All About the Benjamins

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jamesandsons

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May 14, 2013
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I've only been searching halves for a short while, so forgive me if this post contains a plethora of ignorance.

I have this fantasy goal of one day completing a full set of Franklin halves entirely from CRH. There's lots of reasons why this is a ridiculous, stupid, unattainable goal. But the naive reasons why I feel it might be remotely possible are:
  1. I see you guys pulling Franklins all the time.
  2. Based on the mintage numbers, there don't seem to be any particularly rare coins in this set.

Granted, I haven't come across a single Ben yet - but I've searched less total boxes so far than TimZim searches in any given week. I see this as a "lifetime goal" type of project - not expecting it to come quickly.

So here are my questions: 1) How often do you find a Benjamin Franklin? Is anyone keeping good stats on this, like 1 in every X boxes? And 2) aside from what the mintage numbers say, are there any Bens that people just. don't. find. in roll searching?

I'd be curious as to what some of you seasoned veterans have to say about this. Is anyone else working (actively or passively) on putting this set together? How many unique ones have you found?
 

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Id say its definitely possible, will take a bit of luck and time.

Ill have to check when i get home but. Ive found maybe 30 bens from crh and one box had about 20 or so of them.

I still only have 1 walker. But i see ppl pulling them out all the time.

Probably depends on location and how many people are hunting in that area. But if its a lifetime goal i dont see why it wouldnt be plausible.
 

Jamesandsons - I'm fairly new at this as well but I do keep very detailed records and so far in 2013 I'm finding 1 Franklin for every $5,221 in halves I searched. Good luck with your search, I don't the idea of finding a full set of Franklins is unattainable.
 

I have been doing this for about two years and have found only one Franklin in a box. It's possible but will require a lot of patience. :cat:
 

Possible. but definetly very difficult. I think I read somewhere that there were more '64 kennedys than all the franklins in terms of mintage. When you see people pulling franklins "all the time", that's the Highlights from a Lot of people on the site.
 

Looks like there were roughly 450-460 million total non-proof Franklins, vs about 430 million '64 Kennedys. So, yeah, point taken.

On the other hand, I've already nabbed a '70 Kennedy, which has a lower mintage than any single Franklin. Maybe that's a good sign, or maybe it means I've already used up some of the good luck I'd need to complete this set.
 

I've found 2 Franklins in all of my boxes. Both were in the same box. I did see a 1962 ben on the counter of my pick up bank, I asked the teller and he said it was his ^_^. He said someone used it at a jack in the box as 50 cents. Idiots lol. Anyways the goals obtainable. Just gotta wait till someone around you dumps a lot into circulation, and them hope to god you had a big order that week haha! Good luck, I myself am doing something similar.
 

I haven't been keeping records on what dates I have found or amount of boxes searched. I've searched probably six boxes per week average since I started in January. I have found a total of 24 bens, and that includes eight I found in one box. I remember early on, before I found those eight, that the first 10-12 bens I found were different dates and mint marks. So no, I don't think it is impossible at all. Just need to hit a few awesome streaks of boxes and you'll be well on your way. Maybe you'll even get lucky and catch a true collection dump with one of each date and mint mark in BU condition.

If your luck is like mine recently, you'll be grateful to get one silver per box average...I had five keepers in eight boxes last week, and eight keepers in eight boxes this week. And no...no bens.
 

Styfflin said:
If your luck is like mine recently, you'll be grateful to get one silver per box average...I had five keepers in eight boxes last week, and eight keepers in eight boxes this week. And no...no bens.
Click to expand...
I've gone 3/4 and 2/4 (keepers/boxes) the past two weeks. My average is right around 1 per box, with probably 2/3 of my boxes being skunks.
 

The father-son CRH combo on this board is filling out a Circulation Ben album.
 

I don't keep track of averages, but I think I'm up to 27 Franklins found since I started hunting at the end of February (including one today). It's definitely attainable, but it will happen much more quickly if you increase your volume.
 

My records are at home, but if I remember right I am only 2 away from a complete Franklin set from CRH. I believe the two missing ones are 1955 and 1958, but not 100% sure on that last one.

Granted I hit a collection dump a few years back that helped a great deal with my current status. You just have to be in the right place at the right time.
 

I hope you find some! But I've searched over $25,000 in (boxes, not cwr) without a single franklin or walking liberty, although I have found about 8 1964s..
But it really is a "right order, right time" thing.. And I'm sure ill eventually find one, as will you! Just keep searching! HH!!!
 

My Franklin set only has a few holes at this point... early-date Denvers and San Frannies. This is with probably having found 300+ Franklins from circulation.
 

totally possible if you don't care what condition they're in. I just found two last night!
 

I've found 3 Bens in approximately 50 boxes. That's .06 Bens per box or roughly 1 Ben for every 17 boxes.

I say go for it!
 

Lots of Franklins were melted too when silver started to raise above face value, but silver coins were still easily obtainable in circulation. This caused a coin shortage and the invention of copper-nickel clad.

So, who knows what's rarer than others when it comes to franklins, because the mintage numbers just tell you everything should be on par with each other. Just try to find the highest grade/condition coins for every year and mintmark, and maybe the buyers market will show a demand for certain pieces.
 

In almost a year of CRHing I've found one Ben. I've found more Walkers than Bens. That said, you might hit a Ben collection dump! Go for it!
 

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