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I copper penny search and usually have numerous bags of zinc to dispose of, which I use the many branches of my bank.
Today I decided to dump 2 bags on the way to pick up the wife from work. I do not normally use this branch, as it is off my regular route. I dump the zincs in the machine and get counter to read $71.50. I take the ticket to teller, who then gives me $71.50 in cash. I look down and my eyes almost bug out, there sits a Walking Liberty Half dollar. Now I must stay cool. I ask the teller if she has more, like in rolls of them. She says "no", but if I give her a dollar, she will give me 2 more. I ask "how many do you have?" and peer into her change holder and see 6 more. I ask if I can have all of them. She says, OK, you can have 4, but she wanted to save 2 for herself. The other teller next to her told her to just get rid of those coins as no one else will ever want them. My teller relents and sells me the remaining 6. The teller then tells me to come back every Saturday, as this little old lady comes in and gets rid of her old, ugly money.
Below is what I scored:

I always ask if they have 50cent pieces and i never gt any lol. maybe they still circulate more in the US, good job tho!

Very nice. Congrats

Awesome. Don't forget a bag of chocolate next week. Seal the deal and they may set them aside for you.

Its astounding that there are still some those in circulation. It never hurts to ask. Congrats!

A little old lady wants to get rid of her ugly coins. You've got to love it. Maybe it's the same little old lady that deposited that roll of halves I got awhile back with two barber halves in it.

Thogey's widow strikes again!!!

That is cool!

Nice score. My bank never has any halves, I ask every time I'm in there.

I would camp out at that branch next Saturday and watch for every little old lady who came in. If you could identify her, perhaps she would sell directly to you and eliminate the chances that tellers will keep the coins or that some other lucky customer will beat you to them.

Great score, they're few and far between... but oh so sweet when they occur

beauanderos wrote:I would camp out at that branch next Saturday and watch for every little old lady who came in. If you could identify her, perhaps she would sell directly to you and eliminate the chances that tellers will keep the coins or that some other lucky customer will beat you to them.

Great score, they're few and far between... but oh so sweet when they occur

What he said !!!! Great score and great eyes... I always "peek" at my tellers counter to see what they have hiding back there.

Thats awesome! Good for you.

Lucky day indeed. Nice score!

wheeler_dealer wrote:Awesome. Don't forget a bag of chocolate next week. Seal the deal and they may set them aside for you.

+1

"just get rid of the coins as nobody will ever want them"

Heh, right on, nobody would ever have the slightest interest in something that is instantly worth 20x what you pay for it.

My fear now is that the tellers at this bank may wake up and realize that the "little old lady's" coin may have some value. They are younger tellers, so that may be in my favor, but with an easy internet search, it would alert them that these coins have value. I will go back on Saturday to see if they have any more "old ugly money".
It would be great to take beauanderos advice and try to find out who this little old lady is and buy directly from her. If I did make contact with her, my problem would be what would be fair? Pay her what the bank was giving her (face value), or tell her what the coins are really worth and give her a fair price?

I once met a lady while metal detecting that told me she had alot of older money and asked if it was worth anything. She showed me some 90% Kennedy halves, and I told her they were worth about $10 each. She was considering selling them to me, but had a change of heart once she convinced herself that I may be trying to scam her. She told me she would feel more comfortable going to a dealer. Never heard from her again, so not sure what became of her stash.

beauanderos wrote:I would camp out at that branch next Saturday and watch for every little old lady who came in. If you could identify her, perhaps she would sell directly to you and eliminate the chances that tellers will keep the coins or that some other lucky customer will beat you to them.

Great score, they're few and far between... but oh so sweet when they occur

THIS.

Bring in some cookies or chocolate for the bank tellers as a thanks! Let them know you are starting to collect coins, old ones foreign ones and so on. Even if this your only score, as the tellers figure it out and keep them, they need a Thank You of some kind! Nice score

ScrapMetal wrote:My fear now is that the tellers at this bank may wake up and realize that the "little old lady's" coin may have some value. They are younger tellers, so that may be in my favor, but with an easy internet search, it would alert them that these coins have value. I will go back on Saturday to see if they have any more "old ugly money".
It would be great to take beauanderos advice and try to find out who this little old lady is and buy directly from her. If I did make contact with her, my problem would be what would be fair? Pay her what the bank was giving her (face value), or tell her what the coins are really worth and give her a fair price?

I once met a lady while metal detecting that told me she had alot of older money and asked if it was worth anything. She showed me some 90% Kennedy halves, and I told her they were worth about $10 each. She was considering selling them to me, but had a change of heart once she convinced herself that I may be trying to scam her. She told me she would feel more comfortable going to a dealer. Never heard from her again, so not sure what became of her stash.

Chocolate will distract the tellers from looking up the coins to saving them for you...just establish a presence and make sure they know you like the "old ugly money"...

I'd leave Thogey's widow alone for you may be singled out if she finds you creepy, in that you’re asking about her money outside the bank....

Pump the tellers and they'll produce...

hags

Nice finds!

Some good finds!

Not sure I would pump the tellers, though....I could get into trouble!

theo wrote:Its astounding that there are still some those in circulation. It never hurts to ask. Congrats!

In Circulation, I guess that's what you call it when Thogey's widow strikes...... I like to think that's how they all get there, there's no way they are actually from original circulation right?? They're just like the Easter bunny (Thogey's Widow), depositing goodies in various spots just to keep us searching

Scotty

ScottyTX wrote:

theo wrote:Its astounding that there are still some those in circulation. It never hurts to ask. Congrats!

In Circulation, I guess that's what you call it when Thogey's widow strikes...... I like to think that's how they all get there, there's no way they are actually from original circulation right?? They're just like the Easter bunny (Thogey's Widow), depositing goodies in various spots just to keep us searching

Scotty

It's hard to define what counts as "original circulation" though... how long can it stay with the same person before it's "not in circulation"? Or is it a matter of intention, meaning it stops "circulating" when someone plans to keep it, even if their widow later dumps it?