WHAT AM I DOING WRONG??

[CRHgiggidy]

Went to 6 different banks today and every single one didn't have a single half. How can all 6 not have one half? I went through the drive-thru at all 6 and then just planned on going in if they said yes, but do you guys think this is the reason or maybe they all just didn't have any. The teller at the last bank I went to went as far as to say "no, there are no banks that have them". I went to a pretty busy town today so maybe that's it, I really don't know. Any comments or tips would be greatly appreciated.

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[ArkieBassMan]

Welcome to CRH.

Halves can be hard to find. I live close to a town that has ~30 banks. The last time I took the time to hit every bank in town looking for halves, I came up with about ~$30 worth, and all of those came from 2 banks if I remember correctly.

[CRHgiggidy]

Does anyone just call the bank and ask them before they go there? This seems a lot easier and more fuel friendly. The only drawback I can see is giving the teller too much time before you get there to take out the silver. I'd also like to know about how many tellers and people in general know about silver hiding in rolls of coins. I know I didn't nor did I ever hear of anyone ever talk about it before stumbling across it online.

[ArkieBassMan]

Some people like to call ahead. I personally don't, for the exact reason you mentioned. Plus, its awfully easy for a busy (or lazy) teller to say over the phone, "No, we don't have any", when in fact some of the other tellers might have a few or there might be roll(s) in the vault that the teller you happened to talk to didn't know about, or just didn't check to see. That is also exactly why I never use the drive-thru unless its my only option.

There really are no shorcuts when it comes to CRH. You have to put in the time and the miles, and likely endure (sometimes lengthy) frustrating periods of finding absolutely nothing. In fact, I would "guesstimate" that if all CRHers figured all of their expenses and their time spent CRHing, that at least 75% of them would have came out better financially just buying the silver outright. That number may easily be over 90%. The "thrill of the hunt" with the slight possibility of a truly huge score is what keeps most of us at this.

Most tellers have at least some knowledge of silver coins. The older the teller, the more knowledge they are likely to have. Still, I have had tellers hand me silver while telling me that they are handing me silver. Why they didn't keep them knowing they were silver and had at least some value is beyond my understanding. No complaints though.

[Bigheed]

Most of the older tellers that are like 40-50+ know about silver, but all the 30 somethings and less (with the exception of a few) always ask what are you looking for etc?

I only call to see if my boxes are in if I haven't heard from them. I think if you start cold calling banks for loose or CWR halves they are going to get real sick of you real fast.

I think the drive through works against you as well as they are just as likely to pause for 10s and say, "I looked but no one has any".

CRHing is a face to face hobby that should involve alot of small talk, making friends with random people aka the tellers if you are going to be looking for loose and CWR. If you just want to order boxes all the time you can operate at the minimal social interaction level, its up to you and whatever you are comfortable with.

Just be prepared for lots of skunks and lots of nada if you are doing alot of city/road trips.

Bigheed

[CRHgiggidy]

Thanks for the advice. Tomorrow I plan on going to a bank in an EXTREMELY small town. Like maybe 15 customers total per day. I have really high hopes for this bank. Hopefully my intuition is right on this. I have a unique job that lets me travel in company cars and I'll be in this town tomorrow so it's nice not having to worry about gas money during the week, plus it's kind of like getting paid to hunt silver once I finish my work and have down time. I love the idea of going around to small towns looking for banks that may have silver. I'll be posting my experience tomorrow, hopefully with some pictures!

[Bigheed]

hopefully you find something, but, people in small towns usually tend to be more frugal as a whole so the tellers probably have it on lockdown....but you never know, you might the lost cache of Jefferson Davis and the confederates!

[palidin20603]

Drive thru's pay off nicely for me. Tellers just want you to get in and out, they will also ask their fellow tellers for halves also.

[Generic_Lad]

I'd avoid the drive thrus, some banks have them connected, but a lot of them around here have two separate areas, the drive thru at the end of the day will sell all the halves (and dollar coins) they get to the front tellers and really only stock a few rolls of coin for the odd customer that wants a roll of quarters for the car wash.

[Numismaniac]

Welcome to CRH! It's fun but can be frustrating. I don't call the banks as each teller will generally only know what they have in their tray/drawer. If you're lucky enough to get the vault teller on the phone, they might tell you if they have some in the vault. However, I usually do it the old fashioned way of going in person. More work, but better results usually.

Keep at it, you'll score eventually.

[SilverFace]

I usually prefer the commercial drive thru myself - as a matter of convenience - unless I'm p/u half boxes. But I always ask the teller if anybody has any halves to try and make sure I'm checking with all the available tellers. Today I found $22.50 in loose clad halves @ my p/u bank this morning, 1 loose clad half and 61 clad Ike's @ another bank, 4 loose clad halves @ another bank & nothing at all @ 3 other banks this afternoon. And so far my first of two half boxes I got today was a skunk - so that's just how it goes sometimes with this hobby. Not everyday is a winner. But then again some days are - and that's what makes it all worth it.

H$H!

[CW3(RET) USARMY]

Welcome to this insanity/hobby called coin roll hunting. You did nothing wrong. It just was bad timing. What can really drive you crazy is when they tell you that they had some halfs but sold/shipped them out yesterday. You have to keep on plugging away. Perservance is the key to success. Tomorrow is another day.

Good Luck & HH

[rocky raccoon]

its just like mding,you hit ,you miss

[TheRockDoc]

sometimes you find them.... most the time you dont....

Even when you do find em...... very rarely are they silver......

but then when you do find silver at face....... For some reason that I still havent figured out yet.....

IT MAKES IT ALL WORTH IT............. Even though I know, I would be paying less for silver if I just bought it at spot...

[golden silver]

Welcome to this grueling hobbie. It is not always easy but it has its rewards. You learn as you go. I always go in to the banks unless the drive through is the only thing that is open. One teller may tell you know but then another teller will over hear and offer what they have. Drive throughs are more likely to usher you along to get the line moving instead of ask around to the other tellers. If you have an account at one of these banks you should ask if they can order boxes of half dollars for you. It is $500 a box so you have to halve at least that much to start. Good luck.

Golden Silver

[jarlbartar]

Other than Ikes, I would guess that the half is the lowest normal coin in circulation. You normally don't see them much in the "wild". Most banks loathe them since they need a bunch of them before they can ship them out. Many more banks do not stock them or even order them because they have so little demand for normal people.

[CRHgiggidy]

Hmmm, out of the banks I've gone to (only 6) two of them said they only have "silver dollars" I just assumed that they were less rare so I didn't bother buying any until this morning when I bought all of them from both banks. (31 regular, 6 commemorative) no silver though, which from what I've been told is extremely rare to find.

[ArkieBassMan]

Hmmm, out of the banks I've gone to (only 6) two of them said they only have "silver dollars" I just assumed that they were less rare so I didn't bother buying any until this morning when I bought all of them from both banks. (31 regular, 6 commemorative) no silver though, which from what I've been told is extremely rare to find.

By commemorative do you mean the 1776-1976 Bicentennial? Or did you find something else?

When dealing with Ikes, keep an eye out for the 1972 (type 2). Google that for more info if necessary.