The "In's and Outs" of Coin Roll Hunting

By, Nick Foley
01/29/11
http://www.youtube.com/bookofnick

It's been said that the best way to rob a bank is to own one. That may be true, but the next best way is Coin Roll Hunting.

Click here to see the coin roll hunting video!


What is coin roll hunting? It's exactly how it sounds. It's a hunt for coins hidden underneath the paper of the bank's coin wrappers. What are coin roll hunters "hunting?" Well, every hunter has their own prize in mind. For some, it's that rare date, mint mark, or error coin that keeps them hunting. For others, it's the discovery of old coins that are no longer produced. For me, it's all about finding one thing: SILVER!

That's right, there's silver in them thar rolls! While most silver coins minted in the United States Mint were officially taken out of circulation in 1964, there are still a few silver coins floating around. After all, the machines that sort these coins are only machine, and the people who sort them are only human! As a result, a small percentage of silver is inevitably overlooked.
So how do you find these silver coins? Well, you can sort through grandma's old coin jar, and depending on how old your grandma is, you might do pretty well. You can also check all the change you get from your everyday transactions for silver, but it's very rare that you will ever find one that way, just because you probably don't come across too much change in one day. The best method I've found is to "buy" coin rolls from the bank, search them, and deposit them back into the bank. It sounds pretty simple, but don't stop reading here. Below, I'll outline some tips that will make everything a bit easier.

First of all, let's discuss what kind of coin you should search. It really depends on what you are looking for. If you're into coins for their numismatic value, then you may be happy getting and searching any kind of coin roll. If you are looking for a cheap way to accumulate copper, then you can buy rolls of pennies (they come in $100 boxes) and remove any pennies minted in 1982 or prior, when they were made of solid copper, and not just copper-plated, as our current pennies are. With today's copper spot price of $4.32 per pound, the metal value within one of these old pennies is almost $0.03. Some people buy boxes of Nickels just for their copper content. As of the writing of this article, the melt value of the copper within a nickel is $0.07. The best thing about nickels is that you don't have to open the boxes and separate them by dates, as all the Nickels in a box will have the same melt value (excluding war nickels, made between 1942 and 1945, which contain 35% silver).


The War Nickel, 1942-1945 is identified by a large mint mark on its reverse. And Contains 1.75 grams of silver!

The silver hunters, however (like me!), will search rolls of dimes, quarters, and half-dollars. These coins dated 1964 and prior contain 90% silver. That's a lot of silver! With today's melt value of $28 per ounce, a dime is worth just over $2.00, a quarter is worth over $5.00, and a half-dollar over $10.00! Also keep an eye out for halves minted from 1965 to 1969. These contain 40% silver and should definitely not be overlooked.

An example of a 40% Silver Kennedy half Dollar found in change!

Most people with Coin Roll Hunting experience will tell you that they have had the most luck with half-dollars. The reason why should be obvious to anyone who has ever tried to purchase something with a half-dollar and seen the open-mouthed, unbelieving stare of the clerk at the register; they are simply not used very much. As a result, less people have had the opportunity to pick out the silver ones. I'll think you'll find, as I have, that half-dollars are the best way to find silver.
So how do you get half-dollar rolls? Okay, okay, I'll tell you! Get them from your bank. The way I've approached getting half dollars from your bank is to very politely ask the teller if they have any half-dollars you can withdraw your money with. Most of the time, the answer will be no, but sometimes customers will bring in halves and the bank will have a roll or two. Some people have claimed getting a bonanza of silver from customer-rolled halves. But if they don't have any halves, don't fret. Simply ask if they can order a box (or boxes) for you. Most banks (not all) will perform this service for you for free, as a caveat of you being a good customer of the bank. If they inform you that they will charge you for this special order, don't do it. Perhaps a polite talk with the manager may change their mind, but it's not worth the risk to pay for a box of coin rolls in which you may not find any silver.

How many coin rolls should you get? Halves typically come in boxes of $500. You should get whatever you can afford to. The more the better! Some people buy one box at a time, some people buy 10 boxes at a time. I have personally never gotten more than 4 boxes at one time.

Next, your task is to open each roll and hunt for your treasure! If you are just searching for silver, then you don't need to look at the date of each individual coin. The quickest way is to remove the coins from the wrapper, and do a "rim check," where you carefully look at the sides, or "rim," of each half dollar. The ones you don't want will have a distinct copper-collored rim. The ones you do want will have a distinct silver-colored rim. If you're unsure if it's copper colored or silver colored, then just check the date! Once you get used to this kind of searching, you will know if you have silver the moment you unwrap the coin roll.

Did you find any silver? I hope you did! Did you get "skunked?" I hope not. Remember: it's not guaranteed that every box will have silver. Sometimes you will get lucky, sometimes you won't. That's why I like to get more than one box at a time; if I get skunked by one box, I will usually find silver in the next.

Now that you (hopefully) have a pocket-full of valuable silver (or other historically valuable coins), you get to experience the biggest downside of this project: the mountain of coins that are only worth their face-value. Don't lose any sleep, though. They are a great way to fill up your gas tank, buy lunch, or spitefully pay that $100 parking ticket. If you're jones-ing for cash, though, it's best to wrap them back up, bring them to the bank, and deposit them.

Golden Rules of Depositing:

1. Never deposit at the same bank you bought the coins from. The bank went though all the trouble of special-ordering your coins, and now you're going to make them count it all? That's just rude. Besides, you might find your own searched coins the next time you go hunting. Instead, deposit them at a bank you don't like, maybe one that was charging you monthly fees you didn't know about, or one that foreclosed on your home.

2. Never deposit more than $500 at a time. This is not just a courtesy to the teller, but anything more than this might raise a red flag on your account. After all, banks are now being trained to report any "suspicious" activity. Though you're probably a peaceful person, keep an eye out for yourself.

Well, that's it! I hope you enjoy the thrill of the hunt. All that's left to say is: take that silver that was stolen from you back from the Federal Reserve - you deserve it! That and: GOOD LUCK!

Nick Foley