The "unsearched" eBay lot

[MrSchulz]

I'm sure alot of people on here have been on eBay and found "unsearched" rolls of wheat pennies with buyers finding 1909 S VDB, 1914 D, and 1922 no "D" wheat pennies in these rolls. By unsearched, it means a person has not gone through them to find the valuables. Well I am here to inform you on my research that contradicts most if not all "unsearched" rolls being sold on eBay are Definitly NOT "unsearched. This following information is used based on my own research, and opinion, so I am not saying that all rolls claiming to be unsearched are not unsearched I am just going off information I have gathered throughout my research.

Point 1 - The End Coin theory


This is by far the most common type of "Unsearched coin roll" Scams. I will go through and show you how, most of the time, these are NOT unsearched.

For example look at this eBay listing

AU/BU BEAUTIFUL WHEAT CENT + INDIAN HEAD PENNY SHOWING TAILS IN WHEAT CENT ROLL | eBay

You can see a nice beatiful uncirculated wheat penny with it's reverse showing. Your first thought is probably "Wow, I bet that whole roll is full of them, I mean he "says" he hasn't gone through them". Just with an enhanced picture showing the beatiful coin, a seller can easily claim it's unsearched with either saying it's a mix of wheats and indians, maybe fec? and watch his small investment go for alot of money.

So you can see this:

AU/BU BEAUTIFUL WHEAT CENT + INDIAN HEAD PENNY SHOWING TAILS IN WHEAT CENT ROLL

and you think:
Wow for only $11.50 I could get a great deal. What most "sellers" do is they will go and buy huge lots of coins of the same type such as "5000 wheat pennies, "500 indian heads", and "200 BU Wheat Cents". Now with this huge inventory they can go and put a BU cent on one end a ihc on the other end with all the mixed "Searched" coins as filler and claim it's unsearched.

This is what this seller does.

Check out what he has bought:
eBay Feedback Profile for robert_coiner

He has bought LOT OF 50 ROLLS OF SOLID DATE AND P D S MINT SEE LIST 2500 LINCOLN WHEAT PENNIES LOT OF 50 ROLLS OF SOLID DATE AND P D S MINT SEE LIST 2500 LINCOLN WHEAT PENNIES | eBay

and

150 INDIAN HEAD CENTS IN AVERAGE CIRCULATION,NICE!!!! (U) eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices

and

LOT OF 10 1958-P BU RED LINCOLN CENT ROLLS
LOT OF 10 1958-P BU RED LINCOLN CENT ROLLS | eBay

and he sells unsearched lots in a preformed wrapper, he also purchases on eBay. Coincidence?
It sure seems he has a pattern of buying the same stuff that has enough evidence to say he may be selling false "unsearched" lots on eBay. But it is NOT just this seller that is under suspicion. There is alot more on eBay, and more coming daily.



I have mainly went over how fraudlent sellers can claim an unsearched lot pretty easily. Let's say you buy a 1888 indian head cent in VF and a 1909 VDB in EF and put them both reverse showing on each side, and fill up the middle with a few worn common indians and 30's -40's wheats you have just taken a less than $50.00 investment and watched it go for $75 - $100. All you have to do is claim "unsearched" and say "1909 VDB showing maybe a 1909 S VDB?" and with the indian head "Maybe a 1877?". To sweeten the deal they could say it came from an estate sale which about 80% of listings "are" from estate sales.



The Estate sale theory.

Lots of lots sold on eBay are sold "from an estate sale" that could have an older person's writing of "1954 P NEW" with two bu coins showing on each end with a few more, but just crap in there. All the seller would have to say in response to the situation is say I didn't know what's in there.



All in all you should stay away from "unsearched coins". As for me, I do bid on unsearched coins but I ONLY bid on what I can see. If I can see an IHC and a BU cent, I will usually bid up to 5 dollars and thats it, so I can't lose any money. Please do not be offended if you sell trully unsearched lots I am just providing my research results. Just remember, the way the economy is, would it be more likely for someone to sell a unsearched roll with a 1909 S VDB in it for 12 and it just has common dates on the end, or search it, get that 1909 S VDB, sell it for 500 plus and spend 10 cents, buy a new preformed wrapper, wheat penny, and sell it as unsearched for 10 dollars?

Good luck Searching!!

 

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[cmaracing]

Hi

You are right, if it looks too good for the money than beware.
Ebay has some good deals but we must understand that Ebay is not the same company it was 10 years ago, too many creative ways to mislead.

 

[jrpoppapump]

the same goes for baseball cards too. and i think storage auctions are the same way. what storage unit owner doesn't check out the unit before putting it on the block. your right about ebay and "unsearched"

 

[poftravel]

I've bought dozens of these rolls and of course they are all put together rolls, I base my bids of the 2 outside coins and have got a nice 1877 and a couple 1909-s IHC's and only been burned once on a flying eagle witha vf obverse and ag reverse.

 

[MrSchulz]

bump

 

[Arizona Bob]

I'm sure alot of people on here have been on eBay and found "unsearched" rolls of wheat pennies with buyers finding 1909 S VDB, 1914 D, and 1922 no "D" wheat pennies in these rolls. By unsearched, it means a person has not gone through them to find the valuables. Well I am here to inform you on my research that contradicts most if not all "unsearched" rolls being sold on eBay are Definitly NOT "unsearched. This following information is used based on my own research, and opinion, so I am not saying that all rolls claiming to be unsearched are not unsearched I am just going off information I have gathered throughout my research.

Schulz, the eBay "unsearched" coin scam was busted on Tnet many years ago. It worked on the idea that the eBay seller (Partner A) must be able to truthfully state that he never searched the coins. In order to do that, he needed a partner (Partner B) who bought and searched the coins, and then sold the searched coins to (Partner A). Partner A can then truthfully claim he never searched the coins.

To add an air of "unsearchability" to his eBay ad, the seller also purchased period-specific empty coin rolls and a coin rolling machine that crimps the open end. Some guys even went so far as to purchase (or create) rubber stamps with bank names on them. Of course, filling the roll ends with nice condition coins (with a bunch of duds in between) completed the scam.

Just to keep the scam looking "realistic", they would place a semi-valuable coin in every 50th (or 100th) roll. This was done so they would get really good feedback from those happy customers! This is what really sells the scam to potential buyers.

Years ago, the coin rolling machines (with end crimper) cost about $1500. Now-a-days, you can get a coin rolling machine (with end crimper) for about $250. Some of these guys have made a LOT of money running this scam on eBay.

 

[jerseyben]

Mr Schulz:

A well thought out and nicely researched and written post. Thank you for sharing (although not sure why you BUMPed your post).

 

[ivan salis]

caveat emptor --as always "buyer beware." -- scamming the buyer been around as long as theres been buyers and sellers.

 

[MrSchulz]

Mr Schulz:

A well thought out and nicely researched and written post. Thank you for sharing (although not sure why you BUMPed your post).

I BUMPed the post so anyone that wasn't completely aware, could view a little more information.

 

[Afterwork]

Hi as a seller of unsearched rolls on EBay I have to agree with you most of the unsearched rolls are crap. I have done my best to find unsearched lots and roll them by hand to sell. I have sold thousands of rolls and have had many repeat customers so I guess I am doing ok. EBay is now getting rid of unsearched coins so I have started a website Moneycoinsales - Coin Collecting Guide, Coin Collecting info, Wheat Pennies to sell my rolls. Well that is my 2 cents on the subject