Immy's Casino Royale

[Immy]

Sleepy's dime thread was the inspiration for this (with apologies to the James Bond franchise). Now that I'm visiting the El Cortez more often than usual (aka one of the last coin-op casinos in Vegas) it's time to create a thread to post ongoing results. I can't say it'll be as frequently updated as Sleepy's, but count on at least one or two excursions a month with hopefully interesting finds. Only wish I had the stamina and eyesight of my younger years.

In addition, with about 35 years of casino searching in the books, I'll augment my posts with stats and trivia from past casino visits.


Yesterday was a pretty great day amongst the nickels. These two beauties were in my bucket from around $100 searched. And after some Nik-A-Date treatment the year 1916 emerged. 2nd buffalo this year!


I always try to situate myself near the self-serve coin counters since the reject chutes are good sources of stuff. Yesterday was no exception. A guy came in with a large bag of non-casino coins. We got chatting and he said he got them from a storage unit he bought. Told him I'd take any rejects he didn't want and he gave me the 1981 Taiwan 10 dollars pictured above. Checking another machine also got me the 1950 Hong Kong 10 cent-er, my oldest foreign coin this year. Great stuff!

Fun Stats: Last 1916 buffalo I found was on 4/27/04. And, amazingly, the last 45-S war nickel I found on...9/3/11, exactly eight years ago to the day!

This Week in Casino Searching History: In 1999, I completed a roll of 1954-D nickels.

 

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[Immy]

PMD Follies


Used to find all kinda weird stuff when casinos had penny slots. Poor Abe looks like someone went after him with meat tenderizers here.

Questionable whether I'll be able to casino hunt in the immediate future. Major properties (MGM, Wynn) have announced complete closures starting this week for an indefinite period. Let that sink in...Vegas is closing its casinos. I'm stunned. So perhaps I'll put up more of these oddities to fill the void. We'll see what the Cortez does.

Stay safe everyone and keep it on TNet!

 

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[GMan00001]

Questionable whether I'll be able to casino hunt in the immediate future. Major properties (MGM, Wynn) have announced complete closures starting this week for an indefinite period. Let that sink in...Vegas is closing its casinos. I'm stunned. So perhaps I'll put up more of these oddities to fill the void. We'll see what the Cortez does.

Stay safe everyone and keep it on TNet!

I was actually curious if the casinos would close. Although I can't say I am surprised as they have a sizable percentage of the older/at risk clientele and I can only imagine everything that many people touch daily there with no way for sterilization to keep up... slot machines, coins, betting tokens, poker chips, dice, etc.

 

[Immy]

I was actually curious if the casinos would close. Although I can't say I am surprised as they have a sizable percentage of the older/at risk clientele and I can only imagine everything that many people touch daily there with no way for sterilization to keep up... slot machines, coins, betting tokens, poker chips, dice, etc.

As of yesterday, here's the Cortez's position:

“We are obviously monitoring the situation very closely and as always we will keep our employee and customer health as our number one priority. We currently remain open for business and we have made some changes to schedules and hours of some of our departments. We have also shut down about half of our slot machines to create more social distance between players and we have staff constantly cleaning all public surfaces.”

I'm staying away. We'll see what things are like in a couple of weeks.

So it's more PMD Follies!


Today's specimen falls into the "excessive, deliberate wear" category. I have a few nickels like this but this is prob the worst victim.

 

[Immy]

We'll see what things are like in a couple of weeks.

Well that escalated quickly. As of noon today all NV casinos (and non-essential businesses) are shuttered for 30 days. I can't even...

So the PMD Follies continue with:


Something took a clean notch out of this nickel. What? I have no idea.

In anticipation of an eventual return to the Cortez and all its nickel goodies, here's a glimpse of discoveries past.

Each decade from the 80s onward I tried to complete a Jefferson nickel series from the slots, usually beginning Jan 1st of a given year. Because of the rarity of certain dates, sometimes the search would extend beyond the year I started it. But I kept at it until the set was finished. I believe I started the first one in 1987. These were the top 15 hardest-to-find nickels that first time:

1. 1939-D (3.5m)
2. 1950-D (2.6m)
3. 1943-D (15.3m)
4. 1942-P (57.9m)
5. 1944-D (32.3m)
6. 1938-S (4.1m)
7. 1945-S (58.9m)
8. 1951-S (7.8m)
9. 1955 (8.3m)
10. 1950 (9.8m)
11. 1943-S (104.1m)
12. 1952-S (20.6m)
13. 1942-S (32.9m)
14. 1945-D (37.2m)
15. 1942-D (13.9m)

Bold represents dates in the actual top 15 rarest of the series.

Tomorrow I'll post the 90s results and do some comparisons.

 

[Immy]

PMD Follies & more stat dumps!


Looks like BB gun target practice on poor Tom. Ouch!

The next survey began Jan 1st 1997 and wasn't completed until 3½ years later when I finally found the elusive 50-D on 6/16/00 (six months after finding the 38-D). This made for some choice stat compilation! One thing that can skew things, however, is when a hard-to-find date randomly shows up sooner than expected, such as the 43-D which was #3 in the 80s but didn't make the cut this time. Additionally, war nickels are scarce in general which is why they represent roughly half of each list despite relatively higher mintages.

Bold = dates in the actual top 15 rarest of the series.

1. 1950-D (2.6m)
2. 1938-D (5.4m)
3. 1942-P (57.9m)
4. 1942-S (32.9m)
5. 1939-S (6.6m)
6. 1945-D (37.2m)
7. 1955 (8.3m)
8. 1944-P (119.2m)
9. 1944-D (32.3m)
10. 1951-S (7.8m)
11. 1939-D (3.5m)
12. 1949-S (9.7m)
13. 1944-S (21.6m)
14. 1938-S (4.1m)
15. 1949-D (35.2m)

Repeaters

(Date - 80s/90s)

1938-S - 6/14
1939-D - 1/11
1942-P - 4/3
1942-S - 13/4
1944-D - 5/9
1945-D - 14/6
1950-D - 2/1
1951-S - 8/10
1955 - 9/7

No shows (sub 20m mintage)

1953-S (19.2m)
1958 (18m)
1946-S (13.6)
1948-S (11.3)

Highest mintage appearance

1944-P (119.2m)
1949-D (35.2m) (non-silver)

 

[Immy]

PMD Follies & stats galore!


A constant threat for coins was getting stuck in the old-fashioned counters.

The next survey began Jan 1st 2009 and amazingly, it has yet to be completed! Casino hunting had dropped off my radar for a few years, from roughly 2012 until early 2019. Many factors contributed to this; family issues, job & residence change, but the main cause was the ever-increasing amount of coinless casinos. Thankfully, the Cortez and a handful of others keep the coin-op flame burning.

The top three have yet to be found, and the 44-D was only added this past Sept. Questionable whether I should include the missing ones on both lists (2009 & the current 2020) when they're found. Technically I shouldn't, but realistically it's been 20 years since my last 50-D discovery and 16 years since the last 39-D. And I'm not getting any younger. Will there even be coin-op casinos in 2030? Who knows. The current survey may be the last.

Bold = dates in the actual top 15 rarest of the series.
Red = debut on list

1. 38-D/39-D/50-D
2. 38-D/39-D/50-D
3. 38-D/39-D/50-D
4. 1944-D (32.9m)
5. 1949-S (9.7m)
6. 1945-D (37.2m)
7. 1948-S (11.3m)
8. 1938 (19.5m)
9. 1955 (8.3m)
10. 1942-D (13.9m)
11. 1958 (18m)
12. 1942-P (57.9m)
13. 1943-P (271.2m)
14. 1950 (9.8m)
15. 1944-P (119.2m)

3-peaters

(Date - 80s/90s/00s)

1939-D 1/11/??
1942-P 4/3/12
1944-D 5/9/4
1945-D 14/6/6
1950-D 2/1/??
1955 9/7/9

No 3-peat (made the first 2 lists, not the 3rd)

1938-S (4.1m)
1942-S (32.9m)
1951-S (7.8m)

No show 3-peaters (sub 20m mintage)

1953-S (19.2m)
1946-S (13.6m)

Highest mintage appearance

1943-P (271.3m)
1949-D (35.2m) (non-silver)

 

[Immy]

PMD Follies ftw!


I don't even...I just...whoa.

Also in 1997 I began my pre-1960 project: to complete a roll of each year/mm. Most are done except the following dates. After that, feast on some stats from the project.

50P - 32
42P - 30 (Silver)
55P - 26
42S - 21
44S - 21
45D - 20
44D - 20
39S - 17
43D - 8
38S - 5
38D - 3
39D - 3
50D - 2

Rolls completed

First

1958-D (1/11/99)

First P-mint

1941 (8/11/99)

First S-mint

1954-S (12/18/00)

First wartime

1943-P (2/9/03)

First sub 20 mil

1953-S (2/11/03)

First sub 10 mil

1949-S (4/8/05)

Lowest mintage

1951-S (2/24/07)

Most recent

1945-P (11/9/08)

 

[Immy]

Sometimes damage really puzzles me. How is the obverse so messed up but the reverse is fine?

Continuing with some numbers from my roll completion hunt. There are 61 pre-1960 dates/mms, so complete rolls of the whole series would be 2440 coins. Having no idea how far I'd get, I set a goal of getting to 75% or 1830 coins, reasoning that it's not possible to reach 100%.

Well, I passed 75%, then 80%, then 85%. The current total stands at 2128 nickels, or 87.2%.

90% is the last realistically attainable goal, which is 68 more nickels. To reach that I'll have to really rake in the silver, and the lower mintage silver to boot, since the 50-P and 55-P represent only 22 of the 68 needed. But I'm up for it, assuming the casinos reopen eventually.

 

[GMan00001]

Also in 1997 I began my pre-1960 project: to complete a roll of each year/mm. Most are done except the following dates. After that, feast on some stats from the project.

50P - 32
42P - 30 (Silver)
55P - 26
42S - 21
44S - 21
45D - 20
44D - 20
39S - 17
43D - 8
38S - 5
38D - 3
39D - 3
50D - 2

My list for a roll of each pre-1960 date is similar, though slightly shorter. All are done except the following:
42S - 37
38D - 27
44S - 26
39S - 19
43D - 13
39D - 6
38S - 3
50D - 2

Good luck completing yours, mine have been in a holding pattern for awhile as I haven't searched nickels in 6 or 7 years.

 

[Immy]

And here's the opposite of yesterday - one side okay, the other...yecch! Wonder if someone tried to melt it.

My list for a roll of each pre-1960 date is similar, though slightly shorter. All are done except the following:
42S - 37
38D - 27
44S - 26
39S - 19
43D - 13
39D - 6
38S - 3
50D - 2

Good luck completing yours, mine have been in a holding pattern for awhile as I haven't searched nickels in 6 or 7 years.

92.3%, nice! If I could reach that total, I'd be a happy camper. Can you imagine where we'd be if we'd stuck to it?

Now complete date rolls of buffalos? That's another story...an unlikely one.

Best I can list in that department are dates that I've found multiples of:

36P - 7
19P - 5
16P - 4
23P - 4
24P - 4
28P - 4
35P - 4
14P - 3
15P - 3
25P - 3
37P - 3
13D - 2 (T-1)
13S - 2 (T-1)
13P - 2 (T-2)
17P - 2
17S - 2
20P - 2
27P - 2
29P - 2
36D - 2
36S - 2

Some of these are probably a bit higher but I only started keeping track in March 1997. It's still funny to realize that a 1936P buffalo is more commonly found than four different Jefferson dates. Another oddity is that I've found two each of the Type 1 1913 D & S mint (5.3m & 2.1m mintages, respectively) yet none of the much more common 1913P Type 1 (31m). Go figure...

 

[Immy]

PMD Follies


And then there's those with equal damage on both sides. What has this nickel been thru?

Since I'm doing casino finds, might as well list my oldest discoveries:

1¢ - 1898 (2/11/96)
5¢ - 1899 (12/8/05)
10¢ - 1936 (11/11/88)
25¢ - 1908-D (11/28/06)
50¢ - 1906-O (10/2/06)

Canada
1920 (1 cent - 2/21/08)

Non-Canada Foreign
1929 (Panama - 5 centesimos - 2/26/04)

 

[Immy]

Then there's personalized PMD. Someone named "Donny" (based on the third coin) decided to deface pennies to commemorate which year he found them. Imagine how many he did for me to find three of them over the years.

Here's my list of wheaties I've never found in casino slots:

1909-S
1909-S VDB
1911-S
1914-D
1915-S
1931
1931-S
1936-D

I found most of the series in a monster score in 1996, though that 36-D has remained elusive.

 

[GMan00001]

Now complete date rolls of buffalos? That's another story...an unlikely one.

Best I can list in that department are dates that I've found multiples of:

36P - 7
19P - 5
16P - 4
23P - 4
24P - 4
28P - 4
35P - 4
14P - 3
15P - 3
25P - 3
37P - 3
13D - 2 (T-1)
13S - 2 (T-1)
13P - 2 (T-2)
17P - 2
17S - 2
20P - 2
27P - 2
29P - 2
36D - 2
36S - 2

Some of these are probably a bit higher but I only started keeping track in March 1997. It's still funny to realize that a 1936P buffalo is more commonly found than four different Jefferson dates. Another oddity is that I've found two each of the Type 1 1913 D & S mint (5.3m & 2.1m mintages, respectively) yet none of the much more common 1913P Type 1 (31m). Go figure...

I'm not going to list all of my buffalo counts, but to compare stats...here are my top few buffalo dates:
1936-P - 35 - only 5 more for a roll
1937-P - 18
1920-P - 15
10 varieties with between 5 and 9
8 varieties with 3 or 4 (with three S varieties)
8 varieties with 2

I've also found multiple copies of 7 V-nickels (with 2 or 3 of each)

 

[GMan00001]

Here's my list of wheaties I've never found in casino slots:

1909-S
1909-S VDB
1911-S
1914-D
1915-S
1931
1931-S
1936-D

I found most of the series in a monster score in 1996, though that 36-D has remained elusive.

You are slightly ahead of me on finding all the wheat cents as I have 12 left to find
1909-S
1909-S VDB
1910-S
1911-S
1912-S
1913-D
1914-D
1915-S
1922-D
1926-S
1931-S
1932

I have 31 of the 1936-D so that is odd that you don't have that one.

 

[Immy]

This poor dime's been rehabbing in my collection since I found it in a Coinstar reject chute.

Category 1 1)1955 2)1949-S 3)1955-D 4)1955-S 5)1950-S 6)1954-S 7)1949-D 8)1946-S 9)1949 10)1951-S 11)1958 12)1947-S

Category 2 13)1948-S 14)1953-S 15)1952-S 16)1950-D 17)1947-D 18)1950 19)1948-D 20)1953 21)1951-D 22)1946-D 23)1960 24)1962

Category 3 25)1948 26)1959 27)1961 28)1952 29)1951 30)1954-D 31)1956-D 32)1956 33)1957-D 34)1954 35)1947 36)1952-D

Category 4 37)1963 38)1953-D 39)1958-D 40)1957 41)1959-D 42)1960-D 43)1961-D 44)1946 45)1962-D 46)1963-D 47)1964 48)1964-D gray = wanted black = Found

Here's my all time dime finds. Almost all of these are from Coinstars, but some were from a few trips to the Circus Circus casino many years ago. Back in the day they were the only casino with dime slots and $100 would routinely net you three or four silvers.

 

[Immy]

CHOMP! Something took a bite out of this nickel. The reverse is perfectly fine.

Wartime Nickels [490]

1942-P (11/4/19) [31]

1942-S (12/10/19) [22]

1943-P (1/7/20) [99]

1943-D (9/15/09) [9]

1943-S (1/7/20) [98]

1944-P (12/17/19) [53]

1944-D (9/24/19) [21]

1944-S (8/18/11) [21]

1945-P (2/11/20) [55]

1945-D (8/12/11) [21]

1945-S (9/3/19) [60]

With all this free time I've been looking thru some of my old TNet posts and in one from 2008 I gave an accurate count of how many wartime nickels I'd found to that point. This was such an amazing discovery because I misplaced some data in a 2017 move and this filled in the gaps.

The above list now reflects the completely up to date total of war nickels. I'm closer to 500 than I thought!

 

[Sleepy Holow]

$100 would routinely net you three or four silvers.

What a ratio! The golden era of CRHing right there. Surprised that dime didn't break the coinstar machine for a week. Your FDR dime list looks pretty similar to my jeff nickel list. I had several tellers ask me over the past few months if I was gonna do nickels next. I had the initial thought of "I don't think you understand how hard this FDR set is to collect" and my response of "I think I'll just take a break". Nickels are doable though, especially with my 1939D find. Obviously, the '50D would be tough. The romantic in me wants to take a crack at the Washington quarter set, but with all the W hunters out there, whatever was left in circulation is now gone.

With all this free time I've been looking thru some of my old TNet posts and in one from 2008 I gave an accurate count of how many wartime nickels I'd found to that point. This was such an amazing discovery because I misplaced some data in a 2017 move and this filled in the gaps.

The above list now reflects the completely up to date total of war nickels. I'm closer to 500 than I thought!

Everyone else is talking about shutting operations down and you're adding 17 silvers to the cause. Good luck on reaching 500!

 

[Immy]

Canadian coinage wasn't immune to dommages post-monnayer.

Before Vegas penny slots went the way of the dodo in Jan 2012, I found a fair few.

The breakdown (bold = found):

George V - 1920, 1932

George VI - 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1947 ML, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952

ELIZABETH II - 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962-2012

Note: Technically, the 2012 wasn't a casino find since penny slots disappeared before they were released.

 

[Immy]

Haven't discussed holes yet, probably the most commonly found deliberate damage that I find in slots. This quarter got triple the treatment.

Quarters have never been high on my hunting agenda. I remember trying around $5000 over a few months and finding a grand total of one silver. Still, they do appear now and then, as evidenced by the following discoveries:

Barber: 1908-D

Standing Liberty: Dateless S-mint

Washington: 38-S, 42, 42-S, 43-S, 49, 49-D, 53-S, 56-D 57, 64, 64-D

 

[Immy]

Here's PMD with a morbid side. A small X has been placed on JFK's head, creating a so-called "Assassination" half dollar.

I only started searching for halves in 2005, around the same time I joined TNet coincidentally. Even though my missing records have yet to be found, I was able to mostly reconstruct my half finds by checking out my old posts.

Barber: 1906-O

Walker: 1942

Franklin: 1951, 1951-D, 1952, 1952-D, 1953-S, 1954, 1954-S, 1958-D, 1959, 1960-D, 1951-D, 1962-D, 1963-D

JFK: All regular issue 1971-2001; most NIFC (1970-D, 1987PD, 2002-2018); 1968-S, 1969-S, most non-silver proofs 1971-1995 and a few later years.