There’s gold in them there rolls—or silver in some of them, at least. And that has created a special subset of coin collector…the Coin Roll Hunter. This special breed has a lot in common with the gold and silver prospectors of yore. But unlike loading up a pack mule with tools and provisions for months’ worth of panning and living on hardtack and beans, coin roll hunting costs little to nothing, can be done in the comfort of your home, and the search area is a close as your neighborhood bank.
The idea behind coin roll hunting is simple—you’re looking for the things other people have missed. That could be an Indian Head penny worth several dollars, pre-1965 90% silver coins, or a three-legged Buffalo Nickel worth $750 or more.
Of course, it involves sorting through hundreds if not thousands of coins in search of a winner or two, but if you’re so inclined, here are some suggestions for getting started.
Stick to Bank-Wrapped Coins
While the tightly wrapped bank coin rolls are not a guarantee the coins are unsearched—anyone can buy a bank-style wrapper for a few hundred dollars—they’re a better bet than loose-wrapped coins from private sellers. The one big exception is if you’re buying from an estate or garage sale. Those could be grandpa’s coins they’re just trying to get rid of and might contain some gems that he never got around to. Or they could be the worthless ones he didn’t take back to the bank.
Stay Away From Online Sellers
There are too many scammers on auction sites who know all the tricks to fool buyers into thinking their supposedly “unsearched” rolls are worth the premium prices they charge. These people are in the coin-selling business. Do you think they won’t look at what they have first?
Get to Know Your Tellers
This is important for two reasons. First, a friendly teller may be able to give you rolls of coins that came in loose instead of ones fresh from the mint. Second, your bank may have a collector on staff who cherry-picks coins before you get a chance at them. Fortunately, very few are. Smile at the first, avoid the second.
Pick Up Some Rolls on the Road
Small town banks sometimes have rolls of coins that haven’t been turned over as much as big city banks. You might even stumble across a roll that’s nearly all older coins.
Don’t Dump Where You Buy
Counting big stashes of coins is a service most banks offer, but it’s not one of their favorites. Keep your home bank happy to see you and take your searched coins to another bank or coin sorting machine (many grocery stores have them). Besides, that eliminates the chance you’ll get your own coins back the next time you buy rolls at your bank.
What to Look For
OK, now you have a few rolls to explore. Here’s what to look for.
Silver Coins
All dimes, quarters, half dollars and dollar coins made before 1965 are 90% silver, including 1964 Kennedy half dollars. That makes them worth a lot more than their face value. 90% silver coins are easy to spot because they don’t have the telltale copper showing on the edges, so you can pick them out of a stack. Kennedy halves dated 1965-1970 are 40% silver. Besides special commemorative and bullion coins, all coins dated 1965 and later other than the Kennedy halves have no silver.
Special Nickels
There are several nickels you might come across in rolls. All are worth more than face value, but some in excellent condition can bring some big bucks. They include:
- So-called War Nickels from mid-1942 through 1945 that contain 35% silver, the only nickels that ever contained that metal.
- Some 1937-D Nickels that had a die flaw that made the buffalo’s front leg disappear. Known as 3-legged Buffalo Nickels, they still occasionally show up in circulation and are growing in popularity (and price) among collectors. Even mediocre samples can go for several hundred dollars.
- 1913 Liberty Head nickels have sold for as much as $5 million, but the chances of finding one, or any other Liberty Head, are next to nil.
Pennies
1-cent coins haven’t cracked the million-dollar mark yet, but a 1943 steel Wheat Cent can bring as much as $110,000. More likely to be found are copper Lincoln-head Wheat Pennies (1909-1958) or an occasional Indian Head penny (1859-1909).
Error Coins
Given the billions of coins that have been minted, mistakes were bound to occur. The list is too extensive to go into here and is best left to more sophisticated collectors, but they do turn up in rolls. Errors can be hard to spot, too, but recent ones include 1972 cents with a doubled die and 1982 Kennedy halves with the designer’s initials missing. Learn the dates of errors and set any coins from those dates aside for closer inspection.
Are You Ready to Roll?
Sure, you can buy most of these coins for a relatively few dollars, but where’s the fun in that? If you’d rather dig for buried treasure, coin roll hunting is the way to go. You buy the rolls at face value, so other than time, coins roll hunting is free, because at worst, you can get your money back. And it takes hardly any cash to get started. Here are the coin rolls you can get at your bank and what they cost:
- Pennies – 50 coins, 50 cents
- Nickels – 40 coins, $2
- Dimes – 50 coins, $5
- Quarters – 40 coins, $10
- Half Dollars – 20 coins, $10
- Silver Dollars – 20 coins, $20
So why not get rolling?
