchor.

Pentimento

You should be on the lookout for commemorative half dollars, proof coins ('S' mintmarks), and coins that were only found in sets (1970, 1987, and the very recent 200X ones). You might also just separate the coins by year for a while when you first start. This will give you a quick idea of which coins from the 90's would be worth saving if you find one in surprisingly good condition. You could also get a copy of The Cherrypickers' Guide and look for things like die doubling. This will grind your progress to a halt until you learn what to look for though.

mcgrover

The 1974D double die obv. on IGWT is not too rare and easy to check. I've foung a dozen or so and gotten $12-$15 each for a VF or so. This is the one shown in the Red Book. There's a '73D with the same doubling, but I've only found one, and CP says they are much less common. There are similarly double and triple dies for the 1964D series. Don't get hung up on the strike/machine doubling in this series. Some of it is monstrous, but not worth a great premium generally, though I've made a couple bucks on a double face and eye. There are some double ears that are the real thing, but this can get time consuming.

80sJunkie

<<And a box of halves is as heavy as a boat anchor. >>

yes i realized this trying to carry 2 500 boxes out of the bank.

<<You should be on the lookout for commemorative half dollars, proof coins ('S' mintmarks), and coins that were only found in sets (1970, 1987, and the very recent 200X ones). >>

So 200x is that all 2000 and newer?


<<The 1974D double die obv. on IGWT is not too rare and easy to check.>>

I've found about 50 74s already can you explain what to look for on the double die? anyone have a pic or source material?


So far not bad i'm half way through the first 500 box
1 62s
4 64s
3 67s
3 68s
2 69s
think im gonna call it a night but its been fun. This might turn me into a coin junkie yet


I appreciate all the responses and would like to hear any other advice one might have

StampAlarm

The 71-D & 77-D were struck in silver clad by error. If you find any I imagine you would have to weigh them to see if you had a silver clad.



Jerry

mcgrover

If you have a Red Book (who doesn't?) there's a small pic. The doubling is most prominent on WE TRUST, and then on IN GOD, then on the RTY of Liberty and a little on the date (which shows mostly as a spreading of the #s). Must be the D branch variety. This same doubling I just described is the same on all the dates I mentioned before.

80sJunkie

thanks mcgrover

evilclay

Searching half dollar rolls is what got me hooked on the coin collecting thing. Good luck to you! And your doing pretty good finding 90% silver already. I have searched and searched and never found a 90% Kennedy. Keep it up!

penny2many

Well, as a bank teller I can tell you most of us know a good coin from a not so good and yes we do buy them ourselves. I suppose there are few new tellers that would not pay attention but in the places I have worked we tell the other tellers about them if we don't want them and someone will take them off our hands. I would doubt you could go to a bank and just buy a lot of halves, silver dollars etc and find a mother load. You may find a few though. I did get a Booker T Washington in mint condition from someone bringing the parents collection in to get money. We get that alot! The husband usually dies and the wife does not know what they are all about and guess who brings them home? On occassion lately I have had a young girl bringing in siver dollars and other things that are old and I asked her where she got them thinking she may have stolen them and she said "my boyfriend's mother wanted us to cash these in." Do you think that was a lie. I should have kept my mouth shut because after the second trip she quit coming to my branch. I asked the cops that work there if there is anything they can check into in case they are robbing someone and they say there has to be a report. I think she is a junkie and finds these in someone's house myself. So you may get lucky and find something at a bank but I would not bet on it.

Pentimento

<< <i>So 200x is that all 2000 and newer? >>



Sorry, I was lazy. 2001 P's (D's actually circulated) and anything newer (either mint) are what I like to save. I'm not saying that they have any extra value, but I enjoy saving all "for sale only to collectors" coins that I find in circulation. Keep the updates comin'

19Lyds

1974-D DDO

80sJunkie

thanks for the pics 19lyd can this be seen with the naked eye or do i need to pull out my loop. Anyways the 2nd 500 box was a bust only one 1963 5 67s and a 1985 S

But its been fun got a huge stack of the 74s to look through .


Heres another question wheres a good place to go buy wrappers to re roll all these suckers

penny2many

Banks around here will usually give them to you but if you can't get them free at a bank any craft store has rollers and I have seen them at Office Depot and probably any office supply. I would ask the bank for free first hough but I would not take them back to the bank where you bought them because they may not let you buy any more in large amounts like that. I called the vault at our main bank for a customer the other day and they said they would not sell them to him because all they want is to look through them and then bring them back. Unload them someplace you have not asked for a large amount before.

fishcooker

Buy lunch with 'em.