Anyone mark their halfs?

[bigtime400]

I notice that sometimes I get a box with alot of marked halfs. Anyone here do that? What kind of marking do you do, and where are you located? I went ahead and did it this time to see if I ever get my coins back. I put a blue dot on Kennedys nose.

One more thing...... Wether or not they are marked does not seem to reflect on my findings. I had $2000 in halfs today and have found more in boxes where I have found alot of marked ones.

Ohh........ and one thing I have been noticing.... Whats up with the full rolls of bicentenials? I have been getting alot of those lately.

 

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[scotto]

I hear ya on the bicentennials. I did 14 rolls today, and 2 were all full with them.

 

[Jeffro]

Funny thing, last box I found a marked coin, big ol' X right across the face in red. It was a 1967 40%!

 

[Immy]

I've found a lot of halves with a two or three digit number in front of JFK's face done in black sharpie (once in pink). Is this a husband/wife searcher team?

 

[bigtime400]

I get some that have red marks across the top, some with black marker over We trust, some with a black dot over Kennedys ear..etc.... .All kinds of stuff. Do any of you do that??

 

[GMan00001]

I have seen at least 4 or 5 different marks in the halves I have searched.

Most common - 2 or 3 marker lines on the edge had a couple of boxes loaded with them (all from Wells Fargo).

I know I have seen 3 to 4 others as well, but descriptions from memory are vague so I won't try to describe them.

 

[thurmownator]

I hear ya on the bicentennials. I did 14 rolls today, and 2 were all full with them.

Bicentennials or not, be sure to look for an "s" mintmark..............and keep those.

 

[ringding]

If you find some with "RD", they were mine at one time.

 

[diggummup]

I don't mark the halves but I do mark the rolls they come in after I reroll them.

 

[DDEXPII]

I mark with a red TD, the last 5 weeks I been getting allot with a black M or W on them

 

[GMan00001]

Here is an example of some of the markings I see commonly on half dollars (not sure if these are two different markings or the person ran out of one color of marker). Most half dollar boxes from Wells Fargo have these marks. Are these from anyone here?

Also, my only comment about marking the half dollars is that a marked half is much more likely to remain in circulation than an unmarked half. Which means as time goes on, the last half dollars left in circulation will probably be all marked up or very worn down.

Personally, I'd rather search a bunch of halves twice (if I received my own halves back) and feel like there was a chance of finding something the second time as opposed to opening rolls that have obviously been searched with the feeling I am wasting my time.

Also, imagine some young numismatist 20, 30, 40 years from now who is just starting out having to ask why all the half dollars are written on. :P

Just my opinion.

Another method of identifying if you had searched the rolls (though less obvious) is to remove all of 1 or more relatively common lower mintage dates that you receive all the time and cash those in when you have more than you can afford to keep. The ones with either way too many or way to few of the common dates will obviously have been sorted by you. This is part of why I pull some of the low mintage recent nickels and pennies (some day I may decide to cash them in but they don't cost me much to hang on to for now). I can also guarantee I have never received a box that I had already searched as the number of these relatively common coins is the similar or at least within range. I haven't done this with halves since I get most of my halves from banks other that use a different armored service than my dump banks so not worth the trouble.

 

[bigtime400]

So should I start pulling all the Bicentenials out? I just mark them with a blue marker. It actually comes off fairly easily. Some I have seen with paint or it looks like they heated them to blue them or something. Wierd....


Thats one problem I have.... It seems like EVERY bank in this area uses brinks. I even asked. The closest bank I have seen with a wells fargo truck is 20 minutes away. But I have had fairly good luck so far I would say.

 

[GMan00001]

So should I start pulling all the Bicentenials out?

Uhhh.. sure, but I wouldn't pick that. Relatively low mintage so something that out of a box you might typically get a dozen or so total for the combination of dates and mintmarks chosen. Maybe all 1978, 1978-D, 1999-P, and 1999-D for example.
Harder to do with halves because of the price of each coin adds up so much faster. After a few boxes you have $50 whereas doing the same thing with pennies only is like $1 after a few boxes.

 

[bigtime400]

Yeah I was just kidding..... That would get expensive.