Question about coins in US Mint unopened rolls

[chadfromlawson-migration]

I just got into the hobby. I decided to collect what I like and not think about losing or gaining money. I have a budget I work off of, so I started out for the fun of collecting. I have a question about the US mint rolls. How are the condition of these coins. I purchased a complete Westward Journey 10 rolls set, and statehood quarters of DE P&D, NJ P&D, and KS P&D. Have any of you fellow collectors opened these rolls and what was the condition for most coins. Anyone get any nice condition ones? Thanks Chad

[halfpint]

hi chadfromlawson,

i think you could save some money by getting the coins from the bank. the coins that are tight wrapped are uncirculated if they are current issue. you'll have just as many bag marks as the ones bought from the mint only you won't be paying a premium plus shipping. jmo

 

steve

[cpm9ball]

Hi, Chad! Some people collect the rolls from the Mint because they sometimes hold a slight premium over bank-wrapped rolls. If you are just getting them to search for high grades, then it would make more sense to try to get the current releases from a bank. Another alternative is to buy the $25 SQ bags from the Mint to search and the Mint-wrapped rolls to keep intact. That's what I do, and it is just another possibility.

 

Chris

[cladking]

As a rule and as a group there won't be a great deal of difference between mint and bank rolls. Due to the way coins are produced and distributed it is entirely possible that all the gems of an issue or some new variety could end up exclusively in one bunch or the other. Consider that the WI varieties don't appear in the mint rolls for instance.

 

Generally speaking mint quality is highly erratic from year to year and mint to mint. The various denominations can even vary independently from this. The DE quarters tend to be awful as well as the peace and keelboat nickels.

 

The best way to find gems is very labor intensive and requires refinement as conditions change. I used to go from bank to bank getting a roll as a sample and watch my pocket change closely. When you see a nice gem there will almost always be a lot more from the same source. Enquire where the store does its banking and go there to get a brick of new coins. Some years you just aren't going to see anything nice. Set aside the best you do see and use them to trade for gems later or to defray the cost of buying the better coins.

 

There were always mint sets to fall back on in the old days since these sets almost always contain all the finest coins made each year. But now there's a different manufacturing technique so these are not fully interchangeable with circulation issues.

 

Don't overlook the dimes and cents either. These coins are probably still not being set aside in very large numbers and gems can be very elusive especially in the dimes.

[bsshog40]

Welcome Chadfrom lawson, to the forum. I won't really add anything else here as to your replies that you've gotten are my thought also!

[BillJones]

Welcome to the boards!

 

For the most there are no such things a mint issued rolls of coins. Coins for the most part were issued from the U.S. mint system in bags. The rolls were put together by banks and other private concerns.

 

The rolls that the mint sells are marketed as collectors’ items, but many of us who have been collectors for a long time (I’ve been at it since 1960), chuckle at these things. The trouble is if you open to roll to look at the coins, the value of the roll, wherever that comes from, is lost. But if you leave the roll intact, you can never see the coins. I think that’s silly.

 

If you want to collect these modern coins, Proof sets, mint sets or coins you find in circulation make more sense to me. And as Cladking wrote, the quality of U.S. mint products in this “ordinary coin” mode is quite variable. The sets that the mint sells are consistently higher quality.

 

[chadfromlawson-migration]

Thanks everyone for your replies, they were very helpful. The problem is I am in Germany with the military, so getting coin rolls from the bank is pretty much out of the question because they wont sell coin rolls. But buying coin rolls opposed to mint rolls will be cheaper, so the information will help me. Thanks

[rrantique]

Welcome to the forum.

[halfpint]

where in germany are you? i spent some time there and i found it to be beautiful!

 

steve