Very disappointing 3 boxes

DrDetector · Sep 8, 2007

Picked up the 3 boxes of halves I ordered on Friday and started searching. First box was going terribly then I got a dirty 68D. At least it's not a total loss. Then towards the end I got an 82S proof with a fair amount of circulation wear but not all that bad. Fortunately I hadn't found an 82S yet.

Second box, I noticed there are 4 of my marked coins showing on the ends of the rolls. Uh oh. Went through the box, it was a total skunk, and I must have seen about 200 of my own marked coins. (a roman numeral etched to the right of the portrait). Wow...major disappointment.

Third box, turned up one more 68D.

So, total of three boxes was (2) 68D and an 82S.

Pretty tedious work for 3 keepers. Hopefully Tuesday's two boxes are better.

Immy · Sep 9, 2007

Hey Doc, I think I've seen some of your marks here in Vegas slots.

Did you get the idea from British coins? They marked their denoms (sixpences with "VI"; shillings with "XII", etc.) to the right of the monarch.

Congrats on the finds and I hope they improve soon.

DrDetector · Sep 9, 2007

That's kinda cool they made their way out of PA! Um, no actually I use a roman numeral to identify the year I get them, I originally thought to myself...like most of us...'What if I'm just looking through the same exact halves?'

So then I tried filling in the 'O' in 'HALF DOLLAR' on the reverse and used that for a little while but then did some tests on rubbing them in my hands and with other coins and the mark wore off fairly fast, so I needed something a little more permanent. I just figured if I used a small etch mark with a box cutter that mark wasnt' going anywhere. In 2007 I've been using a small VII to the right of Kennedy, it was a VI in 2006 and a V in 2005. Before that, I used 4 horizontal lines for 2004, a III for 2003 and 1999-2002 I used a small triangle.

Obviously I dont' mark ALL the halves I go through either. I have tried different tests, most recently was to mark all the circulated bicentennials simply because of the different design. That way I could quickly see if I had looked at that exact half before. I had been getting some back every now and then, but then yesterday's 2nd box was just awful, I'd say 80% of the bicentennials were marked, so I figure I'd probably looked through most of the other coins as well.

I see a lot of the 'sharpie in Kennedy's ear' mark as well, but from what I hear a lot of people use that mark. It's discouraging knowing you are simply looking through someone else's rejects! Oh well, I've had good boxes in the past and I'm sure I'll get a good one coming up sometime.