Dimes or Halves, and Other Advice??

[LooseChange]

I'm thinking about trying my hand at some silver hunting and I was looking for some opinions

What:
Should I start my search in Dimes or go straight to Halves when looking hunting for silver? I know that ultimately it’s a gamble either way I go, but I'm looking for the best likelihood of finding some goodies. I plan to be picking up a box of either one at my WF Bank where they don't have any CWRs right now, only sealed boxes from their supplier.

Where:
Would I be better off picking up a box form my CU or picking one up at WF? Either place would have to order it if they don’t have it. I plan to keep asking both my CU and WF for any CWRs as they don’t get them in too often. It doesn't matter to me where I pick up from they are essentially right beside each other. I was thinking I could really increase my chance by going to multiple branches, any thoughts?

So I guess my real question is just general advice on picking up coins:
(Bank or CU)?
(One Branch or Multiple)?
(CWRs or Boxes)?
(Dimes or Halves)?

Which has the best likelyhood of finding silver, and have many people noticed any difference in which institution they get their coins from? Just looking for some insight and thoughts to what others can shed some light on as they have the experience and I am pretty new to this.

[dakota1955]

you get all the dimes and halfs that you can and sort all that you can afford to sort and dump. everything go in the sorting game

[mishra142]

Both dimes and Halves have been slunky for me for the last month or so. :/

[madman326]

i like dimes, but its a personal preference call.
i have a real hard time finding any cwr of halves in my area, and a box of halves is more of an upfront expense.

[Romalae]

Welcome to you.

(Bank or CU)?

I wouldn't think this matters much; both institutions deal with bulk coin (unless they're very small banks/CUs that get little traffic) and should allow you to either pick up or dump your coinage.

(One Branch or Multiple)?

As long as you live in an urban or suburban area, then I definitely suggest having multiple branches. This way you could potentially place orders at multiple branches, effectively doubling, tripling, etc. your sorting mediums. Also, if the tellers at one branch eventually become suspicious or disinterested in fulfilling your banking needs, you have one, two, or more plan B's. Not to mention the fact that it could potentially expose you to entirely different batches of coin.

(CWRs or Boxes)?

With halves, it's a mixed bag (no pun intended). CWRs can be hit-or-miss because they could either be the fruitless crumbs from another sorter's ventures or they could be a manifestation of an unknowing bank customer with loads of silver from an old mass of coins from their grandfather. It's quite a gamble on them and you're probably most likely to skunk out. Boxes are perhaps a better representative sample of the coin in your region, but you aren't as likely to strike it big. At the same time, neither are you as likely to skunk out all the time.

(Dimes or Halves)?

It's your choice. It boils down to whatever is easiest for you to obtain and whatever you're more comfortable sorting. They both can yield silver (I find that dimes yield a very consistent 1 Roosie a box while halves are either really good or really bad) but it may not be worth your time or the effort to sort one or both of them.

[LooseChange]

Awesome tips, thanks for the advice. I bank with several institutions in my area so combining that with all of the branch options does leave me plenty of "Plan B's" for picking up coins. What I have run into is that all of my local credit union branches have coin counters so they do not get many, if any, rolled coins. They will not sell me any coins from the counters, they have to send it "striaght to the feds" they told me.

I stopped by an new CU branch Yesterday and the teller was a little apprehensive on sharing their coins. Apparently, they do not order rolled coins and have a limited supply, they only have what customers bring in, which was kind good too in that all of their full rolls are hand rolled by customers. I'm not sure that this is the case at every branch, but needless to say, I'll be stopping by a few different branches as I may be able to get a good sampling of coins from each one.

As far as a silver search goes, I think I'll go with the dimes first as it has a smaller up front cost and more availability. The last 3 branches that I contacted had only 1 loose half dollar each, so I'd have to special order a box from whichever branch I choose. I'll save up for some halves and make that call if I choose to venture down that road in the future.

Thanks again for all of your tips

[Romalae]

Awesome tips, thanks for the advice. I bank with several institutions in my area so combining that with all of the branch options does leave me plenty of "Plan B's" for picking up coins. What I have run into is that all of my local credit union branches have coin counters so they do not get many, if any, rolled coins. They will not sell me any coins from the counters, they have to send it "striaght to the feds" they told me.

I stopped by an new CU branch Yesterday and the teller was a little apprehensive on sharing their coins. Apparently, they do not order rolled coins and have a limited supply, they only have what customers bring in, which was kind good too in that all of their full rolls are hand rolled by customers. I'm not sure that this is the case at every branch, but needless to say, I'll be stopping by a few different branches as I may be able to get a good sampling of coins from each one.

If your CU isn't keen to supply you with coin, then that may be your signal to convert it into a dump bank as opposed to a buy bank (especially if they have coin counting machines). My two current dump banks are CUs who are quite similar to yours in that they were hesitant to give me the bags off their machines. As a result, I converted them into a dump bank and they are perfectly fine with taking my dumps every time I come in.

Though I am not endorsing them, my major buy bank is Wells Fargo because they get a weekly shipment in from Brinks and are more than happy to fulfill my banking needs...usually. Their percentages are kind of mediocre (not good, not bad) but I'm okay sacrificing a little bit if it means I can get easier access to coin with little hassle. I recommend you try to find a bank that carries lots of coin on a weekly basis and one that doesn't hassle you in any way for picking up your coin.

As I said in my last post, if one suddenly decides your needs aren't worth their time, effort, or policy, then maybe consider converting them into a dump bank. The only thing you should be aware of is that some banks use the same armored car service and thus intermingling your dumps and pick-ups using banks that have the same service could mean you get some of your pre-searched zinc/clad back.

As far as a silver search goes, I think I'll go with the dimes first as it has a smaller up front cost and more availability. The last 3 branches that I contacted had only 1 loose half dollar each, so I'd have to special order a box from whichever branch I choose. I'll save up for some halves and make that call if I choose to venture down that road in the future.

Thanks again for all of your tips

I think for your purposes, dimes are indeed a good way to start because you should get a steady percentage of silvers per box (1 a box) and you will hopefully not get frustrated with skunks as you might if you had begun with half dollars.

Good luck.

[LooseChange]

Good deal, thank you for the follow up. Being able to dump for free at several different branches of my credit union around town should come in handy They openly encourage their customers to use the automatic counters as opposed to rolling and so far with all of my coins, their machines are extremely accurate. My thinking is if they send their coins in bulk back to the Feds, the chances of me getting them back in the near future are much smaller, especially if I pick up from a different bank.

So far, with the exception of a few rolls, I have only picked up sealed whole boxes at my closest Wells Fargo Branch since I bank there too. I pass another 2 branches just on my way home in the event I would need to stop by more than the one. I picked up one box each of Nickels and Pennies last Monday without a single hiccup and again this Monday (1 Nickel and 2 Pennies) with no problems; only funny looks from the other customers. Since that branch is in a pretty commercial area, they handle quite a few business accounts and seem (so far) to have enough coin boxes on hand to share some with me without issues.

When I went by WF this week, they offered that they could order me any box of any coin in any quantity I wanted , I just need to call that branch by Thursday afternoon as they place orders on Friday morning for the coins needed for that next week. They said they would call me when my order came in, no fees or fuss, just surprisingly good customer service.

I'll be getting some dimes next week and keep you all posted if I have any questions or if something strange turns up. Thanks again.

[Romalae]

Good to know you've also had good experiences with Wells Fargo; I was sure I wasn't the only one.

My thinking is if they send their coins in bulk back to the Feds, the chances of me getting them back in the near future are much smaller, especially if I pick up from a different bank.

Right, most banks with coin counting machines do this. I think what happens is that your coin goes to your closest or regionally-operational Federal Reserve branch and eventually gets distributed through the area again. I'm not exactly sure about all the little aspects of the process (a lot of members here can probably give you a more detailed description of the travel of your coin from coin counting machine to its final resting place), but in a general sense I do believe coin is recirculated in a geographical area or shipped to places that have a higher coin demand.

[HoardCopperByTheTon]

Don't believe those naysayers.. there is plenty of silver out there in both denominations.. you just need to pick it up. Your actual results may vary.

[Romalae]

The above happens once in a blue moon.

But you know, it does happen at least once to most of us (I know it has happened to me twice) so I'm sure the day will come when you cash in on a load of the quantity in the post above.

[LooseChange]

Don't believe those naysayers.. there is plenty of silver out there in both denominations.. you just need to pick it up. Your actual results may vary.

Wow, those pictures above are certainly encouraging. It will probably be a good long while before anything I find will add up to that.....but doesn't mean it's not possible. I'll just have to start...and there's no time like the present!! I'll be sure to post if anything turns up.