Anyone else feel a "pinch?"

[scotto]

Anyone else feel a "pinch?"

That the silver is getting more scarce now than it was at the beginning of the year?
The $1,000 bags I've been getting are getting slimmer and slimmer.

It's depressing.

 

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[Emperor Findus Cladius]

Re: Anyone else feel a "pinch?"

There is only a finite number of silver halves out there. For every one that is found, that is one less left in circulation to find. I have seen a dramatic decrease in the number of silver halves being found in my area.

 

[65gt350]

Re: Anyone else feel a "pinch?"

It definitely goes in cycles. I have been doing this for quite a while and I have still not figured out the entire pattern. Although I have noticed that Jan-April is the best hunting period and it slows down from there with a small increase in mid June. In fact March 2007 was the quickest I reached 1000 halves with only ~$62,000 searched.

65Gt350

 

[cocrh]

Re: Anyone else feel a "pinch?"

They are out there. Here are the numbers.

Date Mintage for Circulation Mintage of Proofs

1964 273,304,004 3,950,762

1964-D 156,205,446 0

1965 65,879,366 2,360,000

1966 108,984,932 2,261,583

1967 295,046,978 1,863,344

1968-D 246,951,930 0
1968-S 0 3,041,506

1969-D 129,881,800 0
1969-S 0 2,934,631

1970-D 2,150,000 0
1970-S 0 2,632,810

 

[cocrh]

Re: Anyone else feel a "pinch?"

Ben Franklin Numbers:
Date Mintage for Circulation Mintage of Proofs

1948 3,006,814 0
1948-D 4,028,600 0

1949 5,614,000 0
1949-D 4,120,600 0
1949-S 3,744,000 0

1950 7,742,123 51,386
1950-D 8,031,600 0

1951 16,802,102 57,500
1951-D 9,475,200 0
1951-S 13,696,000 0

1952 21,192,093 81,980
1952-D 25,395,600 0
1952-S 5,526,000 0

1953 2,668,120 128,800
1953-D 20,900,400 0
1953-S 4,148,000 0

1954 13,188,203 233,300

1954-D 25,445,580 0
1954-S 4,993,400 0

1955 2,498,181 378,200

1956 4,032,000 669,384

1957 5,114,000 1,247,952
1957-D 19,996,850 0

1958 4,042,000 875,652
1958-D 23,962,412 0

1959 6,200,000 1,149,291
1959-D 13,053,750 0

1960 6,024,000 1,691,602
1960-D 18,215,812 0

1961 8,290,000 3,028,244
1961-D 20,276,442 0

1962 9,714,000 3,218,019
1962-D 35,473,281 0

1963 22,164,000 3,075,645
1963-D 67,069,292

Total 1,314,739,461 38,882,353

 

[cocrh]

Re: Anyone else feel a "pinch?"

Walking Liberty Numbers:

Date Mintage for Circulation Mintage of Proofs

1916 608,000 0

1916-D 1,014,400 0

1916-S 508,000 0

1917 12,292,000 0

1917-D (Obv.) 765,400 0

1917-D (Rev.) 1,940,000 0

1917-S (Obv.) 952,000 0

1917-S (Rev.) 5,554,000 0

1918 6,634,000 0

1918-D 3,853,040 0

1918-S 10,282,000 0

1919 962,000 0

1919-D 1,165,000 0

1919-S 1,552,000 0

1920 6,372,000 0

1920-D 1,551,000 0

1920-S 4,624,000 0

1921 246,000 0

1921-D 208,000 0

1921-S 548,000 0

1923-S 2,178,000 0

1927-S 2,392,000 0

1928-S 1,940,000 0

1929-D 1,001,200 0

1929-S 1,902,000 0

1933-S 1,786,000 0

1934 6,964,000 0

1934-D 2,361,400 0

1934-S 3,652,000 0

1935 9,162,000 0

1935-D 3,003,800 0

1935-S 3,854,000 0

1936 12,614,000 3,901

1936-D 4,252,400 0

1936-S 3,884,000 0

1937 9,522,000 5,728

1937-D 1,676,000 0

1937-S 2,090,000 0

1938 4,110,000 8,152

1938-D 491,600 0

1939 6,812,000 8,808

1939-D 4,267,800 0

1939-S 2,552,000 0

1940 9,156,000 11,279

1940-S 4,550,000 0

1941 24,192,000 15,412

1941-D 11,248,400 0

1941-S 8,098,000 0

1942 47,818,000 21,120

1942-D 10,973,800 0

1942-S 12,708,000 0

1943 53,190,000 0

1943-D 11,346,000 0

1943-S 13,450,000 0

1944 28,206,000 0

1944-D 9,769,000 0

1944-S 8,904,000 0

1945 31,502,000 0

1945-D 9,966,800 0

1945-S 10,156,000 0

1946 12,118,000 0

1946-D 2,151,000 0

1946-S 3,724,000 0

1947 4,094,000 0

1947-D 3,900,600 0

 

[scotto]

Re: Anyone else feel a "pinch?"

There was a lot of them minted, but I wonder how many actually avoided the smelter during the big silver melt of the early 80's though.
Some estimates put it at 50% minimum. I don't know how accurate that number is.

 

[schramm]

Re: Anyone else feel a "pinch?"

There was a lot of them minted, but I wonder how many actually avoided the smelter during the big silver melt of the early 80's though.
Some estimates put it at 50% minimum. I don't know how accurate that number is.

I think that 50% minimum is very conservative.Not to mention all the silver coins that have been melted in the past 27 years

I have seen such a decline in the past 5 years that when my bank started charging me for boxes I just quit getting them because the amount I had been finding and the amount of silverless boxes in between finds would have made it to expensive to keep ordering them.

Some areas of the country are just tapped out and those few on here still finding loaded boxes are just extremely lucky from what I can tell.

I just stick to cent,nickel,dime and quarter boxes now since they are always available when I want them and I don't get charged a fee ,Besides,the old coins I find make it worth the time and the silver is just an added bonus Halves are definately on the decline and with sites like this and a few others on the net entirely dedicated to teaching people how to find face value silver,the finds WILL be fewer and farther in between for every hunter.With this site you have to browse around a bit before you stumble onto CRH,but there are other sites where the only focus of the site is to teach all the tricks of finding face value silver.

I'm not upset about this,it is what is it is,but I am afraid that with so many people asking for halves at banks and ordering boxes that pretty soon banks are going to get so tired of dealing with non customers and then not let anybody get boxes,of ANY denomination just to not have to deal with people who are not making them(the banks) money.

And that will be sad because I know there are kids out there who like to go through cents for their whitman books and who are not going to make the bank any $,who will not even be able to get a few rolls to search for their hobby.

Am I a pessimist or a realist

 

[GPURS]

Re: Anyone else feel a "pinch?"

Schramm, being a realist can make you a pessimist! I second everything you said in your reply. We may just end up with too many folks chasing the pot of g.., err uh silver. Every body deserves the chance to find some, but like you I worry about the temperment of the tellers when they are asked for the umpteenth time if they have any half dollars. Good luck!

 

[fiatboy]

Re: Anyone else feel a "pinch?"

For me, boxes of halves aren't worth it. Almost every one is a skunk. And only about 1 out of 5 banks actually has ANY halves when I ask. And it's usually just a few, and they're rarely silver. In other words, it is indeed depressing. I want to search halves, but no one has them around here! The nickels and pennies are fun though. War nickels, buffalos, and wheaties are pretty much what I save now. And I keep any decent looking pre-1960 nickels.

I truly believe there are a lot of great coins out there still. So far this year, I've nearly completed a mint/date set of wheat pennies, found a V-nickel, some Walkers, an 1883 Indian Head, etc. etc...this list goes on. But really, there is a "pinch" and it's on silver. The mintage numbers of silver coins don't tell us how many are left. A LOT of silver coins have been melted. That's the reality we're dealing with.

But to a greater degree than most coin roll hunters would dare to realize, WE are the reason there isn't as much silver left. For every silver coin we remove from circulation, we are damaging this hobby. To wit, the hobby of coin roll hunting is never sustainable in its current form. Some may see it as a zero-sum game or as a hobby that eventually kills itself off. The point is, enjoy the silver while it lasts.

 

[fiatboy]

Re: Anyone else feel a "pinch?"

When I go to the bank, silver isn't the only way I'm feeling the pinch. Not as many banks have those baskets of free lolipops!!!