Date Check those Half Dollars, or else!

[Dok Holliday]

As MentalUnrest and I know, Iowa is pretty much tapped out for finding silver in Half Dollar Rolls. He'll hate me for this...but here's the story.

I ordered a $500 from my credit union in an agreement that I could use them to fill up their coin counter bag. I haven't ordered boxes in months, and Mental just did his rase to 100 skunks not too long ago. My Credit Union has a nice coin counter, I think their bag will produce as it is publically accessible and the tellers can't cherry pick it, and a great old building that a lot of older folks bank at. Someone feeling guilty about cashing in halves will do it there. It is also right next to a shopping center, so bonus for traffic!

I got the box today (along with $500 in dimes, results on those tonight when I get home) but figured I'd rip the halves open and edge check them real quick after lunch...who knows...it is my birthday, maybe the silver gods will grant me a gift.

14th roll...I drop 3 on the end as I open the roll. I hear that distinctive ringing sound. I thought "No way, as I opened this roll I didn't see any silver 90% edges"...I looked at the ground, and a gold toned 1964 JFK was looking up at me.

I edge checked the rest of the box, but I'm going to go back and date and error check the rest of the halves tonight or tomorrow night, depending when I have time between birthday festivities. I always date check my halves because of exact reasons like this, but I thought I'd leave a warning for others, not date checking your halves can cost you silver!

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[K]

I always thought rim searching just takes the fun of the hobby away, unless you are just looking for silver And it doesn't even have to be halves, it could be dimes where you just look at the rim and don't see anything, but you just missed a merc with a dirty rim.

[BuffaloBoy]

That brings up something similar that happened to me, I was opening a box of halves back in may, and I was edge checking(I check dates after), and what I thought were all clads pops out a familliar ringing, a 1964p kennedy half dollar nicely toned(not completely gold- but toned). That was the only silver in that box.

[TheRockDoc]

Just last night I found 3 40%'ers... 2 at least were ones I normally would have missed. There was nothing saying silver at all about 2 of them. In fact, one is so not silver looking that I still keep looking at it and making sure I didnt mix a CuNi in there.. I was pretty surprised. I have seen many CuNi coins that look way more silver like than this particular one. Then, the other one of the three, has the most distinct orange copper I have ever seen in a 40%. In fact, I guarantee I would have missed that one if the silver sided edge wasnt that shiny silver still(which it seems like most the 40%s I find are no longer that shiny silver...) mostly dull, or even black.

[fistfulladirt]

No date checking necessary, I just scan the unopened rolls with my detector, for silver.

[Dok Holliday]

No date checking necessary, I just scan the unopened rolls with my detector, for silver.

You should take that puppy into a bank and ask to tour the vault.

[ronbo22]

Congrats and Happy birthday

[Yagershots]

No date checking necessary, I just scan the unopened rolls with my detector, for silver.

You should take that puppy into a bank and ask to tour the vault.

Agreed... LOL

[MentalUnrest]

You mean to tell me there really is silver halves in Iowa? I am happy for you and hope you have a good birthday! I did manage 3 90s and 1 40 this week. Certainly not from boxes, but from a bag off the machine.

Best to you!!

MU

[fistfulladirt]

No date checking necessary, I just scan the unopened rolls with my detector, for silver.

You should take that puppy into a bank and ask to tour the vault.

Agreed... LOL

Hook, line and sinker! You can't pick silver out of rolls with a detector. Maybe that's why I never find any silver.

[jim4silver]

Since I really only care about the silver halves and don't want to waste any more time than I already do, I rim check but also sound check once I have looked at the roll. There is no way to miss a silver if you know what you are doing if you use sight AND sound. Unless a person is hearing impaired they should not miss the sound of silver. Any one who disagrees with this try a test at home. Get a 40% and put it in a roll of non silvers and do a cascade fall of the coins from one hand to the other letting them clink, clink, clink together as they fall. You will not miss the sound of the silver coin as it clinks.

I have only had a couple of times where I missed the sight part and caught the sound. And that was when I was rushing and not paying enough attention and the coins were "coppery" compared to the average silver.

The key for me on the visual side is that the silver coins might not look like silver per se, but 99% of the time they will look different than the other coins in the roll. Whether the silver coin rim is silver, greenish, brown, gray, black, etc, it will almost always not look like the other non silver coins in the roll. Yes sometimes the rim might kind of look like a copper rim, but it is the contrast between that silver coin and the non silvers that makes you look at it if you know what to look for.

If I have missed a coin or two in the 3 plus years I have been doing this (and I doubt I have but cannot know for sure), it is well worth it for not having to look at every year on each coin. Nowadays seeing all the graffiti bugs me so I try to not see it anyway.

Jim

[CHAINCHOMP]

nice finds! keep it up and hh! [R.I.P. Rich Hartford]

[CHAINCHOMP]

oh, and happy birthday! keep it up and hh! [R.I.P. Rich Hartford]

[conpewter]

Would love a picture of that coin in a roll of regular Cu-NI halves