Realcent.org

Hi everyone!

It's really cool to find a message board with many other coin enthusiasts! I've recently taken an interest in hoarding silver coins (also nickel and copper coins as well) and have placed my first order with my local bank. I ordered one box of half-dollars and the process was amazingly simple (so far). I was in and out of the bank in 3 minutes and was told I should expect a phone call next week. Another friend who is also a silver enthusiast has had tremendous trouble placing an order with his local bank. They're basically giving him the run around. We're considering using them as the "dump bank" as a show of our gratitude.

Anyway, wish me luck! I'll let you guys know how I make out next week. I've head that the most success in finding silver is found in the midwest and other rural areas. I'm in the Philadelphia area, so we'll see how I fare.

First off, glad you could join us.

Secondly, was there any fee??

Regards.....Pachucko

Not that I was made aware of. I suppose I'll find out for sure when I go back next week!

I'm slightly confused on how this ordering of coins from a bank works, and what exactly is the idea behind it. It's it simply ordering as you said a box of coins and going threw them to find ones that are worth more then face value and selling those for profit?

Another question I have is the dump bank is a different bank to which you take unwanted coins to have them changed out for face value?

This is something I may want to get into, I'll have some free time/cash and I think finding coins worth a bit would be pretty fun.

Luoganta wrote:I'm slightly confused on how this ordering of coins from a bank works, and what exactly is the idea behind it. It's it simply ordering as you said a box of coins and going threw them to find ones that are worth more then face value and selling those for profit?

Another question I have is the dump bank is a different bank to which you take unwanted coins to have them changed out for face value?

This is something I may want to get into, I'll have some free time/cash and I think finding coins worth a bit would be pretty fun.

theres a few things. you can sort quarters, dimes and halves to look for silver. halves are far superior to the other two but not everyone can get those. in sorting 100 dollars in dimes, i did actually find a silver dime. even with the halves you may sort many boxes and find nothing.

nickels also have silver. the war nickels were 35 percent silver. People also sort out buffalo and v nickels and other more valuable ones to sell elsewhere. theres also the people who stash nickels themselves, entire boxes. The metal in them is already worth more then 5 cents.

then you have the center piece of the whole site, the copper penny. part of the coins in 1982 and all pennies before that are copper. these are worth well over face value, and lots of people here store them. People will also but them at 160 plus per 100 dollars. Some sell for more. technically the copper in them is worth more then that, but at this point thats the price that folks pay.

Welcome jeffisontheair and good luck. From my experience in the Northeast area, you are better off looking for customer wrapped rolls (CWR's) when it comes to halves, especially since many of the boxes could be the result of other dumps and just rerolled. I have gone through as many as 20 boxes of halves and have only found about 1 per box, usually a 65 to 69. My last trip around my "circuit" of banks I was rewarded with 12 40% silvers in only 6 CWR's. The best is when you buy a roll that is clearly worn and both sides have Ben staring at you, or better yet lady liberty. I felt like a kid at Christmas that day! Thank god I had extra cash on hand (always a good idea when you hit the circuit) to go back and buy up the remaining rolls!

Thanks for the advice! Do most banks keep CWRs on hand? I would imagine that they are counted at the end of a normal business day and re-wrapped, no?

jeffisontheair wrote:Hi everyone!

It's really cool to find a message board with many other coin enthusiasts! I've recently taken an interest in hoarding silver coins (also nickel and copper coins as well) and have placed my first order with my local bank. I ordered one box of half-dollars and the process was amazingly simple (so far). I was in and out of the bank in 3 minutes and was told I should expect a phone call next week. Another friend who is also a silver enthusiast has had tremendous trouble placing an order with his local bank. They're basically giving him the run around. We're considering using them as the "dump bank" as a show of our gratitude.

Anyway, wish me luck! I'll let you guys know how I make out next week. I've head that the most success in finding silver is found in the midwest and other rural areas. I'm in the Philadelphia area, so we'll see how I fare.

Welcome to Realcent Jeff Good luck in your mining endeavors!

Luoganta wrote:I'm slightly confused on how this ordering of coins from a bank works, and what exactly is the idea behind it. It's it simply ordering as you said a box of coins and going threw them to find ones that are worth more then face value and selling those for profit?

Another question I have is the dump bank is a different bank to which you take unwanted coins to have them changed out for face value?

This is something I may want to get into, I'll have some free time/cash and I think finding coins worth a bit would be pretty fun.

There are a few things you can do:

1. You can ask for rolls of coins the teller has on hand.

2. You can buy boxes of halves, quarters, or dimes the bank has in the vault at the time.

3. You can ask the bank to order the boxes for you. This takes about a week--they get the coin from their regional Fed Bank branch (Chicago in my case).

I do a combo of all three approaches. People have different routines as far as pick-up banks and dump banks. Some NEVER mix the two. Some have set banks for each purpose. I use all the banks in my area (that allow it) for both purposes. Main thing is to not burn your bridges, always be polite, and space out your visits. Banks are in business to make money, and we make them NO money, we just take up their time. But in return we get dirt cheap silver. Strike up relationships if you can. This hobby is just as much about keeping up our people skills as it is about finding silver. Good luck!

jeffisontheair wrote:Thanks for the advice! Do most banks keep CWRs on hand? I would imagine that they are counted at the end of a normal business day and re-wrapped, no?

From my experience, customers already wrapped up the rolls and brought them to the bank where the teller either stores them in the vault or in their drawer. If they are not wrapped and over $10, the banks usually require the person to count out the coins and supply the wrappers for them to stuff. Typically if they have the loose coins in their coin tray, there are no silver as most tellers know to look or "listen" for them, but sometimes you get lucky. I always peek at the tray if I can for silvers or BU coins. One time the whole half dollar slot was full of silver 1968 D's, customer came in to use the coin counting machine and it kicked the entire roll back so the teller just took them loose and stuck them in her tray. She was too young to know the difference so I picked them up right away. I could have educated her I suppose, but it got me thinking to just buy a box, open all of the rolls, drive to the dump bank right away to let the machine do all the sorting work for me. But it takes all the fun out of the treasure hunt like search though. Good luck Jeff!