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]

Wartime Nickels [498]

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

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

1943-P (11/7/20) [101]

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

1943-S (11/5/20) [100]

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

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

[COLOR=#0000000]1944-S (10/30/20)[/COLOR] [22]

1945-P (10/17/20) [56]

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

1945-S (11/7/20) [62]

Really on a roll now! The Cortez gives it up yet again today with these two wartime beauties - 1943-P & 1945-S - which puts me into double digits for the year in silver nickels. Searched roughly $150 and though no new dates were found, two Canadian nickels joined the fun - 1989 & 2016.
If everything stays on track and provided there are no new COVID casino closures, I may reach 500 by Thanksgiving.

Fun Stats: Last time I found a 43-P & 45-S on the same day was 7/25/08 when I found eight wartimes in one casino visit.

This Week in Casino Searching History: Speaking of 1989, this week that year I found a 1979-S (Ty 1) impaired proof nickel.

 

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[Immy]

Wartime Nickels [499]

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

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

1943-P (11/11/20) [102]

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

1943-S (11/5/20) [100]

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

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

[COLOR=#0000000]1944-S (10/30/20)[/COLOR] [22]

1945-P (10/17/20) [56]

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

1945-S (11/7/20) [62]

Oh so close! The Cortez teasingly gave up just one wartime today - 1943-P - to keep me at the threshold of 500. Instead of another silver, a nifty 1978-S made an appearance, my 2nd proof of the year. Extra goodies included a 1949-S, the 12th of my 2nd roll, and a 2009 Mexican peso, a sweet reject chute find.

COVID update: Our governor has advised people to stay home while NV cases and hospitalizations are currently at record levels. If things don't abate, he's threatening harsher measures two weeks from now.

Fun Stats: After finding that 78-S, I only need a 75-S & 77-S to complete a 70's run of proof nickels, which started on 9/14/87 when I found a 72-S.

This Week in Casino Searching History: Exactly one year ago today I also found a 1943-P silver.

 

[CardsNCoins]

I haven't checked this thread in a while. Glad to see you're doing well on the nickels Immy.

 

[Sleepy Holow]

Maybe #500 will be a 43D...

 

[Immy]

Maybe #500 will be a 43D...

That's positive thinking for ya (great to see you back btw), but there was no silver to be had during today's visit, however...


...this will do quite nicely in its place.

Yup, buffalo #6 for 2020 is the 2nd 1919 I've found this year (Jan 28th was the first). This one also needed a Nic-a-Date rinse, in fact a double dose was necessary and it still didn't come out all that clearly (hard to see in the pic too). Funny thing is, back on Oct 30th a found 1923 buffalo tied 1919 for 2nd most common all time for me. Now 1919 regains the #2 spot:

36P - 7
19P - 6
23P - 5

No new Jefferson dates so the total remains at 44 of 61 pre-1960 since January. Other notables were a 1939 and three 2009-D. 09's turn up fairly regularly it seems.

Fun Stats: First recorded 1919 buffalo finding was 3/4/02, 2nd was on 3/28/04, 3rd (see below), 4th was 2/15/09.

This Week in Casino Searching History: On 11/23/08, I found my third 1919 buffalo.

 

[Dozer D]

My next search & sort of my collection by mm is my Buffalos, of which I have over 2000 to check. About half are dateless, some have been nic-a-dated, but still many without acid.

 

[Immy]

Ugh! What a wasteland the last month has been at the Cortez.

Considering the great finds in Oct & Nov, coming up with my 500th silver nickel by the end of the year was a slam dunk, right? Au contraire! That 1996-S impaired proof you see above? It's the sum total of nickel discoveries lo these past few weeks. Next week looks kinda busy for me so it looks like I won't have another chance to search until the new year. So close...

Merry Christmas everyone!

Fun Stats: Of the 25 proof nickels I've found, only 4 have been from the 90s.

This Week in Casino Searching History: In 2002, I found a 1990-S proof nickel.

 

[Immy]

The first Cortez search of 2021 ended up like the last few weeks of 2020...a bust. Went thru about $150 in nickels too.

The good news is two more pre-1960 dates were ticked off (1942-D & 1947) meaning we have the final 15 list:

1938PD, 1939DS, 1942PS, 1943-D, 1944PD, 1945-D, 1946-S, 1948-S, 1950PD, 1954

Comparing these to previous lists, a couple regulars are not present: 1951-S, 1955; and the venerable 1946-S finally makes its first appearance as well as the 1954, the highest non-silver mintage of the group.

Fun Stats: This is my fourth Top 15 list, though the third is still unfinished (see here - Immys Casino Royale - Page 6 (treasurenet.com))

This Week in Casino Searching History: In 2005, I found two war nickels - 1944-D & 1945-P.

 

[Immy]

Uncompleted Rolls

1950 [33] (1/23/21)

1955 [24] (10/17/20)

1939-S [17] (11/4/19)

1938-S [5] (3/10/20)

1938-D [3] (10/26/08)

1939-D [3] (5/4/04)

1950-D [2] (2/27/05)

2133 of 2440 [87.4%]

1807 of 2000 [90.4%]

The Cortez silver drought continues, but luckily the nickel slots gave up something. Vis my 33rd 1950 and first since 8/14/19. At this rate it'll be years before finishing the roll but adding another to the full roll totals is always a good thing.

Plus it takes its place at #15 in this latest survey I began around this time last year:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15. 1950

But wait, there's more...

Half dollars are making a comeback!

Was looking at my Kennedy Half Dollar Whitman folders and noticed that the 2021 coins will complete folder Number Three. So I'm going to try to complete an NIFC non-silver half dollar series (1987PD, 2002-2021) while of course snagging any silver or oddities that appear.

Brought home $100 to search today and here are the results:

No silver
2006-P
2018-D (x4)

...and 26 Bicentennials, which felt like an unusually large number. Still, glad to get this newest project off the ground.


Fun Stats: During my first ever half dollar search ($5000 from Feb thru Aug of 2005) I found twenty 40%ers, one 64-D, one 1952 Franklin, one 1942 Walker and four proofs (71-S, 73-S, 76-S, 89-S).

This Week in Casino Searching History: In 2003, I completed a roll of 1948-D nickels.

 

[Immy]

Wartime Nickels [500!!!]

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

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

1943-P (11/11/20) [102]

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

1943-S (1/30/21) [101]

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

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

[COLOR=#0000000]1944-S (10/30/20)[/COLOR] [22]

1945-P (10/17/20) [56]

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

1945-S (11/7/20) [62]

AT LAST!!!

The Cortez finally gave up war nickel #500 today, this 1943-S, and I couldn't be more pleased to pass this milestone. Woulda been nice to complete it in 2020 but what can you do? I'll take it! Along for the ride was a 2005 Thailand 1 baht trying to hide in the coin counter reject chute.

HALVES

$100 in halves produced no silver, but the following NIFC's:

2010-D
2018-D (x8)

My non-silver NIFC scorecard is 3 of 42.

Btw, completing a non-silver half collection is pretty simple from the casino. After last week's $100 there were only eight missing years/MMs and I found two of those today. Still unfound are 80-P, 83-P, 85-P, 86-P, 93-P, 01-P.

Fun Stats: 1943-S was the 2nd wartime date roll that I completed on 2/26/03, about three weeks after finishing my first ever, the 1943-P. Not surprising these remained #1 and #2 in the overall totals.

This Week in Casino Searching History: In 2001, I found a 1917-S Buffalo nickel.

 

[Immy]

HALVES

Nickels were a bust today so the only results are from the $100 in halves I brought home. For the record, 22 bicentennials were among them. A couple dozen or so per $100 seems about average.

No silver, but the following NIFC's:

2017-D <--New!
2018-D (x5)

For a coin with only 1.9 million mintage, the 2018-D's are pretty dang common with 17 so far.

My non-silver NIFC scorecard is now 4 of 42.

Located the 1983-P, so still unfound are 80-P, 85-P, 86-P, 93-P, 01-P.

Fun Stats: Was looking over the half dollar stats from my 2005 $5000 survey. During each $100 search I noted which dates didn't show from 1971-2001. The most complete I got was nine missing dates, yet amazingly enough the first search of this 2021 survey resulted in only eight missing. A new record on the first try!

This Week in Casino Searching History: In 2003, I completed my first ever wartime nickel roll - 1943-P.

 

[1235CE]

Really enjoy your posts and you have the same long-term record keeping habits like I do....love stats!

Keep up the great work!

HH all!!

Greg

 

[Immy]

NICKELS

No nickel discoveries today...or were there? The only find I managed was (AT LAST!) a 2020-P.

Now I can concentrate on 2021's.

HALVES

My usual $100 in halves yielded no silver yet again, twenty Bicents, and in the NIFC department, seven 2018-D. That's a complete roll already.

Among the IFC missing dates I nabbed the 1980-P and 2001-P, so still unfound are 85-P, 86-P, 93-P.


Fun Stats: The missing three IFC's have mintages of 13.1 million (86-P), 15.5 million (93-P) and 18.7 million (85-P). Which will be found next?

This Week in Casino Searching History: In 2005, my journey into halves began, with a 1952 Franklin as my first silver. You always remember your first.

 

[Immy]

Wartime Nickels [501]

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

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

1943-P (11/11/20) [102]

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

1943-S (1/30/21) [101]

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

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

[COLOR=#0000000]1944-S (10/30/20)[/COLOR] [22]

1945-P (2/23/21) [57]

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

1945-S (11/7/20) [62]

Phase two of the journey to 1,000 war nickels has begun! Riiiiight...highly doubtful that'll happen but this 1945-P brings me a tiny bit closer and gives me hope that all the silver nickels haven't been mined from the Cortez.

The coin counter reject chute produced a Japanese 1 yen from 1974 and another Angel token just like the example pictured in my 4/1/20 post.

HALVES

Doubled down (that's gambler talk ) on my halves and it really paid off, but not yet for silver.

The NIFC's were flowing nicely from $200:

1987-D
2003-D <--also new!
2017-D
2018-D (x14)

My non-silver NIFC scorecard is now 6 of 42.

Bicents were expectedly common with 51 and I completed the entire non-silver IFC set by snagging an 85-P, 86-P & 93-P.

A nice well-rounded day at the casino.

Fun Stats: Non-silver, non-proof halves from 1971-2021 comprise of a set of 100 coins (58 IFC's, 42 NIFC's). A nice round number that makes it easy to see my completion progress for the whole series, which now stands at 64%.

This Week in Casino Searching History: In 2005, with my half hunting in full swing, I found a 1965, 1967 & 1968-D. Had a real taste for silver by then.

 

[Immy]

Wartime Nickels [502]

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

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

1943-P (11/11/20) [102]

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

1943-S (3/1/21) [102]

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

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

1944-S (10/30/20) [22]

1945-P (2/23/21) [57]

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

1945-S (11/7/20) [62]

Really laid into the nickels today at the Cortez, probably searched $250-$300 worth and just when I was about to give up hope, this sweet 1943-S war nickel showed itself. Starting off March good and keeping a steady pace of one silver nickel per month.

HALVES
Back to my usual $100 and the pickins were pretty slim. A glut of 38 Bicents coupled with just four NIFC's, all 2018-D. How long will the silverless streak last?

Fun Stats: Is there a season for war nickels? Based on my stats that would be Nov & Dec since both months have the highest concentration of discoveries. The weakest time of year is May thru July.

This Week in Casino Searching History: In 2003, I completed my first full roll of 1943-S war nickels.

 

[Immy]

Stats gon' be heavy today my friends!


The Cortez came thru in spectacular fashion today! Firstly, we have this holed 1936 buffalo, my first this year and 8th '36 overall. It's seen some action, most likely as someone's jewelry, but it's a welcome addition to the collection.

Next to that is the star find of the year IMO...my fourth EVER 1939-D. Could barely contain my disbelief and glee when I turned that baby over in the casino (was lucky enough to nab a good machine with direct overhead light, great for my middle-aged eyesight ).

Now come the promised stats. That 39-D not only takes its place in the final 15 found in my 2020 survey (along with one other date found today) but it also earns a space in my 2009 survey that has yet to be completed (see page 6 of this thread). Additionally, this ticks up my uncompleted rolls total as the 39-D leapfrogs into 5th place over the 38-D.

Specifics below:

2009 Survey

1. 1938-D/1950-D
2. 1938-D/1950-D
3. 1939-D (3.5m)
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)

2020 Survey

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13. 1954 (47.7m)
14. 1939-D (3.5m)
15. 1950 (9.8m)

Uncompleted Rolls

1950 [33] (1/23/21)

1955 [24] (10/17/20)

1939-S [17] (11/4/19)

1938-S [5] (3/10/20)

1939-D [4] (3/16/21)

1938-D [3] (10/26/08)

1950-D [2] (2/27/05)

2134 of 2440 [87.5%]

1808 of 2000 [90.4%]

HALVES

As if that wasn't enough (and by God don't you think it oughta be?) there was still the $100 in halves. Bicents were noticably fewer with only 19, NIFC's were the usual lot of 2018-D (x4) but the real kickers were a 1972-S proof and...wait for it...MY FIRST SILVER! Yup, a 1969-D made a believer out of me that silver is still possible in the Cortez half dollar slots. Let's hope it's a sign of more to come.

Yet More Fun Stats: My last 1939-D was on 5/4/04, the longest no-show streak of the uncompleted group. Only the 38-D and 50-D have gone unfound for 10+ years, along with the 43-D in the silvers.

This Week in Casino Searching History: In 2003, on this very day in fact, I found a 1916 buffalo.

 

[Dozer D]

Immy: did you catch my post back in mid Dec.2020 where I pulled a 50-D Jeff on the 2nd roll checked out of 20 rolls. I rarely do nickels, but now you got me thinking twice about getting into them. Congrats on your stats, nice work. That was only my 2nd 50-d found in the wild since I started collecting in the early '60's.
Too bad however about the two scratches on the obv.
Are you an accountant by chance, you sure love to keep detailed stats. How good are you at the horse race tracks, reading all the racing forms etc, picking out the winners for sure.

 

[Immy]

Immy: did you catch my post back in mid Dec.2020 where I pulled a 50-D Jeff on the 2nd roll checked out of 20 rolls. I rarely do nickels, but now you got me thinking twice about getting into them. Congrats on your stats, nice work. That was only my 2nd 50-d found in the wild since I started collecting in the early '60's. Too bad however about the two scratches on the obv.

Amazing how between us we've managed to find only four in over 95 years combined CRHing.

Are you an accountant by chance, you sure love to keep detailed stats

Not an accountant, but an equally tedious govt job.

How good are you at the horse race tracks, reading all the racing forms etc, picking out the winners for sure.

Never been into betting on ponies. The only time I'd be in that part of the casino was to find a quiet corner to search coins. The Las Vegas Hilton (now the Westgate) used to have individual booths with bright desk lamps, ideal for searching. I liked the Hilton because it was the closest to my home, but I stopped after security started giving me the skunkeye too many times. Not long afterwards they went coinless, so that was that.

 

[Immy]

Time for a little variety!


Since nickels were a bust today I decided to see what the Cortez would give up in the quarter department. And let me tell you this...going thru $100 in quarters was EXHAUSTING! And because I wanted to see how much of each series I could complete - 1965 thru 1998, then States, then Parks - it had to be done in three parts. I'll spare you all the Found vs Missing (the details started to become tedious, and I'm a stat guy!) and give you the highlights. Yep, these are just SOME of the stats.

1965-1998 (105 total found)
Found all Ps & Ds except 16, and only one Bicentennial. They're not nearly as common as the halves.

1999-2009 US States (109 found)
States that were complete no-shows: PA, TN, IL, ME, IA, WI, KS, MI, ID, AZ, USVI, NMI. The Guam proof (non-silver) was a standout.

2010-2020 National Parks (186 found)
Found a D mint for all 2013-2020, except Marsh Billings. 2010-2012 had surprisingly few at all, just five. No Ws or 2021's, and oddly enough only one P mint from the last five years, Pictured Rocks. I guess the newer Philly coins just haven't made it out this far west in big enough numbers yet.

 

[Immy]

Gone fishing, El Cortez style!


Wartime Nickels [503]

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

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

1943-P (11/11/20) [102]

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

1943-S (3/1/21) [102]

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

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

1944-S (10/30/20) [22]

1945-P (2/23/21) [57]

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

1945-S (3/23/21) [63]

After around $200 of in-casino searching yesterday, nickels were looking pretty grim. One thing that looked promising was some shiny, new ones sprinkled amongst them, so I brought home $20, at least hoping to perhaps find my first 2021. How pleased was I when this dull but beauteous 1945-S tumbled out of the casino cup. Another surprise was this 2009 Bermuda five cents that came right out of a slot machine.

QUARTERS


Last Sunday's foray into quarters was tiring but fun so I decided to try again, upping my take-home total to $150. So how cool was it to see another S-mint make an appearance, this time a circulation strike 2013 Great Basin from my home state. First of this type I've found. Still no W's or silver, but there's so much variety with quarters that I may do them more often since halves tend to have fewer finds.

Now that I'm $250 into searching, I'll start listing my missing years:

1965-1998 (6)
69-D, 70, 73-D, 76, 77, 78-D

1999-2009 US States (30)
99-D (NJ), 99-P (CT), 01-P, (RI), 02PD (TN), 02-P (OH), 03-P (IL, AL, ME, MO, AR), 04-D (MI), 04-P, (FL, IA), 05-P (CA, KS), 06-P (ND, SD), 07-P (MT, ID), 08-P (OK, NM, AZ, HI), 09-P (PR, GU, USVI), 09-D (DC, GU, NMI)

2010-2020 National Parks (45) [Not counting S's or W's]
10-P (Yellowstone, Yosemite, Mt Hood), 10-D (Yosemite), 11PD (Glacier, Olympic, Vicksburg), 11-P (Gettysburg), 12PD (El Yunque, Acadia), 12-P (Chaco, Hawaii, Denali), 13-P (White Mountains, Perry, Great Basin, McHenry), 14-P (Smokey Mtns, Shenendoah, Sand Dunes, Everglades), 15-P (Homestead), 16-P (Shawnee, Harper's, Moultrie), 17-P (Effigy, Douglass, Ozark, Ellis, GR Clark), 18-P (Apostle, Block Is, Cumberland Is), 19-P (Amer Mem Park, Lowell, San Antonio, River/No Return), 20-P (Weir Farm, Salt River Bay, Marsh, Tallgrass)

2021 and Beyond
21-P (Tuskegee)


Fun Stats: When I saw the mintage of that 2009 Bermuda five cents was only 1.5 mil, I thought I wouldn't find anything lower than that for awhile. Then, the 2013-S crashed the party with 1,316,500!

This Week in Casino Searching History: In 2003, I also found a 1945-S war nickel.