For the love of of a silver hunt

MusicAL · April 5, 2014 6:35AM

Back in our college days (mid 1970's), my wife and I would go out on a cheap Friday after work and classes date for a cheap dinner (about $2 per person if I recall) followed by a walk to the bank in downtown Tallahassee, FL to buy several rolls of half dollars with what was left of our paychecks. We never had much to spend on half dollars (!) but we would manage several rolls each week, which we would search for silver and then turn the "no good" ones back in to the bank. We still have those half dollars somewhere; about 125 40% coins and maybe 40 90% coins. Well, early this week I had to open a new account at a local Credit Union and on a whim, I asked if they had any rolls of half dollars. (My bank would never have any and they would not order them for me either... So much for customer service I guess...but I understand...NO ONE wants them!). Anyway, the Credit Union dug up $200 in half dollar rolls so I bought all 20 rolls in the hopes of reviving an "old family tradition"...and maybe with a little bit of luck, I might pluck a few silver pieces out of the 400 pieces I lugged home.

I got home and after finishing up my piano students for the day and working on dinner for my wife and me, I got to work. It doesn't take much time to slash open the rolls and viewing them "rim side up", it takes very little time to spot a non-copper-core coin from the rolls. So, how many coins did I pull out of the 400 half dollars? 10?...20?.....nope...I got ZILCH! Not a single measly 40% silver half in the lot. So, I guess that is 1 family tradition that is dead, nailed shut and buried in concrete. Oh well...it was fun trying.

What I DID get was almost 400 coins that someone had taken a green and purple marker to. I don't know if this is some method of counting them for placing in the paper rollers, or some collector went to a lot of trouble coloring them with small green and purple triangles, but below is a photo what virtually every half dollar had on the obverse.

Alan

tightbudget · April 5, 2014 6:56AM

There are some roll searchers who will 'mark' their coins as a means to see how fresh the coins they are receiving. I've seen some coins with simply a black line across them but some have put in the effort to black out the dates, etc.

DaveG · April 5, 2014 7:08AM

I think that due to the increase in the price of silver a lot of the remaining silver coins have been sucked out of the banks.

These days, most bank branches get charged a fee to order boxes of coins. If you have a good relationship with your bank, you might offer to pay the fee (I've heard from other roll searchers on here that this sometimes works) otherwise, you might try bank branches in small towns or credit unions if you still want to search.

The most important thing is to never bring the coins back to the bank where you got them.

Wabbit2313 · April 5, 2014 7:42AM

-You work
-You cook dinner
-You pick up rolls looking for silver

If I was a lady, I would ask you to marry me!

ricko · April 5, 2014 9:37AM

Yep... I have not had any luck at all searching rolls of halves.... I have given up... well, maybe one more try ....

Cheers, RickO

DCW · April 5, 2014 1:55PM

Very hard to pluck silver nowadays. Try louping the coins for varieties (doubled dies, repunched mintmarks, etc.) There's still money in that, and you can sell them for silver.

kiyote · April 5, 2014 2:52PM

I did get about six rolls of Kennedy's once with red Sharpie dots on the obverse of every one. It never occurred to me it was a fellow roll hunter doing that.

MusicAL · April 6, 2014 8:33AM

Hello wabbit2313. What a kind thing to say. I do housework, help neighbors, garden, grow veggies for neighbors, volunteer to play piano for functions...and I have my "sins" too...like chocolate and stale jelly beans. :&gt

I really wasn't expecting to find a lot of silver in the 400 half dollars...but a few would have been nice. As far as the green and purple triangles on the coins, well...that must have been time consuming...and an indicator that some other silver hunter is messing around in "my" territory. Well...we got our share in the late 1970's so I guess I shouldn't be too greedy (but it would have been nice!!).

Thanks to all for the replies. This is always a great place to keep in touch with other collectors!

Alan

MusicAL · April 7, 2014 9:38AM

Hello, WRM.

Red dot...green and purple triangles, stripes...polka dots...they all mean the same thing...NO SILVER HERE...DON'T EVEN BOTHER TO LOOK. Guess I'll finally hang up my searching gloves and move on to finding Wheat cents? No? Are they all gone too? Sigh!

Here's a question. What is there is circulation for the young kids to pull out of change these days that will EVER be scarce and collectable? Oh...foreign coins...we get a lot of Canadian and Bahamian coins here in Massachusetts. (Not sure I can explain the Bahamas money...except it is from all the Snowbirds I guess...and after THIS winter...there should be a ton of them (coins...not snowbirds) in circulation real soon).

Alan

hchcoin · April 7, 2014 9:57AM

<< Hello, WRM.

Red dot...green and purple triangles, stripes...polka dots...they all mean the same thing...NO SILVER HERE...DON'T EVEN BOTHER TO LOOK. Guess I'll finally hang up my searching gloves and move on to finding Wheat cents? No? Are they all gone too? Sigh!

Here's a question. What is there is circulation for the young kids to pull out of change these days that will EVER be scarce and collectable? Oh...foreign coins...we get a lot of Canadian and Bahamian coins here in Massachusetts. (Not sure I can explain the Bahamas money...except it is from all the Snowbirds I guess...and after THIS winter...there should be a ton of them (coins...not snowbirds) in circulation real soon).

Alan

>>

Jefferson Nickels! It is a blast trying to fill the Whitman folders. You can find a ton of old dates and some of the later dates are tough but doable. I keep any nickel dated before 1964.

DaveG · April 7, 2014 11:53AM

I doubt if they'll ever be scarce, but hchcoin is right - Jefferson nickels are about the only series anyone can remotely hope to fill a Whitman folder from circulation (or bank rolls) - except for the War nickels, of course.

And, sometimes you even find some of them!

SaorAlba · April 7, 2014 9:02PM

<< I doubt if they'll ever be scarce, but hchcoin is right - Jefferson nickels are about the only series anyone can remotely hope to fill a Whitman folder from circulation (or bank rolls) - except for the War nickels, of course.

And, sometimes you even find some of them! >>

I have found coins that would fill many Jefferson folders over and over again, except the perfidious '50-D I have found several of the '38 and '39 dated coins with mintmarks.

kiyote · April 8, 2014 4:35AM

<< 

<< I did get about six rolls of Kennedy's once with red Sharpie dots on the obverse of every one. It never occurred to me it was a fellow roll hunter doing that. >>

Same here - one red dot on the end coin in the roll. Anytime I saw this I knew there would be no Silver for me. Are you by chance in St. Louis/Wentzville area?... >>

Middletown Ohio, actually..

SaorAlba · April 8, 2014 5:14AM

About a month ago I ended up taking some rolls of halves from one of my credit union's batches as a favour to them - I ordinarily don't take their halves because someone else searches them and marks them as such. In return for me taking them they save stuff they come across.

So to get to the story, just for chits and giggles I broke open the fourteen rolls to bag them up with the other coins I searched - low and behold Mr. Roll searcher and marker upper missed a 1966 40%. Even searched rolls can produce something missed by old decrepit eyes.

IndianHeadMan · April 8, 2014 7:17AM

back in 05 or 06 I went to a casino in Viscksburg and played the 50c slots.. they were still money slots back then and paid in half dollars. I put 50 dollars in and cashed out right away.. plucked 6 or so.. put them all back in played until I hit.. repeated that process until I ran out of cash, but I ended up with about 25 partials and 10 90%. Fun evening.

Too bad no casinos use real money now.

SaorAlba · April 8, 2014 7:50AM

<< 

Too bad no casinos use real money now. >>

There are some small casinos in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan that still use coins. They are older but well maintained machines. It was actually sort of cool playing and hearing the clink clink of real coins hitting the payout tray - instead of that stupid canned electric sound.

MusicAL · April 8, 2014 7:50AM

Gee...and not all that long ago, I thought that I was one of very few who actually dragged home hundreds of dollars worth of half dollars and searched them for silver. Though I did not find any 40 % pieces this time (let alone 90%) I did have the immense satisfaction in returning 400 half dollars to a different bank (I keep a separate account there but it is not my main bank) that without hesitation, screws everything up ...but they are exceedingly pleasant about it!

Alan

MusicAL · April 8, 2014 7:56AM

SoarAlba. Hello. I'm not a gambler...I imagine it could be fun but it's not in my blood. Do you think that there could be a trace of silver still kicking around in those "old fashioned" machines.

We have a neighbor who goes to the casinos with friends, for the nice lunches and plays a bit in the 1 cent machines. 7 months ago, she won $700, went back to "spend it" and came away with $1800 on those uninspirational "tickets". (Not much fun there...not having to drag 180,000 cents into the car). Now, if I ever spent any time at a machine, I have such great luck that I would be lucky to leave with my boxers!

Alan

For the love of of a silver hunt

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