What was your first fix?

Uncle Ben

Full Member
Apr 24, 2013
119
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Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
So...I'd like to hear some stories about what got each of you started? How long you've been CRH? And of course an approx. lifetime score for you silver hounds. I'd like to hear about the Studs as well as the newbies. I'll take first shot.
I'm at a local bank where I go every weekday for the last 10 years for work. One day I see an old man come to the counter with plastic baggie full of silver coin. He turns it in and as soon as he leaves the tellers all start splitting it up and buying the silver. I know all of the tellers so I ask the question? Whats the deal? The teller I will call D who has been at the bank for 31 years tells me that for as long as she can remember that man and his wife came in on Fridays and bought rolls of coin approx. $50.00 and on Mondays returned it. So his wife dies and every week for the last few months the fella returns a stash of silver back to the bank and turns it in for face. This goes on for a few months and the guy does not show and the head teller finds his name in the local paper obituary. A couple of weeks go by and the fellas daughter (in her 60's) shows up with death certificate and talks to the tellers as she is doing some banking. She says, "Daddy loved this bank.....you would'nt believe all of the silver coins he got from this bank that we found." Dee tells me, "she wouldnt believe all the silver he returned." So to quicken this up...I speak to Dee who is headed to the LCS to sell some of her "loose silver," She says she's just selling what she did'nt have rolled. Silver was close to $40. at the time. The next day she said she scored $6400.00, I say nice score and she tells me she still has over $10,000.00 face rolled up for her grand kids. I look at her in disbelieve and she tells me the head teller has "much more than I do." So....many months later I come in as usual and the only face I recognize is Dee and the Head Teller who used to be a personal banker. He spills the beans on the tellers and the vault teller who were all in it and.....poof...they can no longer cull the silver and they distributed most tellers who were in the "silver moffia" to other branches in the city. I says.....that sucks but how about hoarding from me now. She says, OK. Now I don't even have to ask...she tells me I owe her a certain amount and I give it to her and she pushes over the silver. So one day she says....Do you have $500.00? you'd like to invest. I laugh and she explains she ordered me a box if I'd like to try my luck. That box gave me one Walker and a 40%. That first box was at the end of Feb. 2013.......and her I am. How did you get hear?
 

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Im not exactly sure how I first heard the words "Coin roll hunting" but I wanted to find out more about it so I simply typed it in on google. I came across this site and started reading all of the threads. I was at my bank a few days later so I decided to give it a small (very small) attempt. I got $20 in dimes which of course was a skunk. A few days later I took the coins back and got $5 in pennies. I got five wheats so I got $5 more and got a few more wheats. I was already a collector so the pennies were fun but I really wanted some cheep silver. Within another week or so I had somehow convinced my mom to let me withdraw $250 for a box of dimes. I found one silver and I was hooked. The next week I got two boxes of dimes and another silver. A week or so later I stopped at my dump bank that I had just opened an account at to dump the $500. While I was dumping I asked for halves. They had $17.50 and four Ikes which gave up my first five 40%'s. Later that day I got another 40% from a different bank. After that my family finally saw that I wasn't waisting my time. I hunted the rest of the summer with a $1000 bank roll, and then off and on this school year when I could find time. HH
 

I used to work as a teller and one of the other bank staff mentioned CRHing to me. I looked through rolls for a long time and never found anything. My first find I think was a silver Canadian dime. I ended up finding maybe 40 dimes and quarters and some a handful of halves while I worked at that bank. My stash is really small now, but I hope to build it up by doing more volume throughout the rest of the year. I'm going to buy a Ryedale soon and get into pennies, something I never foresaw myself doing.
 

My 1st bag had $650 in silver
 

I had actually heard from a friend about finding silver in small amounts in older cell phones- so I searched YouTube for videos on how to search/find/and pull out the silver in old cell phones(which is very small amounts and has to be fairly old cell phones and not worth the time IMO) any ways in the searching and watching those vids i also cam across vids finding silver in rolled coins so of course I watched several of those- actually took me some time before I did it though- I was on a local classifieds and saw someone selling a 5gal jug half full of all denominations of coins for $250- so I took some of my pennies I had and filled an empty 5gal jug I had- $5.00 didn't even fill the bottom of the jug so I called and offered $200 and asked how long the person had been collecting the change and he said since early '80s- I though for sure I'd find silver in it which I didn't but found about 25-30 wheats and there was over $280 total change- after that I cashed those coins in and got a handful of dimes/qtrs rolls- found 1 silver dime and went to get a couple boxes the next day-
My best find has been in dimes- I had 2 boxes one day after another of 18-19 silver in each box, best MWR was 8 silver dimes and 17 silver dimes in one CWR-
 

My dad collected coins and had a busness, he save all his extra pennies. When he retired he had a five gl. Milk can full of pennies. That was the early eighties. We searched those and coin rolled for his collection then he passed it to me and I'm doing it and passing it to my two boys and hopefully they will do the same. LP.
 

Cashier with a lot of time on my hands at Target (Food Service cashier, not regular retail, I sell snacks and ICEEs in a Target store). I always collected coins that seemed odd to me, like wheats and foreign coins, but the thing that really set me off at work was finding a silver quarter. I saw it in the drawer and thought it was fake at first; turns out it was one of my first silver finds, a 1947-D silver quarter.

Since then, I have found (on the clock at work):

2 silver quarters (1947-D and 1964-D)
10 silver dimes (2 Mercs, the rest Roosies)
6 war nickels
1 buffalo nickel (really nice full date 1937)
~$3 in wheats

The best run I had in work was 5 days of coins/bills that I collect:

Monday - Silver dime
Tuesday - 5 wheats
Wednesday - silver dime, 2 wheats and a 1963B series $1 bill
Thursday - Silver dime
Friday - Silver quarter

It was a fun week at work!

:laughing7:
 

Cashier with a lot of time on my hands at Target (Food Service cashier, not regular retail, I sell snacks and ICEEs in a Target store). I always collected coins that seemed odd to me, like wheats and foreign coins, but the thing that really set me off at work was finding a silver quarter. I saw it in the drawer and thought it was fake at first; turns out it was one of my first silver finds, a 1947-D silver quarter.

Since then, I have found (on the clock at work):

2 silver quarters (1947-D and 1964-D)
10 silver dimes (2 Mercs, the rest Roosies)
6 war nickels
1 buffalo nickel (really nice full date 1937)
~$3 in wheats

The best run I had in work was 5 days of coins/bills that I collect:

Monday - Silver dime
Tuesday - 5 wheats
Wednesday - silver dime, 2 wheats and a 1963B series $1 bill
Thursday - Silver dime
Friday - Silver quarter

It was a fun week at work!

:laughing7:

So do you just swap your pocket change for those finds?
 

So do you just swap your pocket change for those finds?

Yes. If I don't have any pocket change, when I go on a break, I use my debit card and get cash back, with change as part of the cash.

I don't just jam my hand in the register and take it out, lol.
 

I had found a silver quarter in my change a couple years ago and tried to find out how much it was worth. Bad sources (or silver was in the tank) suggested it was worth about $0.75. So, I just spent it, but I always had the feeling like that was a mistake. In January of this year, I got a metal detector. Watched lots of videos on how to find silver coins at the park. The weather was crummy, so I didn't get much detecting time in. Stumbled across a CRH video and couldn't believe all the silver that was being found in the comfort of people's homes. So, I went out on a Friday afternoon after work and hit three local banks asking for half dollars...they said "no"..."huhhh"...and "we have gold dollars"...feeling discouraged I headed home but there was one more bank in my path and I just pulled in expecting additional disappointment...they said "we have a bunch, how many do you want?" Being a newbie, I panicked a little bit, said I had $500 to spend, and they gave me all they had $280. 58 silvers including a solid roll of 64's, 21-40%, 11-bens, 4-walking, 2-barbers. It got me hooked, but I haven't seen anything like it since except in my dreams. I have increased the silver cache a bit, but I am looking forward to the next big score. I would have thought that most CRH people came from metal detecting...maybe not.
 

Grandma worked at a small-town post office in Pewamo, and saved the silver dimes she found roll hunting. She gave my brother and I an Ike every birthday, and I remember all the mercs too. My brother and I would walk up town as kids, and buy candy.
I began roll hunting at thirteen or fourteen years old, and I'm 50 now.
 

I've always had an interest for coins. I had a cousin that gave me an Ike and a few clad halves when I was 7. I've kept them since. Growing up I would always check for any interesting coins I received in change. I usually kept the wheaties in my wallet. Last year my in laws told me about their dads coin and currency collection. They gave me my first buffalo and merc. Ever since then I've been hooked on roll hunting. I've been promised the entire collection in the future. Can't wait to see what goodies are included.
 

Back in 2007 I was doing some research on some coins that my grandfather had given to me when I was young. I ended up at T'net, read a few threads and found the coin roll hunting forum. At that point I was hooked. On March 5, 2007 I went down to the local Fifth Third Bank where I didn't even have an account and asked for $10 in pennies and $40 in nickels. The tellers were more than happy to honor my request (this was at a time before banks started hitting us with all kinds of fees). I got home and I couldn't wait to dig into those rolls! From that haul I got 9 Wheats and 19 pre-1960 nickels.

I didn't care about silver at all. It was all about the thrill of the hunt for me; silver was just a bonus. Having rolls of coins in my hand and not knowing what was inside made me feel like a kid again. (OK, I was 22 at the time but it was still a huge thrill.) It felt like Christmas every day I was roll hunting. Ever since that fateful day - March 5, 2007 - I have been addicted to roll hunting. I log my finds extensively in an Excel spreadsheet, keeping stats such as date, quantity searched, different keeper categories, and the bank in which I got the coins from. This year I have recently added CWR vs. MWR to my spreadsheet. I did take a 2 year break from it all but now I'm back and hoping to search more than ever. Some of the tellers that I ordered boxes from have moved on so I've got some work to do in making new relationships but it will be worth it. Hopefully some day I can pass my finds onto my kids and maybe they can join me in the hunt.

So that's my story of how I got my first fix. Hope you all enjoyed. :headbang:
 

So you bought a bag?? of half dollars from the bank? So would that be the bag from their coin counter or what? And then.....did you go back and buy the bags of dimes and quarters?
 

I don't exactly remember how I found this forum. My assumption is a was cruising the web one day and saw where a guy pulled some rare coin with a ridiculous price tag out of pocket change.

I've always checked change I receive but haven't ever thought of just buying coins to look through major quantities.

So I went through a few hundred in dimes with no luck. Started filling out a book just for fun and have several completed now.

One day after most banks were closed I went to a branch inside of a Publics and asked for anything odd or old. The guy reaches in his drawer and pulls out 3 large dollars. He reads me the dates and on the third one says "1924, wow that's old. It's probably worth something" and proceeds to accept my 3 1 dollar bills. I was hooked from there...a peace dollar as first silver.

Now I have my brother CRHing for me in his city, a friend CRHing in the city I went to school in, and tons of people with their ears to the ground for me whenever somebody finds an old or weird coin. Even paying them 60% of spot they are happy to hunt for me. Later this week I have a friend bringing up another acquaintances collection so I can make an offer.

It's probably the worst addiction I've had. I kicked smoking years ago but don't think I could ever give up CRHing!
 

So you bought a bag?? of half dollars from the bank? So would that be the bag from their coin counter or what? And then.....did you go back and buy the bags of dimes and quarters?

Yes, it would be the coin counter bag.

Here's my story:

I developed an serious interest in coin collecting a few years ago. I had always kept some change from each country I visited as a souvenir, and also received a couple of older coins from my parents who also kept a few as souvenirs. At one point, I decided to buy a wheat cent, since I liked the design and didn't have any (I used to have some I think, but they were rolled back up for deposit).After that, I became interested in the history of the old coins, and began to buy some older coins that were cheap (mercs, barbers, some worn seateds). Then, one of my friends became interested, and he happened to find a coin shop in the area by accident. I decided to go there, and began buying bags of foreign coins that provided me with a nice selection of coins to form a collection. After that, I decided to go out and get some books so I know if any of my coins have any value. Some of the coins from those bags actually had some value, one turned out to be silver. From then, I began to want to learn more and more about different coins and the history attached to them. I also enhanced my knowledge of geography and cultures, through the various designs on foreign coins. At one point, I think I was looking at foreign coins in change, just to see what was possible to find. I usually managed to find a few ore or kopecks and definitely Canadian cents in change every year. I stumbled onto this forum, and decided to try CRH. I have never found anything big, since I am unable to do it in mass. However, it is always nice to find something, whether it is another wheat cent, or silver, I always feel excited about CRH since I discovered it.

Nowadays, my friend no longer collects, but just hoards silver in case of an economic collapse. He began to CRH also, and did get some nice boxes, but no longer has time to CRH.
 

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Yes, it would be the coin counter bag.

Here's my story:

I developed an serious interest in coin collecting a few years ago. I had always kept some change from each country I visited as a souvenir, and also received a couple of older coins from my parents who also kept a few as souvenirs. At one point, I decided to buy a wheat cent, since I liked the design and didn't have any (I used to have some I think, but they were rolled back up for deposit).After that, I became interested in the history of the old coins, and began to buy some older coins that were cheap (mercs, barbers, some worn seateds). Then, one of my friends became interested, and he happened to find a coin shop in the area by accident. I decided to go there, and began buying bags of foreign coins that provided me with a nice selection of coins to form a collection. After that, I decided to go out and get some books so I know if any of my coins have any value. Some of the coins from those bags actually had some value, one turned out to be silver. From then, I began to want to learn more and more about different coins and the history attached to them. I also enhanced my knowledge of geography and cultures, through the various designs on foreign coins. At one point, I think I was looking at foreign coins in change, just to see what was possible to find. I usually managed to find a few ore or kopecks and definitely Canadian cents in change every year. I stumbled onto this forum, and decided to try CRH. I have never found anything big, since I am unable to do it in mass. However, it is always nice to find something, whether it is another wheat cent, or silver, I always feel excited about CRH since I discovered it.

Great story Sagittarius 98! I love searching through foreign coins as well. I used to go through my lcs foreign coin bum and pick out all the silver even when I was 8 years old :P
 

So when I was on vacation last summer, I met some buddies my age, and we were all going to play penn poker. So I went out and bought 4 rolls of pennies and 4 rolls of nickels. We never ended up playing, but I still had the rolls, and when I got home I figured I would open them to maybe find the wheats pennies I love so much. Oh, by the way I used to love wrapping my grandmas pennies when I was 5, yes 5 years old. It was what I looked forward to! I always loved old pennies. Well anyways, I cracked open the rolls and the last one had a wheat penny! I was shocked and thought I came across the best idea ever why don't I buy pennies from a bank go through them for old coins and then return them to a different one. So I started researching the idea online and "Coin Roll Hunting" popped up. I quickly saw treasurenet forum for CRH and now here I am. I have always just loved pennies.
 

My first time to the bank my dad mentioned what i did to one of the customers, which was kind of embarrassing, but it turns out the customer said he makes a living out of going through half dollars. He said wheat pennies weren't worth my time and to save up my money to buy a box of half dollars. What are the odds of that?! We talk for about 10 minutes. I should have asked if he was on any forums online.
 

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