Part 2 of the Saga "In Search of Silver"
Nice pile of silver, congratulations!
Part 2 of this came and passed. I retrieved over $1,100 in CWR halves from regular banks where all the tellers said they were "around for a while" and unsearched. No BWR box activities or anything. Once I go through them, I'll post the results. However, it could have been another $400, if it weren't for tellers at a FCU nearby. This is the story, and I'd like the group's feedback because it's confusing to me (and I've been a semi-active CRH'er for over 6 years).
I pick up my last batch of halves from the last bank, which were there for over a year, according to the teller. To be thorough and, on a hunch, I go to the neighboring (small) Federal Credit Union, and ask for halves; It was near closing time. The tellers uniformly say No - we don't get them often and we don't get much of them. Then, to the surprise of everyone there, one teller says, " Oh yeah, I remember that Customer X just dropped off $400 in halves."

I asked if they were searched and if there was a pattern of box ordering and returning. This middle aged teller said, "No - anytime we get these they come from Granny's estate!"

Management then says I need to open an account and demonstrate residency. Because this find came as a surprise, I said I need to return in 2 days to get an address, which is when I would be passing through the area again. Management said fine. I then asked, "Can you keep the halves for me until I return Wednesday?" Then another (twenty something) teller pipes in, "We cannot hold them and We cannot guarantee that the half dollars will be here when you return. They have to be available for other customers."
Fast forward two days, I return to the FCU per their instructions. I have the local address needed and am ready to open the account and get the halves. Before I do, I ask management to confirm they are still there. Of course they are not. The same teller who said she couldn't hold on to them said a customer miraculously appeared for the the halves the previous day and took them. They are now gone. She added for emphasis, "that's the thing with half dollars, we never hold onto them for long."
Frustration aside, in my CRH experience, I never had much luck with credit unions. Only one paid off, and that was years ago from two older (i.e. 2011), unopened BWR boxes that were left over. The others were completely picked and some even came from historic collections with labeled rolls. For those out there, especially with Credit Union experience, I have these questions:
- Upon finding out of a new batch of halves, did the teller tip off someone on the inside to pick them before I could return?
- What is the likelihood that there was silver in them (even though ultimately that is unknowable) - are CU's traditionally picked over like what my past experience tells me? Did this batch come from a picked over collection dump and the dumpers just say they liquidate estates?
- Is this an indication of overall ongoing CRH activity in the area - is the area hunted, and am I going to be greeted with a bunch of collector dumps and skunks with the remainder I was able to gather?
- Was Management part of this conspiracy?
I look forward to your responses.
