Casino Hunting...Worth it??

[jglunt]

There are several Indian casinos nearby here in West Central Michigan and I was thinking it might be worth the effort to search their 50 cent machines that still dispense coin (many of them still do). Do you think the staff searches them? Have any of you done this? Any success?

You could spend an evening at the casino and literally go through thousands of halves just by dropping 100 dollar bills into machines and immediately cashing out. The same thing can be done with nickels, which would probably yield much better results as I don't think the staff would be inclined to search them as much as they would the larger denomination coins looking for silver.

I'm going after New Years and give it a try. I'll keep an accurate count and post my results. Only problems I forsee are with the dim lighting and maybe curious employees or security people wondering what you are doing with a magnifying glass and a mess of coins spread out on the bar...



Jim

 

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[JakePhelps]

Just use a small LED flashlight and if anyone askes say you are looking for counterfiets

 

[Immy]

I can't endorse this activity enough jg!

Ever since I moved to Vegas in 1985 & spied a local casino that said "Try our penny slots" I was hooked...and never disappointed!

I've mainly concentrated on pennies and nickels but my results have been a collector's dream and provided me with hours upon hours of fun.

You may want to think twice about searching while in the casino though! It's much easier to ask for $100 in halves at a time, bring 'em home and search in comfort. And you're less likely to get funny looks! But I do your "cash out" method all the time with nickels. $40-$50 in rolled nickels is really bulky. Take home a bucketful instead but be careful not to stop or turn too abruptly while driving. More than once my car's interior has been decorated with a fresh batch of spilled coins!

The only thing that has been sub-par are quarters (I think others have experienced his too). I can go thru hundreds and hundreds of $$$ and be lucky to find one pre-1965 about every two months or so.

As far as employees catching the good stuff, yes that happens. My friend operates the main casino cage at a major resort here and he says his people are always picking out the silver goodies. But they can't possibly get all of them!

So get right in there jg! There's plenty to be found...and you don't even have to re-roll 'em!

 

[ZumbroKid]

Here in SW Wisconsin, the casino's either take paper money or paper recipt slips. They pay out in paper recipt slips that you take to a counter to cash in. Would be nice if the half dollars where there. But i guess they did away with those types of machines in my location.

 

[jglunt]

Yep, the casinos here also are converting to paper payout slips, which, if you're a die hard slot player, are great. The day will come soon when the coin payout machines will be all gone.

I thought about just getting a few buckets of coin and bringing them home but it's an hour drive each way to the nearest casino and my potential profits would all spew out my exhaust pipe. I suppose if I get hassled I could just take them out to my vehicle in the parking lot and examine them in the comfort of my SUV.

Of course the other thing I have to avoid is a side diversion to the blackjack tables or the poker room...

 

[parrothead]

If you have one that is still using real coins take advantage of it before they change to printouts. About 10 years ago on a cruise ship I was playing nickle slots and going through every nickle as they came out and before they went back into the machine. I would also buy a bucket full when I was done gambling for the night to take back to the room and look through. I ended up taking home several rolls of pre60 nickles and 3 buffalos even. Only thing is that every coin in there is dinged beyond belief so no numismatic value what so ever. If they have halfs go for the silver ones and at least they will have silver value.

 

[bocephus]

defiantly worth it