A contact pays off....BIG!

[bill dilly]

I have a distant cousin that is the vault teller at a nearby bank. I have been checking each week to see if any halves come into the bank. So far, nothing....that is until today. I got a call on my cel phone from my cousin to drop by the bank. She said that she had just gotten a deposit of some interesting stuff. When I got to the bank she showed me 200 silver dollars. I don't mean the Ike's. These are Morgans and Peace dollars. I turns out that an old lady came into the bank and cashed them in to pay a heating bill.
My cousin bought a 100 and she sold me the other 100. I will be going thru them tonight to check mint marks. Condition on most of them are beautiful. This lady must have had these put away for a long, long time. Just a quick check thru them and it looks like 8 are Peace dollars...the rest are Morgans!!! I don't know how to post scans or I would show them once I determine exactly what I've got. The lady told my cousin that she has about $400 in halves that she has had for decades and a shoe box of more silver dollars. I'm hoping to get those.
I love finding halves....but this is something that I never dreamed would happen.
Needless to say...this is my favorite cousin!

 

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[Immy]

I have mixed feelings about this too. On one hand this is a one-of-a-kind, roll hunting bonanza, but part of me feels terrible that this senior was forced to cash these dollars in or go without a basic necessity.

If she comes back with the rest it would be very decent if your bank contact mentioned to her that any coin shop, or yourselves even, would pay her 6x-7x face value for them. If at that point she balks and just wants to get rid of them, then I'd say they're all yours.

As far as what you've already gotten make sure you pass along all the dates. You may make our "year's oldest" list.

 

[killerwine]

Check the Peace Dollars for a 1928 with no mint mark...

 

[jeff of pa]

and the Morgans for C.C.'s

CONGRATS on the Great Deal !

Jeff

 

[bill dilly]

I don't know the details of why she just brought them to the bank. Hopefully, we will find out more.

 

[Pennyworth]

Well it sounds like the details are almost all in your current post that she NEEDED the money to pay for a heating bill. It also sounds like your cousin must have asked her some questions as to whether or not she had more. I would have to wonder why she would just volunteer that information. I understand your cousin is on the look out for silver coins,especially since you asked him to be,but I think this was an improper action by your cousin.

Sure we would all love to find Morgan or Peace dollars but at what cost? If she's an older woman,your cousin should have told her that she could get a lot more for them if she sold them to a coin shop. I know it would be very tempting if you or I were the teller and saw them being deposited but I would question it depending upon the age of the person and especially if they said they were cashing them in to pay a bill. Your cousin also at that time probably had her bank account information on the screen in front of him,so that could have been used as an indicator if she was wealthy or poor.My thought is if she were wealthy why not just withdraw the money from her account to pay for the heating bill. Seems like this woman might be facing a financial crisis. I hope I'm wrong. Wish I could be happier about your find,but I don't feel good about it.

Here's a story that a bank teller told me a couple of months ago. An older woman did her banking at her branch and the teller knew the woman since she did all her banking there. The teller talked with the woman on a regular basis and at one time a few years back, the teller's husband had lost his job and they were hurting financially. The older woman brought in one roll of uncirculated war nickels and gave it to the teller and told her,maybe this will help you out. The teller thanked her for her help and she even told the woman as to where she could sell the rest of her collection of coins for the best profit. The teller told her about a coin shop,but the woman also had someone come to the home to look at the entire collection to sell. So this elderly woman knew what she had,but she also gave a small part of it to help someone else out.

 

[Pennyworth]

Cyn, when I was a teenager I would ride my bike all the time and I always kept my eyes open for treasure so to speak. lol Well one day the garbage was set out on the curb for pick up the next day and I rode past a house and I saw a cigar box so I stopped and picked it up. Well did I find a lot of personal items and items I knew had to be worth something. I brought them home to show to my mom, and she said where did you get this? I had found a box of war medallions, including the purple heart, a silver lighter made in Occupied Japan,old photographs, and also many documents with personal information. Even as a teenager I thought why would someone throw this stuff out?

So my mom went back to the home with me and we knocked on the door to show them the items and asked if they had been mistakenly thrown out, did they want them back. Turns out the parents had passed away and the daughter didn't want any of the items and said it was ok to keep them. My mom told her that she was going to destroy the personal papers so no one would get the information.

On another note: Here's a story of something I found when I was about 10 or 12 years old. I saw a box of magazines on a treelawn,so I picked them up and they were Playgirl magazines(btw, I am female). Well being as young as I was I had never seen anything like that before. I brought those home, and my mom was angry with me. lol Well I said I never saw anything like that before and I was always a curisous child. She took them away quickly and threw them out. LOL Let's just say I got an early education that day.

 

[Paul in WA]

What is really sad is that most power companies have programs that will pay bills for seniors............sad. And yes, someone at the bank should have spoke up.

Paul

 

[stoney56]

I too think that the elderly woman should be informed of a better alternative than cashing in for face value. Apparently, she's one of those that's too proud to ask for assistance and probably grew up believing you should pay your own way in life whatever the cost. If she still continues to cash in instead of finding a buyer, some of whom might even just pay 3X face which would have netted her $600 instead of $200.
Around here, a lot of the elderly are of farming stock, thus they don't necessarily have an IRA acct. or any fancy financial retirement acct. What they have is years and years of sweat and toil saved a few dollars at a time along with the sale of their farn after they retired and moved into town. Although there are those that dress shabbily, drive old vehicles, penny pinch to the nth degree, and then when they die it's found that they have boocoo's of cash stashed everywhere in and around their homes.
I know personally of one gentleman that committed suicide with a meat cleaver (very messy and gross- :P) and when found, there were 6 CD's (certificates of deposits) laying on his dresser each being worth $100,000 and cash bundled in his freezer also in the 6 figures.

Your cuz should give her the opportunity to get more from her silver dollars and if she declines the offer, then the door is opened. Don't get caught though with getting the name and address from the bank and going there yourself as that can get you and your cuz arrested if caught for divulging private and personal banking information, although if the lady offers her address that's different. JMO.

 

[EDDE]

cyn ,pen name ,publish it then donate half to veterans home or hospital ,giving full credit to the author!

 

[bill dilly]

Hey guys...calm down a little. I don't know the details of why these were turned in. I just know that if my cousin wasn't there, someone else would have gotten them. I don't know if the teller tried to tell the lady to sell them to a dealer or what. My cousin is the vault teller and gets coins like half dollars from each of the their locations. No one is or was trying to rip off anyone.
As far as my trying to get the woman's address to get her coins....I have no interest in that. But, if she decides to bring in more coins, I am interested in that.
A couple of days ago I was in a bank in a rural part of the state and the teller told me a similar story. She had several hundred dollars in halves that a senior citizen brought in. She wouldn't sell them to me because she was saving them for another customer.
I was just trying to relate my good fortune on this board.