New poster - Veteran Searcher.. questions ;)

[RaptorSE]

Hello all !

Ive been lurking this forum for probably 2 years or so. Great place !

I've been a coin roll searcher for quite a while. I love reading the posts of good
finds and nice scores. I did Half dollars from banks for a while, then jumped to Dimes
when the Halves were non-existant in any local banks. Did pretty well on the Dimes. Then
started ordering Half Dollars by the 1000 weekly. Did REALLY well right off the get-go.

My first box ever ordered, contained a Walking Liberty, 6 Franklins , 8 1964 Kennedys, and 35 40%.
Then since then, the boxes dwindled down to about a 10 keeper average for many many weeks...which
was still good. Then a month ago, the average was down to 3-5 keepers per box. Now I am on a
current streak of 6 boxes straight, with NOTHING.

Here is my question - do you think that employees of the Coin services, cherry pick or search rolls prior
to sending them out ? I only ask this because the last 6 "nothing" boxes have all been in sealed boxes,
same as always, but the rolls looks tampered with and re-closed a little messy - and the rolls are pretty
loose. Also , my hands are no longer getting dirty searching the coins. No dust or residue.

I order from a bank that uses Loomis-Fargo, and return to a branch that sends them out with Brinks. So
thats a plus. Do any of you know how the process works ? If I order through Loomis - do they order
from the Fed in bulk, and then roll it up ? If so maybe the shelved boxes with all the silver were there
sitting, and I got it... but then after clearing out the stock, they order more from the Fed and someone
is now searching it perhaps ? Or maybe the new coin coming in is just depleted from most the silver..

Who knows I was thinking about possibly stopping the orders and re-ordering through another branch,
but Im not sure if this will change my luck.

Anyone have any thoughts on this ? Im hooked on this like Crack, and I need my fix lol.

As a finishing story - I did have the pleasure of scoring a huge hit at a local bank once. I bought 300.00
from them the first time, and got 2 40% halves. Then the next visit there I asked if they had more, and got
another 280.00. Out of these I got 56 silver halves. 3 walkers, 10 franklins, 20 64's, and 23 40%. The
next morning, I flew to that bank to buy any they had left. They had 80.00 left in total, and was happy
to see they were the same orange rolls as the others that were loaded. In these were another 33 silvers,
including another Walker, frankins, 1964 Kennedys and some 40%. One of the rolls was a full 20 coins of
silver. Ive been back several times, but nothing since - and I cant find any more at other banks lately
either. I will keep on searching - I confess Im an addict.

Thanks for listening, and hope someone can give me some info on the Coin service system and how the
operations work. Cya.

 

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[Pennyworth]

I'm not sure how the coin services work,but I can tell you that I was receiving sealed boxes of halves that were already searched. The machine rolls had been opened on one end and the coins replaced. I think if there other coin searchers in your area turning the rolls back into the bank in this condition the coin service is just accepting them and reboxing and sealing them up. That is exactly what happened to me.

I bought the boxes at one bank and took them back to a totally different bank. I kept getting boxes like that for a month or two so I stopped ordering from that bank. I deceided to look in the telephone book and call banks in completely opposite areas of where I live. Sure it takes a little longer to get there but most of the boxes have contained silver. Good luck and keep on searching. It sounds like you have done a great job already!

 

[goldinmypan]

I do uncurl my bank rolls and put them back into the same roll, folding down the loose ends. I usually mark the rolls with an X so that I'll know that I have been there if I see that roll again. So far I've only run into one of those rolls. I have had boxes with no silver but they were all machine rolled, never previously opened rolls.

I don't think the employees at the depository (repository, don't know which is correct) would be able to do much cherrypicking. I would guess that all of their equipment is automated. Coins come in, are sorted and counted and then rolled. I don't know if they are bagged then moved to the rolling machine or if they are rolled right out of the sorter/counter. But what goes into the rolls is dictated by the batch of coins they receive that day. The more we cherrypick the less there is for the taking.

What we want is to get lucky and buy a box that has come from the bottom of the stack. Maybe one that has been sitting there since WW II.

 

[AFModell]

Goldinmypan, thinking of a box with only WWII era silver gives me goose bumps!

 

[RaptorSE]

Thanks for the replies. I am kinda figuring out whats going on now. I do the
same thing - I push the coins out and slip them back into the same wrapper and
fold the end back up. The rolls I've been receiving arent like that at all, but they
are different than they were before, in that one end looks to be factory re-sealed.
I know that sounds funny, but usually they are crisply rolled down to the coin. The
paper edges (both layers), are tightly tucked up inside each other uniformly and
sometimes they were very hard to even get pryed up with a finger nail. Tight.

These latest rolls, look like a re-machine-wrap. They look like they have been opened
previously, but then rewrapped like the machine does, only much looser and sloppier. Just
a tiny tug on the very loose flaps hanging out everywhere, and it comes right open, and
the coins will fall out without even pushing. It could be just a machine needing servicing
or adjustment. But that wouldnt explain the zero silver and zero S-mints. Thats why I
initially thought maybe an internal employee could be on his lunch hour, just searching and
rewrapping with the tooling they have available. Or they could simply be getting boxes
already searched and returned to them... and maybe they just run them through the wrap stage
again with existing wrapper, thus the sloppy results.

Well, I will never know - so Ill stop harping on that Ill report back after tomorrows box. Todays
was a zero again. I may just tell my awesome banker lady, to stop the orders for now - and maybe
try elsewhere a few times.

Thanks again - keep on searchin.

 

[1235CE]

I am currently on a streak of no silver in 2 $500 boxes, not one. Mine have been all very tightly wrapped, not checked through. I use Bank of America in Western Mass. but my bank lady told me that the coins are coming from Albany NY, strange.

I would suspect that the coin rolling places have very strict security and that there wouldn't be much (if any) cherrypicking by employees. They really couldn't allow employees to be leaving the building everyday with pockets bulging with silver halves. What would be next, cherrypicking paper money?

I get much more excited when I just find hand rolled halves that have been turned in at my bank (or any other bank). 90% of my keepers were rolled by folks not knowing what silver was.

HH all!
Greg

 

[RaptorSE]

Well, todays was a Zero as well. Same looking rolls. Not a single particle of dust, dirt or black fingers afterward.
They must be already searched and are just coming back to me recycled. I dont think it is likely to have 8 $500 boxes with not a single 40%, or even odd coin whatsoever. I look for 74D's too, and out of those 8 boxes, I maybe saw a few of that date irregardless of errors.

Time to switch it up and hope for the best

Thanks again for the comments. Happy searching !

 

[HobBob]

Unfortunately, my investment capital is somewhat limited (read: I can't afford to invest large sums in purchasing boxes of halves). I originally purchased maybe $250 or so in halves over time, but never found a single silver coin. So I have concentrated my limited funds and effort on searching pennies, where I feel I have been having a very good return on my investment.
I have pulled over 6000 copper pennies (mostly US, but also Canadian) out of circulation so far, and a respectable group of wheaties (but no key dates so far). I also enjoy finding the non-Canadian foreign coins I come across from time to time.
HH,
Bob