Half dolllar bag, I couild just kill myself

Ben Cartwright SASS

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Half dolllar bag, I couild just scream

Went to the bank to dump halves, filled the bag, when they were changing it I watched, I could see AT LEAST 10 SILVER HALVES!!!!!

I pleaded with them to sell me the bag and they said no, it has to go to the fed (right!) I do know that they use Loomis so in they should be coming back in boxes soon.

I wonder what the turnaround is on halves from the car companies? My pickup banks all seem to use Garda, may have to order a couple boxes from this bank in a few weeks and I may get a Loomis dump.
 

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Owassokie

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I did some testing several years back to see how quickly I'd see my dumps. Your area will vary and there's no telling for sure but the quickest returned coins I saw was 1 week, if I remember correctly. I'd wait at least that long before you start trying to get those boxes.
OO
 

LooseChange

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For next time . . .

When they will not sell you the bag and you can see silvers, ask if you can exchange a dozen or so of the coins in the bag for ones you were about to dump. I've done that with a credit union that used to sell me bags (until the policy changed). I had a very good relationship with that vault teller though, I'm not sure she would have done that for anyone else. It is worth politely asking though.
 

Johncoho

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Went to the bank to dump halves, filled the bag, when they were changing it I watched, I could see AT LEAST 10 SILVER HALVES!!!!!

I pleaded with them to sell me the bag and they said no, it has to go to the fed (right!) I do know that they use Loomis so in they should be coming back in boxes soon.

I wonder what the turnaround is on halves from the car companies? My pickup banks all seem to use Garda, may have to order a couple boxes from this bank in a few weeks and I may get a Loomis dump.

How much do the bags on the machines hold? Dimes, quarters, and halfs. We have a bank in my home town that uses a machine and I am tempted to open an account if they will sell me the bags.
 

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Ben Cartwright SASS

Ben Cartwright SASS

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The bags are all $1,000 bags.

I did ask about exchanging some halves for halves and she very forcefully said no. When I got home I called the VP at the main branch and asked about it and it was still no. I asked what car company they use and they won't tell, it is a state secret. I didn't want to tell her that one of the branch managers told me they use Loomis and I asked for a roll of dimes and it said Loomis that is a clue

I am not sure what day Loomis shows up some banks are Tuesday some are Thursday, if it is tomorrow that bag could show back up in boxes as early as next week so I think I will go to that branch tomorrow and order a couple boxes of halves and for the next month of so increase my weekly boxes from 2 to 4, keep getting the boxes from my current bank that have been good and try two boxes a week at today's bank to see if I can score that silver
 

Styfflin

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I am not sure what day Loomis shows up some banks are Tuesday some are Thursday, if it is tomorrow that bag could show back up in boxes as early as next week so I think I will go to that branch tomorrow and order a couple boxes of halves and for the next month of so increase my weekly boxes from 2 to 4, keep getting the boxes from my current bank that have been good and try two boxes a week at today's bank to see if I can score that silver

I appreciate the enthusiasm but please listen. This is one half dollar bag out of many half dollar bags that will be filled and picked up by whoever provides service to your region in the next couple months. It will join many other half dollar bags at the warehouse, said bags having been filled up over the course of the last couple months. You will have to go through many boxes to even have a tiny chance of scoring the contents of this one particular half dollar bag. Even in the tiny chance you actually do get the contents of that one particular half dollar bag, a) you will never know and b) you will have undoubtedly hit many other good silver dumps in the process.
 

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Ben Cartwright SASS

Ben Cartwright SASS

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Of course you are correct and this isn't a small rural area, this is the suburban Boston area.

I wonder how many half dollar bags the couriers get a week? I know of at least 40 banks within 20 miles of me that have coin counters or accept coin that is not wrapped and I know there are more. It would be interesting to know how many bags of halves they actually average.

Still to see those coins there and not being able to buy the bag, I could just scream.
 

Argentium

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The frustration you experienced was based on you seeing silver that you were not allowed to own , my recommendations going forward are as follows : 1. Find out the bank policy concerning selling bags before you look at a bag as it is removed from the coin counter - if it's no can do , I strongly suggest that you do not look at the bag ! 2. Do not kill yourself ! It will not be helpful in these endeavors .
 

lookingharder

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This questions is because I am truly ignorant to coin hunting so please excuse my ignorance. Are the coins you find worth the time you spend searching for them? What do you do with all the silver coins you find? Seems like some of you spend a LOT of time looking for them. I looked at 90% Silver dollar prices and they seem to be around $12 . Silver per once was about $17. Do you sell them as coins or keep them for the silver value. I'm a disabled vet so I have nothing but time and was wondering if coin roll hunting would be worth getting into.
 

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Ben Cartwright SASS

Ben Cartwright SASS

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I am also a disabled Vet (hearing) USN '72-'76 Photographers Mate.

I keep all the silver I find, I also buy junk silver. In the Eastern Mass RI area they are getting $18 for G-VG dollars and 20-24 for XF. Halves are $8 and quarters $3.75-$4 silver $17

Tonight I scored my best box ever, I thought last months was when I got 34 40% and 18 90% with 1 Walker, tonights was =43 40% and 18 90% including 8 Franklins and 3 Walkers. for the 4 boxes I looked through I am doing fantastic. BUT in January I ran 10 boxes for 1 40%.

Is it worth the time spent, well when I metal detected I thought it was worth it and fun, although 1 year I kept track of finds and time and I averaged 39 cents an hour!! If CRH worth it, well if you love fishing and buy a boat and gear and gas, you could buy fish at the market for less money. YES I can buy 40% right now for $3 each and halves for $8 each, my score with the value of the Walkers today was about $300. To get that I made two trips to the bank (2 miles each way) and spent 3 hours going through the coins so say a total of 3 1/2 hours then I will spend about 1 1/2 hours dumping them at my dump banks, so say 5 hours, that is about $60 an hour BUT remember my 10 box skunk streak so I am at 30 hours invested, so I am at $10 an hour, but these two boxes of mine were VERY unusual, the best in all my years of searching, normally you can get about 1.5 coins per box so you don't do it for the money espeically if you are like me and hoard it (I have 10 coffee cans full of silver in my safe) you do it because you feel like Indiana Jones!!!! It is just damn fun.

best box Feb 14 2018

Feb 14 2018 box.jpg

previous best box Jan 25 2018

Jan_2018 Best box ever.jpg
 

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Ben Cartwright SASS

Ben Cartwright SASS

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One final thought, I am working on a Kennedy Half Dansco Album. I have one already for my actual coin collection with all MS65-MS69 and Prf 65-68 coins that I bought from the mint and dealers, while fun it is not a challenge as creating a collection from "circulation"

In the old days you could do it from pocket change now you do it from rolls and boxes and bags, but the coins since 2001 are a real challenge as are Proofs, it is just plain fun.
 

LooseChange

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. . . I called the VP at the main branch and asked about it and it was still no . . .
I realize that it can be hard to walk away from a possible score without doing everything you can reasonably do.

I genuinely feel though that it is bad for the hobby to make noise about it - especially to bank execs. This crazy avocation of ours is on shaky ground as it is. If we make it even more of a thorn in the side of bank employees (or especially bank officers), we run the risk of a total shutdown.
 

fistfulladirt

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This questions is because I am truly ignorant to coin hunting so please excuse my ignorance. Are the coins you find worth the time you spend searching for them? What do you do with all the silver coins you find? Seems like some of you spend a LOT of time looking for them. I looked at 90% Silver dollar prices and they seem to be around $12 . Silver per once was about $17. Do you sell them as coins or keep them for the silver value. I'm a disabled vet so I have nothing but time and was wondering if coin roll hunting would be worth getting into.
For many of us, it's all about the thrill of the hunt. Some sell their silver, others don't. I suppose some do spend a lot of time looking for coin, but then some folks spend a lot of time at the game of golf.

As far as silver dollar prices go, don't expect to buy common silver dollars at melt/spot price. They carry a heavy collector premium of around 100% on average.
 

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Ben Cartwright SASS

Ben Cartwright SASS

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I realize that it can be hard to walk away from a possible score without doing everything you can reasonably do.

I genuinely feel though that it is bad for the hobby to make noise about it - especially to bank execs. This crazy avocation of ours is on shaky ground as it is. If we make it even more of a thorn in the side of bank employees (or especially bank officers), we run the risk of a total shutdown.

I simply asked about buying bank bags of the VP in charge of that sort of stuff, we also had a very nice chat about a couple of the branch managers. It was a pleasant chat and she ended by saying that I should stop in and order as many boxes of halves as I want. I was not confrontational rather asking a question. If you cannot ask a question how do you know the answer
 

Dozer D

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Ben: the branch bank that sells me bags, on the last half bag that I bought was on the machine for 15-months before I capped it off with about $75 of my own. That was last spring of 2017. Just checked last week when teller had machine open for me to get a penny bag, and the half bag only had $240 (almost a year on unit already). In my area halls are none existent. It even takes dimes 5-7 weeks to fill up.
 

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Ben Cartwright SASS

Ben Cartwright SASS

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The only half bag I have been able to buy, back in December, the teller told me that they had never changed the bag and they had it for almost 3 years, at least no one is dumping there. The quarters and golden dollars fill fast because a local coin shop has been dumping there. He had gotten tons of rolls for roll collectors and he said people are just not buying rolls of new coins any more, but he got them at face.

I figured to check back at that bank this summer to see how the bag is and also to see if they will still sell it.
 

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