New CRHer here

[bpt233506]

New CRH'er here

Hey all, new guy here. I've been developing a big interest in silver and ever since a whole back when I found out that pre-65 coins are 90% silver I have been keeping my eyes open since. I guess it doesn't help at all that I live in Los Angeles and have never come up on anything. Anyway, I'm currently in Vegas and while sitting at a blackjack table yesterday, I hit a bj on a $5 bet and received a half dollar when I got paid. I looked at the year and saw that it was a 69 and didn't see a copper rim so I hopped on my phone (between shuffles) and found out that it was. 40%er! A little while later I looked at the dealers tray and saw what appeared to be a 64 half just siting in the front of the stack. I politely asked if I could change one of my non silver halves for it to which she said sure. A closer look revealed that it was indeed a '64! I'm still really stoked to finally find one so unexpectedly.

Today I went to two different casinos and got myself $160 worth of halves but they all ended to be "skunks" lol. Needless to say I'm getting quite addicted now and during my drive back home tomorrow I am thinking about stopping by the BoA in Barstow to buy a box of halves and maybe some dimes if they have them. I read that he chances of finding something in smaller towns is much greater than say in Los Angeles. Do you guys think its worth a try or is CA all picked clean?

My second question is what is the best way to revert all my non silver halves back to paper currency? Can I really walk into a bank with a bag of halves and ask them to deposit it into my account? I once watched a video where someone was hunting and opened up the rolls in a way that he can put all the halves back into the paper wrapping...any tips on how to best go about this?


Thanks for the help!
Brandon

 

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[enamel7]

Also don't just look at the loose halves they have. BUY THEM ALL!!!! That's what was said before. You will make more friends at the banks that way.

 

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[bpt233506]

Also don't just look at the loose halves they have. BUY THEM ALL!!!! That's what was said before. You will make more friends at the banks that way.

What do you guys generally do if the teller tells you that they are returns from customers who they know are collectors, or if they pull out MWR's that look to be rerolled by hand and hand crimped?

 

[enamel7]

Buy them all of course. Someone could have edge searched them and missed some. Or it could be a mix of dumps and a few rolls a little old lady brought in.

 

[bpt233506]

Buy them all of course. Someone could have edge searched them and missed some. Or it could be a mix of dumps and a few rolls a little old lady brought in.

Alright. I'ma still trying to figure out how I will be dumping my coins in regularity. Once I get that set then I wouldn't mind buying as many halves as I can knowing I can throw them back at the bank at any time without irritating them.

I read that many 40%'s have copper edges so i'm starting to pay more attention to them. I do have one 40%, as stated in my OP, and it does have a dark edge, not copper looking but almost.

 

[ArkieBassMan]

Alright. I'ma still trying to figure out how I will be dumping my coins in regularity. Once I get that set then I wouldn't mind buying as many halves as I can knowing I can throw them back at the bank at any time without irritating them.

I read that many 40%'s have copper edges so i'm starting to pay more attention to them. I do have one 40%, as stated in my OP, and it does have a dark edge, not copper looking but almost.

Learn to "hear" silver and you'll never miss one. Put a clad half into your hand and drop another clad half onto it. It will "clink." Then repeat but this time drop a silver half onto the clad half. It will "CLANK!" "Memorize" that sound. After you get the sound down, you can just open a roll, let the coins "waterfall" into your hand one at a time, and if there is any silver in there, you'll hear it.

 

[ArkieBassMan]

And you have got to get some dump banks lined up. Being able to get rid of the rejects is just as important as finding coins to buy.

Surely in LA you can find at least one bank that has multiple branches with coin counters. Two or three would be better.

 

[bpt233506]

And you have got to get some dump banks lined up. Being able to get rid of the rejects is just as important as finding coins to buy.

Surely in LA you can find at least one bank that has multiple branches with coin counters. Two or three would be better.

Surprisingly, I've been trying to find one for the last couple hours but am coming up dry. Apparently US Bank has them but not within 100 miles within where I live. TD bank everyone says has one, but they are not in California. From what i've read, BoA has free counting but you have to give it to them to be sent off to be counted which I heard can take weeks. But I'll call them tomorrow anyway to be sure.

Do you guys typically choose a dump bank as in one from another company you normally bank with and go to any of their branches? Or if for instance you use BoA then you have branch A, B, C, D as pick up banks and use E and F as dump banks?

 

[twiasp]

Even if they only have 1 half dollar in their trays, buy it, who knows how many 1 silver half dollar they have handed me. Usually saying something like "I only have one and its really junky looking" or "Do you want this one, it looks rough". If you are driving around asking for coins, be sure to ask them for "the big dollar coins" they will usually respond with I have these gold ones or sba's, to which you can say OH nah i like to spend the really big ones to get funny looks and conversations. May score yourself a Silver Dollar =)

OH and ALWAYS take all the coins you find, even if they think they maybe rewraps or the teller already searched them for silver, trust me they can miss them =P

 

[bpt233506]

Even if they only have 1 half dollar in their trays, buy it, who knows how many 1 silver half dollar they have handed me. Usually saying something like "I only have one and its really junky looking" or "Do you want this one, it looks rough". If you are driving around asking for coins, be sure to ask them for "the big dollar coins" they will usually respond with I have these gold ones or sba's, to which you can say OH nah i like to spend the really big ones to get funny looks and conversations. May score yourself a Silver Dollar =)

OH and ALWAYS take all the coins you find, even if they think they maybe rewraps or the teller already searched them for silver, trust me they can miss them =P

Thanks for the tips, I'm quickly learning how this all works. When I was in the small town of Victorville, CA on Monday, I really regret not buying the few dollars worth the branch manager told me they had in the drawers. Never again!

I'm still pretty stoked about the '64 I found earlier today. I agree that you really gotta be at the right place and at the right time to score. I looked at the wrappers again and they all had "Boyd Gaming" on them. By the sound of the teller it seems like it was sitting in the vault for a while. Definitely must have been from a customer depositing after a trip to Vegas.

 

[ArkieBassMan]

Surprisingly, I've been trying to find one for the last couple hours but am coming up dry. Apparently US Bank has them but not within 100 miles within where I live. TD bank everyone says has one, but they are not in California. From what i've read, BoA has free counting but you have to give it to them to be sent off to be counted which I heard can take weeks. But I'll call them tomorrow anyway to be sure.

Do you guys typically choose a dump bank as in one from another company you normally bank with and go to any of their branches? Or if for instance you use BoA then you have branch A, B, C, D as pick up banks and use E and F as dump banks?

Some banks have coin counters, but they aren't self-service. They're hidden in a back room somewhere. You have to ask around.

Yes, you need designated dump banks. Otherwise you may end up buying your own rejects. Ideally, you want it to be a completely different bank, not just a different branch - especially if you're ordering boxes and/or searching decent volume. If a bank orders boxes for you without a fee, they're doing you a favor. Those boxes aren't free to the bank. If a bank takes in your rejects with no fee, they're doing you a favor. The coin courier charges the bank to pick up your rejects as well. You don't want to hit the bank with a "double expense" when they're doing you a favor to begin with. If they figure out what you're doing, you'll most likely be cut off instantly.

 

[bpt233506]

Some banks have coin counters, but they aren't self-service. They're hidden in a back room somewhere. You have to ask around.

Yes, you need designated dump banks. Otherwise you may end up buying your own rejects. Ideally, you want it to be a completely different bank, not just a different branch - especially if you're ordering boxes and/or searching decent volume. If a bank orders boxes for you without a fee, they're doing you a favor. Those boxes aren't free to the bank. If a bank takes in your rejects with no fee, they're doing you a favor. The coin courier charges the bank to pick up your rejects as well. You don't want to hit the bank with a "double expense" when they're doing you a favor to begin with. If they figure out what you're doing, you'll most likely be cut off instantly.

Thanks. This part is perfectly understandable....but in such a populated place such as LA, wouldn't other people use my pick-up banks are dump banks and vice versa causing the entire circulation to be jumbled up anyway?

But I definitely understand the separation part. That way my pick up bank will just think I am the weird guy who keeps buying halves and my dump bank will just think I am the weird one who keeps depositing in halves. And not both which will make them quickly realize I am wasting their time.

 

[ArkieBassMan]

Thanks. This part is perfectly understandable....but in such a populated place such as LA, wouldn't other people use my pick-up banks are dump banks and vice versa causing the entire circulation to be jumbled up anyway?

But I definitely understand the separation part. That way my pick up bank will just think I am the weird guy who keeps buying halves and my dump bank will just think I am the weird one who keeps depositing in halves. And not both which will make them quickly realize I am wasting their time.

That is CRH in a nutshell. Regardless of where you dump, you're dumping into other CRHers' supply. Regardless of where you buy, other CRHers' are dumping into your supply. We just hope that some silver gets mixed in there along the way and we're lucky enough for it to end up in our own boxes. Still, statistically speaking its better to get your own dumps out of your own system if possible. Think about it. Say you had a pile of 10,000 halves to search. After searching a handfull, would you throw them back into the original pile with all the unsearched ones, or would you throw them into a different pile?

 

[bpt233506]

^^ I see. I ordered two boxes that will be here tomorrow....i'm really exicted! But after seeing so many threads about people hitting dream boxes while many others get complete skunks box after box, i'm kinda wondering how halves get rolled and distributed.

It almost seems as though silver halves all come from one place while other places have no silver. The first box I got from BoA came in a big flat single-stack box with black wrappers and holes above each roll in the cardboard. I see that other types include a Brinks box and some other brand that seems to be more of a cube-shaped box. I'm assuming the two boxes i'm getting tomorrow will be like my first. Are these straight from the Fed?

Just trying to figure out why some boxes produce so much silver while others don't.

 

[Zero]

^^ I see. I ordered two boxes that will be here tomorrow....i'm really exicted! But after seeing so many threads about people hitting dream boxes while many others get complete skunks box after box, i'm kinda wondering how halves get rolled and distributed.

It almost seems as though silver halves all come from one place while other places have no silver. The first box I got from BoA came in a big flat single-stack box with black wrappers and holes above each roll in the cardboard. I see that other types include a Brinks box and some other brand that seems to be more of a cube-shaped box. I'm assuming the two boxes i'm getting tomorrow will be like my first. Are these straight from the Fed?

Just trying to figure out why some boxes produce so much silver while others don't.

Most boxes are not from the FED. There are at least three or four major couriers/coin rolling companies including Brinks, Garda, and Loomis. Garda is flat with holes, Brinks is a stack 2x5x5 cube like, and don't know about Loomis since I dump into Loomis right now and haven't ordered from them yet. Of course, every area has some variation. Some people talk about time stamps and dates on their boxes but I haven't seen that yet. Someone did post some unusual rolls that described their contents on the wrappers like "2013 dimes" that seemed like they could be uncirculated rolls straight from the FED. Good luck.

 

[ArkieBassMan]

^^ I see. I ordered two boxes that will be here tomorrow....i'm really exicted! But after seeing so many threads about people hitting dream boxes while many others get complete skunks box after box, i'm kinda wondering how halves get rolled and distributed.

It almost seems as though silver halves all come from one place while other places have no silver. The first box I got from BoA came in a big flat single-stack box with black wrappers and holes above each roll in the cardboard. I see that other types include a Brinks box and some other brand that seems to be more of a cube-shaped box. I'm assuming the two boxes i'm getting tomorrow will be like my first. Are these straight from the Fed?

Just trying to figure out why some boxes produce so much silver while others don't.

Don't overthink it. The reason that some boxes produce silver is that not everyone that cashes in coins is a collector/CRHer. There is no "magical supplier" that produces silver consistently, although in any given area 1 supplier may consistently outproduce the others. There is no way to predict where or from which carrier that good box is going to come. There is no rhyme nor reason to the process whatsoever. If the bank you order from gives you 50 straight skunk boxes, that 51st box has as much of a chance of being a dream box as a box from a supplier whose boxes usually produces a few silvers.

Silver coins enter the system en masse basically 1 of 2 ways. Thievery or ignorance. Either some lowlife thief steals someone's coin collection and dumps it into a coin counter or someone obtains (by inheritance for example) a collection of silver coins and foolishly cashes them in for face value. That is what CRH is. You buy rolls/boxes hoping that someone, for whatever reason, has dumped silver into your system and its right there waiting for you in those rolls/boxes. Its akin to playing the lottery. You might win it all with only 1 ticket. But, 10 tickets have a better chance of winning than 1. 100 tickets have a better chance of winning than 10. Buying 1 ticket per day gives you a better chance than buying 1 per month...etc. etc. etc..

Continuing the lottery/CRH comparison, the only downfall to CRH is that in CRH other players' losing tickets remain in the system. Its very possible that most to all the tickets (coins) you buy may have been already "played" dozens if not hundreds of times and they're all losers. But, people win the lottery every day. Most do not though.

For halves, I consider anything in the 1-1.5 silvers per box range a very good average. If you're expecting better than this, you very well may be disappointed. Most of us have an average of about that or worse and go through long streaks of nothing but skunks. What keeps us going is the pursuit of that elusive big score. Its just like that person at the casino that just keeps dumping money into a slot machine because they "know" its just has to pay off big eventually...and occasionally, it does.

 

[bpt233506]

^^ Very informative, thank you to both!

I will be picking up my two boxes this afternoon, and will update this thread with the results. I will also be calling my bank/other banks to see what coin counting options they have.

 

[bpt233506]

Welp.....picked up my two boxes and went to work immediately upon returning home. Both were skunks, obviously Los Angeles must definitely be picked clean.

But, I did find two coins in the first box that I believe are considered "proofs".....both have the S mint stamp on it. It's hard to get on camera but the left one also has a green/yellow/blue'ish titanium heat hue color....it is also noticeably a bit thicker than the average half.

Are they worth keeping? How much are they worth? The one on the left is kinda in rough shape with some scrapes on Kennedy's face.

Thanks!

 

[twiasp]

Does the one on the left with the hue have a silver edge or copper clad edge? Almost looks like a silver proof coin.

 

[bpt233506]

Does the one on the left with the hue have a silver edge or copper clad edge? Almost looks like a silver proof coin.

Definitely copper. Looked it up and apparently it's value is $5-7 though I see it on eBay for less than $5 shipped.

 

[boristhespider88]

Definitely copper. Looked it up and apparently it's value is $5-7 though I see it on eBay for less than $5 shipped.

Not worth either quoted price. Those prices are from cointrackers.com, DO NOT TRUST WHAT THEY SAY!

You could get the whole 1989 proof set for about $5-$7. Also, they are circulated, which are a hard sell. The cointrackers price quote is more likely reasonable for a graded, slabbed coin (from a coin grading service like PCGS).

Example: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1989-S-50C-Kennedy-Half-Dollar-Proof-PCGS-PR69DCAM-/390530455779?pt=Coins_US_Individual&hash=item5aed6dd8e3&nma=true&si=sd%252Bofsm5FNOE2YPh0T8p%252BHBzYZE%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

I would hold on to them, because I like to collect coins and I'm trying to put together a Kennedy half dollar collection (circulated business strikes, proofs, and uncirculated silver proofs).

- DS