2019- a year for the record books!

[Tommybuckets]

This was the record lowest year for me for crh in the past 5. Absolutely dismal. I lost 3/4 of my good dump banks. Finds were paltry and far between. Competition has stiffened greatly at all banks with more dedicated hunters making the rounds. I lost all my good tellers and they were replaced in part by snipers. Last year I found over forty solid rolls of 40%, 8 90%. This year I found zero rolls. Last year I remember getting a few decent boxes. This year my best box had maybe 2 90% and 8 40%. My boxes dropped from 3 a week to 2 a month due to loss of my best head tellers and lack of dump banks and a lack of finds. Last year my average was about $5 dollars worth of silver an hour. This year I don't even have enough finds to generate proper stats but its around 60 cents worth an hour. I hope others did better than me and may you all have a great New Year searching in 2020! Most importantly, i hope the hobby brings you joy and satisfaction.

 

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[Dozer D]

Ditto here from DozerD.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Things are getting tough out there!

 

[Megalodon]

I had a few good boxes in 2019, and finished with nearly 400 silver halves, of which about 24% were 90%. But over 70% skunk boxes. And now, my main pickup bank has gone from good Garda (2018) to ok Brinks (most of 2019) to lousy Dunbar boxes. I have found 3 40% halves in 32 boxes of Dunbar halves. And found out that Dunbar picks up from my dump banks...

Need a new strategy for 2020. Maybe more detecting.

 

[FormerTeller]

Absolutely the worst year I’ve had since I started in 2011. I found less than 18 ounces of silver. Last year I found four times as much.

 

[FormerTeller]

But hey, let’s post some more videos!

 

[Megalodon]

But hey, let’s post some more videos!

Just once I'd like to see a realistic video of going through a skunk box. But I guess I don't really need a video to see that...

 

[Rookster]

Things are getting tough out there!

Yep Professor,
Even my coinstars aren't what they use to be.

 

[baddbluff]

Try doing some quarters. I found 127 West Points in 2019. A lot easier to dump than halves too, since the banks actually use quarters.

 

[Megalodon]

Try doing some quarters. I found 127 West Points in 2019. A lot easier to dump than halves too, since the banks actually use quarters.

That's a good option. I always dismissed quarters because silver ones were so scarce - but the W mintmarks are a game-changer. And you are right about quarters being easier to dump!

 

[TheMastermind]

Yeah, this has been a bad year for me as well. I lost track of how many skunky dime boxes I went through somewhere around 50, CWR of dimes were very few and far between.

Competition has also increased in my area, I met five new hunters that I've never seen before this year.

Lost a few pick-up banks, but my dump network is still good at least.

I'm going to put up an "end of the year" post in my thread soon, detailing my efforts in 2019.

Hope 2020 treats us all a little better.

 

[silveraddict]

My worst year as well. I even took a break for a few months it was so bad.
Not even 1 CWR solid roll. 2018 I found 28 solid rolls including 10 solid 90% rolls.
The bank the has the most branches in my area went to an " all cash is secured " policy. Meaning ALL coins received are dumped into a new coin machine (each teller has one) and they won't sell the bags from them. They have limited coins from boxes they order in their drawers for change. This is the bank I found the 10 solid 90% rolls at.
Overall tellers are telling me about how many more people are asking for halves than in the past. Some are still saving them for me but not all.
I just picked up me first 2 boxes of the year
We shall see.

 

[blueberra]

As most others have stated, 2019 was a very 'uneven' year as in feast or famine -- at least as far as half dollar boxes were concerned.

For me, I searched 47 boxes which produced 37 90% silver coins (10 Walking Liberty, 9 Franklin, 18 Kennedy) and 110 40% silver, but 24 of the boxes were skunks; however, 6 boxes had double-digit silver, topping out at 26 (all 40% which I posted in November).

I guess one could say that when I didn't get skunked, I did all right.

Teller coins were interesting. I only got 162 (all loose -- no rolls) but 38 were 40% silver with no 90% silver.

Grand total : 37 90%, 148 40%. Also 6 impaired proofs and 6 'no fg'.

 

[Megalodon]

"Uneven" is a good term. At first appearance, my 393 silver halves looks pretty good; 94 of those 393 (23.9%) were 90%. The 299 40% halves included no 1970. The 90% silver halves break down to 50 1964 Kennedy, 25 Franklins, 18 Walkers, and 1 1952 Carver/Washington Commem.

These came from 153 boxes searched, of which 101 (66%) were skunk boxes. The best six boxes alone produced 215, or 54.7% of the silver halves.

In addition, I once got 16 40% halves from a teller tray. I got less than 50 teller tray halves. Also 2 "no FG" halves, 2 1974-D DDOs, and so many impaired proofs that I didn't count them all.

Dime boxes were awful. I gave up after 14 skunk boxes. I did get a 1937 Merc and a 1964 Rosie from a CWR.

Plans for 2020 are uncertain. My main pickup bank has started to go with Dunbar rolls of halves. I found only 3 40% halves from 32 Dunbar boxes. I learned that Dunbar picks up the bags from my dump bank machines, so I may be going through my own dumps and those of my increased competition - one of whom I saw pushing a hand truck with 4 boxes from my pickup bank. Another pickup bank occasionally orders Loomis rolls, but that is inconsistent and uncertain.

On the positive side, one of my dump credit unions has gone to coinstar machines, free for members, so I can dump larger quantities of halves at the branches with those machines.

 

[Zomotion]

Hope 2020 is a better year for you tommy buckets. And for everyone else it appears

 

[TheWalrus]

Try doing some quarters. I found 127 West Points in 2019. A lot easier to dump than halves too, since the banks actually use quarters.

Wow, we have only hit 3 W this year. But less than 2 oz T of silver.

 

[TheWalrus]

Tommy, same here in FL. CRH has been near pointless. Cut off from banks and Credit union branch is an hour plus drive. I can buy boxes without a problem, but getting rid of the extra is expensive, especially for the lack of keepers. I am doing better in Thrift and pawn shop flips and reselling but still not enough for the gap in medical bills VS paycheck.

 

[Tommybuckets]

Man I was hoping to hear I was alone on the lack of finds. I can't believe I had such an anomalously great year last year and such a sad year this year. As others pointed out, even coinstar finds are down. I check coinstars five days a week, two or three on the way home Friday. I work next door to two coinstars and two banks I can walk to. Between the tellers that used to hook me up being gone and everyone asking for halves the new tellers seem to have learned quickly to snipe any silver. I finally got two silver halves from one teller that must feel bad for me. One teller walked by joyfully jingling some silver halves in her pocket as she took lunch the other day. It felt like I was starving and someone was wafting the odor of fresh pizza at me. That may be what broke me. Or that I broke down and ordered a box of halves and they were Loomis skunkiness.
Last year I sniped a box someone ordered and never collected and there were Walking libertys in there. I ordered two more and got more Walking Libertys. Then the super high fees got me and I stopped ordering them from there. $20 for the two boxes from Smells Fartgo . I guess I'll stick to CWR only and that will limit what I search and consequently what I have to dump. Dumping skunk boxes sucks. I don't even search the rolls anymore. I open the box, look, cry, open 4-5 rolls, dump, repeat. I've learned that I can just x-ray the whole box at work to see if there are any coins with a great degree of certainty but I miss seeing those enders. I have a whole collection of unopened rolls with Walkers, Franklins n Kennedy enders waiting to be opened. I should have put them in my Xmas stocking.

 

[Megalodon]

Try doing some quarters. I found 127 West Points in 2019. A lot easier to dump than halves too, since the banks actually use quarters.

I finally took your advice, after this post and also reading "W" posts from smokeythecat. I picked up a box of halves and a box of dimes yesterday. Both were skunks. Almost as an afterthought, I asked for $100 in quarters, 10 rolls. In the 10th roll, there it was - a nice UNC Lowell W mint. I don't expect to get Ws at that same nice rate, but I'll look for more. Considering that the dime box was my 16th consecutive skunk and that the Dunbar half box was the 36th such box with a return of only 4 40% halves, I'll do more quarters and quit the dunbar halves.

I've taken modern quarters for granted, but going through them last night, I gained an appreciation for the variety and artistry of some of the designs.

 

[A2coins]

Silver as an investment you do invest alot of time into it glad you did so well an investment by definition isn't always one that pays but when you invest time money and resources it looks like an investment to me. Keep up the great finds hope 2920 is a good year for you. Tommy