% skunk boxes

[Megalodon]

I see occasional posts from posters who gave up CRH due to skunk boxes and wonder what % of skunk boxes they were getting. As I approach 70% of my boxes turning out to be skunks this year, I'm curious if others have set thresholds - and once the threshold is reached or exceeded, it indicated time to quit. And, if so, are the thresholds the same for dimes as for halves?

 

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[Uncleslick18]

I’d say my half skunk rate is probably the same as yours. I have switched to dimes recently, and am at least finding some silver.

8 boxes in two weeks, 2 mercs 6 Rosie’s and one 1966 CAD

 

[Megalodon]

I’d say my half skunk rate is probably the same as yours. I have switched to dimes recently, and am at least finding some silver.

8 boxes in two weeks, 2 mercs 6 Rosie’s and one 1966 CAD

The mercury dime is a beautiful design IMO. I went to the bank yesterday and added a box or two of dimes to my half order. When i pick them up, I'll reduce my order of halves to just one box.

Do you find marked dimes like we find marked halves?

 

[FormerTeller]

So in the past year I had 2 ten box skunk streaks and a twelve box skunk streak, but in all honesty it wasn’t the skunks that did me in. In previous years I had as many as 30 skunk boxes in a row, but that was often offset by boxes with 20 or more silver in them. Lately I would have multiple skunks, but the boxes that actually had silver often had only one or two. Even so I’d likely have just toughed it out except for the fact that I was in effect paying to dump. No free coin counters near me anymore, so I was dumping using bags. The banks gave me instant credit, and I could dump a couple thousand at a time, but I had to buy the bags. On average they cost me $0.50 per $500 dump. Finds were bad enough that while I technically wasn’t losing money, I just wasn’t finding enough to make doing boxes worth my time. It just wasn’t fun anymore, and became a chore I dreaded.

 

[Uncleslick18]

I have never found more than 3 silver coins in one box of halves. 20+ silver in a box would probably keep me in the game! Lol.

For me it’s just as much of how big of a pain in the neck they are to get rid of after you’re done getting skunked too.

 

[scottw]

This year I am running about 70% skunk on half dollars as well. That is not enough to make me stop.
I have been plagued by multiple solid boxes of 2018's, and many other boxes with 50% or more 2018's, again not enough to pull the plug.
I did hit a patch were I was ready to toss it in. There was a 6 week run of skunks with open boxes, all 2018's. It was obvious someone opened a flap on them, saw all new ones, and returned them. One box had a roll that was half full; another had a roll laying on the side to take up the place of 2 rolls.
I kept on, mostly out of habit. Since then I have been seeing a slight trickle of 40%ers, approximately 1 coin per 2 boxes.
I would be much farther ahead buying ASE coins, and forgetting this 40% silver nonsense.
Where is the fun in that?

 

[Uncleslick18]

So true, if you think about it from a purely economic standpoint, this hobby makes absolutely no sense, but like you said, it’s fun

 

[CJ9]

So true, if you think about it from a purely economic standpoint, this hobby makes absolutely no sense, but like you said, it’s fun

Totally agree. But its a pretty inexpensive hobby compared with others. Time and gas to go to banks are really it. I am in it for the thrill of the hunt.

That said, I don't search boxes of halves at all. Waste of time to me (low return) & I don't have anyplace to dump large quantities of them - although I just found out that the self serve checkout machines in 2 supermarkets near me take them, as does the Home Depot machine, so that helps me get rid of a some volume. I just search CWR and teller loose halves, and I do well on a % basis (I can post this years numbers later - I don't have them in front of me right now).

 

[Dozer D]

I do mostly ALL dimes, and over the years the skunk % has been between 25-35%, but my avg per box is just over 1.3/box this year, from a high of about 3-4 about 4 yrs ago. I do it for the fun & thrill of the hunt.

 

[Uncleslick18]

Totally true, no one is getting any ‘richer’ here. Haha, maybe they are I don’t know, but my recent plunge back into CRH has caused me to start pulling out my collection and looking through all my stuff again. I keep my funds separate from my collection. I do it just as you all have said, because
It’s pretty cool to find old coins lurking around in circulation

 

[Megalodon]

I have never found more than 3 silver coins in one box of halves. 20+ silver in a box would probably keep me in the game! Lol.

For me it’s just as much of how big of a pain in the neck they are to get rid of after you’re done getting skunked too.

In Jaunary, 2019, my wife found 75 silver in one box; my box that night had 24. The next 25 boxes were all skunks. But it is the memory of that one night when nearly every roll had silver (for her) that has kept me from quitting altogether. In the midst of another long streak of skunks, I am reducing my halves from 4 boxes per week to 3 and adding a box or two of dimes. If the dimes become more fun, then I'll further reduce the halves and add more dimes.

The dumps require planning for me and i keep a notebook of where, how much, and bag changes. When coin machines are down, I roll and cash in at another bank that does not have a coin machine. Since I have accounts, there is no charge to dump - but there is time and gas. I try to mitigate the driving by stopping along my dump route to do other things along the way. The only service station that sells non-ethanol gas in this part of the state is along my route and I stop there every week for 2 gallons of 91 octane pure gas for my small tools and lawn tractor. During the winter, instead of buying pure gas, I stop for fresh oysters. It helps me to justify the trips to dump halves.

 

[Megalodon]

So true, if you think about it from a purely economic standpoint, this hobby makes absolutely no sense, but like you said, it’s fun

LOL. Yes, we can just pick up a cell phone or sit down at our keyboards and buy & sell stocks, or buy and keep dividend stocks that keep on paying with no work on our part. But there is something special, something real, about holding a silver coin, even if it is just a small dime, even though the time spent in finding it could easily have been devoted to making real money. The hobby transcends profit.

 

[Uncleslick18]

Very true. Awesome finds with those big score boxes, and good luck with the dimes, I’ve found them to be slightly more fruitful

 

[Diver_Down]

I don't keep track. I have been hunting for 35+ years. I have found more than my fair share. But I will admit, that it just isn't as exciting as it was. The only reason I continue is that I had vowed to pay off my mortgage in coin. When I do find anything of interest, I can count them on one hand. Just a decade ago, I averaged $30 fv or more in keepers from my weekly box order. I anticipate retiring from roll hunting in 5 years.

 

[CJ9]

To follow up from earlier - this year I have searched $408 in halves either CWR or loose from tellers. I also searched one box of $500 in February, which was a skunk (no surprise there).
of these $408, I have found:
10 40%
3 1964
3 Ben
1 Walker
2 Impaired proof clad (1976S, 2008S)
1 1987P
and 45 NIFC, of which 40 were solid CWR rolls of 2002 P&D

while I don't search alot of volume, the results around here for halves are good on a % basis. I have been searching for 20+ years and, more recently been getting fewer, but every now and again I hit a stroke of luck, which keeps me interested.

I also search dimes (no boxes). Of $7,230 searched this year, found 83 silvers, including one solid roll (earlier post in March I think). Used to find 1 silver per $40 or $50 back around 2000, now its maybe 1 out of $150-200 on average.

 

[A2coins]

It is getting harder now Im searching for the 2019 west point quarter

 

[blueberra]

Of the 14 boxes (usually one per week) I've searched in 2019, 9 have been skunks (64%). I'm currently on a 7 box skunk streak.

Since the beginning of February, with the exception of a solitary 40% silver found in a box around Valentine's day, the only silvers (3 @ 40%) I've found have come from tellers.

January was pretty good. I suspect it was correlated with holiday bill payments and the need for cash from all sources.

 

[ArkieBassMan]

I searched 2-4 boxes of halves weekly for a little over 2 years. My skunk box percentage was almost a perfect 75% if memory serves me correctly. I also tried to mix in some dimes, but had 55 skunks out of 60 boxes, so I scrapped that idea fairly quickly. This was in ~2010-2012.

 

[Megalodon]

I searched 2-4 boxes of halves weekly for a little over 2 years. My skunk box percentage was almost a perfect 75% if memory serves me correctly. I also tried to mix in some dimes, but had 55 skunks out of 60 boxes, so I scrapped that idea fairly quickly.

I record everything. In 2018, we searched 68 boxes of halves, of which 30 (44%) were skunks. That didn't seem bad and there were no long skunk streaks. This year has been much worse. Of 63 boxes searched in 2019, 43 (68%) have been skunks. I had one 25 box skunk streak. Have only started to search dime boxes but all 3 were skunks. We are cutting back from 4 boxes/week to 2.

 

[Megalodon]

Of the 14 boxes (usually one per week) I've searched in 2019, 9 have been skunks (64%). I'm currently on a 7 box skunk streak.

Since the beginning of February, with the exception of a solitary 40% silver found in a box around Valentine's day, the only silvers (3 @ 40%) I've found have come from tellers.

January was pretty good. I suspect it was correlated with holiday bill payments and the need for cash from all sources.

Our experience 500 or so miles south of you has been the same pattern. My wife had one box in january that was more than the rest of our boxes for the year. She is competitive and crushing me. Since January, it has been very slim pickings.