First ever box = skunk

[Wes_]

The only thing I found was this gold(?) plated half with "1960" and "1985" stamped on either side of the face. The second picture is blurry but shows the color better. It's worn through to the CuNi in spots. Can anyone shed some light on this?

It doesn't look like I'll be able to do much with halves since my credit union says not only does the coin counter not take halves, they can't take them rolled either- they have to count all of them BY HAND. Is it worth looking for silver in boxes of dimes or quarters?

 

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[dlindsay]

You would do a lot better with dimes and even nickels than you would with quarters. They have been picked to death!

 

[Emperor Findus Cladius]

I agree, dimes and nickels, avoid the quarters.

 

[kevo]

I would avoid dimes and nickels and hit the quarters lol...i'm teasin, just decreasing the competition lol....but seriously, quarters are a waste of time!! I like nickels the best and why wont they take them rolled, I don't understand? I'd look into that!

 

[schramm]

Wes don't feel bad about not getting silver halves,some areas are just tapped out,too many hunters.What part of the country are you searching?

You should look back in the previous posts for an explanation of your stamped half.It was an anniversary collectable created by some savvy companies who cashed in on people who thought it would have some future value,people realize they are not worth any more than face and so they turn up in boxes after people spend them.You can keep it as a novelty,but no other value.

As far as dimes and quarters go,you can find silver in the boxes.More in the dimes than the quarters,but I find decent quantities of each.

As far as being worth it,that depends on the person.If you collect coins already than I would say it is worth it because you enjoy searching through change anyway.

BUT if you don't collect coins and stumbled onto this site and read about all the boxes FILLED with silver,than I would say it is not worth it,because the amount of silver coins you will find in a dime or quarter box will not be worth your time.The same goes for most half dollar boxes as well,some people on here seem to find many ounces of silver in almost every box they search.

This is not typical,I have been doing this for 17+ years and have found some decent boxes in that time but I have never found one like some report on here(10-15+% silver).

Especially considering the fact that you cant get rid of your halves,I would give dimes,quarters and dollar boxes a try.Good luck.

 

[Wes_]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

dlindsay - you mean I'd find more war nickels than silver quarters? That is bad.

Funny situation with the credit union. I actually called before I joined and before I ordered halves from my other bank to ask if the coin counter took halves. I was told that it did. A few days later, I went and opened an account, with ~$20 in pennies and ~$60 in halves. That's when I was told that they needed to count the halves themselves (the coin counter does not accept halves after all). Today I took in my box- I put them back in the rolls for easy counting but left the ends open. They teller had to go ask a manager or something before he took them. I'm not sure what transpired, but he ended up just counting the rolls. I was afaid they wouldn't take them at all. I don't want to ruin things with this CU, since to my knowledge they have the only coin counter in town. I'm in sparsely populated Idaho, so its not like there's an endless supply of other banks and CU's to turn to.

schramm, I'll look for info on that coin (edit- see here: http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,68932.msg501102.html#msg501102). I assumed it wasn't worth anything, but I did keep it. I do collect coins and am not just CRHing for the money, but it becomes less fun if my time is mostly spent driving around town splitting up dumps of half dollars and irritating tellers, especially if I'm not finding much. All other coins are ok for the self-serve counter at my CU and my bank is happy to order anything for me, so that is still easy and fun. I think I'll try some dimes and nickels next week! I save pre-82 pennies as well.

 

[dlindsay]

Wes
I think you will on the war nickels. Not only from my experiences but also everyone else's here on the forum.
Happy Hunting
Dave