Question about how things were before, and the effects the artical has had!!!

[ugotit22]

i've noticed many people have something to say about the negative effect the artical had on this hobby. I understand that there are more CRH because of it, but did it really elevate that much from the artical? i just started this about 4 months ago, and yes it was because i read the artical. im just curious how things were before and if you veterans have seen a change in the totals. also do you recommend the "Look what i found today postes"? i have noticed many of the veterans have decided not to most there finds, is this something that everyoen should do to help the cause? i mean i love sharing what i find, but it it helps the silver totals, i learn to keep it to myself.
Keith

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A History of Mining on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska - Grab it through Amazon!

[fistfulladirt]

I started CRH'ing in January 08, not because of an article but because I heard of the rise in the silver price. I then researched and found this forum...I crh'd 28 years ago when I was young, and silver was hard to find then. I wasn't aware of half dollars at that time, just because I didn't see them much in circulation.
When I began in January, I hit all the banks in town, and had much luck w/loose rolls. In March i noticed that "someone just cleaned us out" or "many of our customers ask us for halves"
Yea, it's fun finding clad silver and the occasional 90% coin, but what I don't understand is that some refineries won't accept clad silver. Also, the coin dealers will pay you squat for clad (If they're even interested). My ratio of 40% to 90% is like 20:1, so I ask myself, whats the point?

 

[GMan00001]

i've noticed many people have something to say about the negative effect the artical had on this hobby. I understand that there are more CRH because of it, but did it really elevate that much from the artical? i just started this about 4 months ago, and yes it was because i read the artical. im just curious how things were before and if you veterans have seen a change in the totals. also do you recommend the "Look what i found today postes"? i have noticed many of the veterans have decided not to most there finds, is this something that everyoen should do to help the cause? i mean i love sharing what i find, but it it helps the silver totals, i learn to keep it to myself.
Keith

I haven't noticed much of a difference before or after the article with the exception that one bank that I go to reasonably often has someone new who searches halves and uses it as their dump bank. I think THE major difference is the price of silver has jumped substantially making even more meager finds worth that much more. There was at least one article in a nationally published coin collecting magazine about finding silver in half dollars at a bank a few years ago... prior to the one everyone keeps claiming killed the hobby. Although the newer article may have pushed a few new people into trying it, I don't see that as much of a negative. More likely it will end up creating more coin collectors who eventually will diversify and put more demand in the market to buy collectible coins to fill out their collections. Which in turn will drive up the prices for coins already found.

Regarding those "anti-poster" posters... well what is the point of this forum? IMO it is to share a hobby you enjoy with others who also enjoy it. I don't feel posting will have much effect on overall finds as this is just one of many sites on the internet with people posting about their "finds" while CRHing. Some of those who have quit posting likely have also stopped or slowed down on their searching (probably due to burnout), some just haven't found anything worth posting recently, and others I suspect have other reasons not to post.

In my case, I was CRHing off and on for years knowing other people did it as well, but unsure of how to find them...until I found this forum. And once I did and started sharing with others what I had found and reading what they found, I found the hobby even more enjoyable. I personally have no plans of stopping my posts and I would hope others feel the same way for the same reasons as that will make the forum more enjoyable.

 

[jewelerdave]

Re: Question about how things were before, and the effects the artical has had!!

Before the artical one could if they had about $5k worth of halves to hunt through each week they would find about $1000 a month in silver.

Since then however...well, this week I found 7 40s and one 64, and 2 silver dimes...not much to brag about.

The damage done by that wright up, Will take years to recover. It will take people giving up, lots of skunk boxes.

Couple other things have happend to take into consideration.

1. More hunters, hunting the same ground. too many preditors and everyone starves.

2. Higher prices of silver make selling more worth while. When silver was $4 an ounce a 90% half was worth just under a $1.50
Most dealers and scrapers would pay half of that, or about 75 cents. And a %40 was worth about 60 cents. No demand for them. So yeah, they were deposited.
Now things have changed.

3.Higher prices = More searching and more sales to pawn shops, scrappers and coin shops etc. Or ebay.

4. Ebay. yes, anyone can be a dealer and get "market" value for things

5. Economic down turn. With the dollars collapse/free fall this gets people looking for more valuable things. Including turning on old change.

How much older stock is buried under newer stuff that has just been cycled though.
Think about it, times are hard, you need extra cash to put $3 to $4 a gallon gas in your SUV or pick up. Or just to pay a bill. That jar of change in the closest or cup of coins thats in the laundry room, or little change bin/piggy bank on the dresser looks much more tempting to turn in.
thats just more coins to pile on. some of them good, some of them bad. Most of the more common change that has piled up in peoples change from circulation is not that exiting. You still get collections going into the system but they are diluted down with all the common junk.

I wonder if this is going to have an effect on mintage and demand. With people turning in change thats been sitting around. And with the economic pressures on most. This could have some interesting results.

I was routing for more neat things showing up with more turn ins...sadly, its been mostly garbage.

 

[Jeffro]

last twenty boxes have been total skunks for me. I was about tready to give up myself for awhile. Today's box yielded 4- 90% and 5- 40%. Oh and 1 2001-S proof. Ya never know. May be all I get for twenty more boxes, too.

 

[jewelerdave]

Re: Question about how things were before, and the effects the artical has had!!

Yea, it's fun finding clad silver and the occasional 90% coin, but what I don't understand is that some refineries won't accept clad silver. Also, the coin dealers will pay you squat for clad (If they're even interested). My ratio of 40% to 90% is like 20:1, so I ask myself, whats the point?

Biggest reason is the cost to process, and low demand. And the nature of the beast. To dissolve silver it takes nitric acid. it takes about 3 times as much nitric acid to dissolve the same amount of copper as silver. And to get silver efficiently out of nitric acid you add copper to plate out the silver. Problem. %40 halves are only %40 silver. And mostly copper. This makes it a pain to process. it takes longer to process And when your done you have silver and a lot of copper that is toxic in a solution that you now have to deal with and clean up. So your waste goes up dramatically. This is why refiners dont like them. And why the cost to process them is more. Also, the mentality of %40 halves a few years ago when silver was $4 an ounce was that they were only worth about 75 cents each. How can one make a profit on that?
Its just now that they are worth melting. And yes. I melt mine, too hard to market. no one wants to pay a premium for them. I think that the temptation and profit to melt with demand is going to end up melting a lot of them. I know I have sent thousands of them to there death!

 

[Ifyndit]

I started this hobby in the middle of December because of the article in WET. Once silver prices increased to $20 an ounce my silver finds in the boxes I have been going through have more than doubled! I am finding approximately 10+ silvers (40% and 90%) per box now, in fact my best box to date was a week ago (44 in one Brinks box alone). Ya, I occasionally get a skunk here or there but over all my finds have made a dramatic increase. I think it is because people need the extra money for gas and other necessities and don't realize what coins they are disposing of. What is funny is I haven't found any proofs for quite some time. I would usually get at least one per box, now it has been several weeks and no proofs. That's okay....I'll take the silver!

 

[coinmojo]

I agree with Jewlerdave on all his points.

I've been coin roll hunting heavily for almost 3 years, and only half dollars. I came across this hobby not knowing the popularity of it and just found this site 2 weeks ago. I did not see the article.

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,147287.0.html (MY STORY)

To answer your question. I had tremendous luck at first when silver was around $10 oz. 3 years ago. I started out doing cold stops (bank to bank) all over southeast Michigan. the tellers turned me on to the boxes. Within the first month of buying boxes it got my first dream box and shortly after that I got dream box #2 but I picked up the pace after that. I was up to 15 boxes a week with limited results averaging 5 to 15 keepers a box it has been downhill ever since. I slowed down to about 6 boxes a week around Sep 07. But have kicked it back up due to my recent lack of unemployment 10 wks. I am getting SKUNKED quite a lot. I'm lucky to get 1-3 per box when I'm not getting totally skunked. I did have a recent DREAM BOX a week ago which I posted.

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,147622.0.html (Unstick that fork in Mi.)

I don't and won't post everthing I find just too sad. ex. This week 15 boxes 1-90% 14-40%'s nothing else and no freebies at the coin return. Makes me feel insane. Figure an hour a box in time. My net return for a 40% half = $ 1.00 - $1.50 x 14 on the upside = $21 dollars for 15 hours of work. doesn't really make much sense or pay for the gas.

In addition to jewlerdaves points, There has been the limits and fees cropping up all over town additional fallout from the increased popularity of CRH'g

"Quit while your ahead" Or don't expect to make a living doing it. It is a HOBBY.

CRH Mojo.

 

[scotto]

I live in a town with a population of about 6,000, and there are a few more CRHers now than there were a year ago. So, most halves get searched thru over and over, I am the only one I know of here who is buying boxes or $1,000 bags. I have to re-roll them, and a couple times when I've dumped, I've heard a bank employee calling someone to say; "This guy just dropped off 99 rolls of halves."

My best bag had 118 silvers in it, but lately they are mostly skunks. :P