Unusual find posted by TPETERS

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Something I have never seen before searching Lincoln's

 

Good Afternoon,

 

I have been sick for the last 8 days. Severe sinus congestion, headache, ear aches (both ears), eyes hurt, headache, etc. I am sure you know the drill!! Went to Dr. and got antibiotics and afrin. After 4 days of meds almost 60% human again (75% is normal for me)

A friend dropped off about $160.00 in loose change for me to go through. I was separating the coins into appropriate denominations and had not found a coin worth keeping! Well, better luck next time.

Started the last batch and low and behold 1 wheat cent, it was a 1924. Well worn but hey, after 87 years I will be worn as well, but hopefully still in "Fine" shape! Then as I was bout to put the cents back into the bag, I saw a "blank". I examined it very closely (10X glass) I have never found one of these before. I thought it was not one at first, but everything started to add up. Size, Check! Beveled edges, check! Thickness, check! Hmmmm. Looked some more. Wiped it off (Sorry, just had too!) Hmmmm. This might be a blank! WOW! 1 more thing to check, the weight! Aha! Well. I have a grain scale from when I used to reload bullets, so it will certify the weight! Got it out and checked the weight. It weighed 2.499g Close enough!!

It was a blank!!! It may not be worth anything to anyone, but to me it will be worth quite a bit!

 

Have many other fellow collectors found any? How uncommon is it to find one? All input would be appreciated

 

So all in all it was a good day!!! I will stop boring you now.

Thanks for reading.

 

 

 

Todd

 

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[Thane]

Once I started getting bank boxes instead of just a handful of rolls, the odds started to tilt in favor of more errors and such.

 

In about 6 months, for only face value at my local bank, I've searched approximately -

 

8 boxes of pennies ($200 face)

8 boxes of nickels ($800 face)

4 boxes of dimes ($1000 face)

1 box of halves ($500 face)

 

All were CIRCULATED, although some uncirculated bags of Louisiana Purchase nickels must've snuck into a nickel box or two.

 

Errors are most plentiful with the nickels, probably due to the planchet size and force required to stamp the cold metal. I've already found a couple borderline split planchets (4 out of 5 grams), a couple blanks, and the usual die adjustment strikes and < 5% off-center stuff.

 

I've found one penny blank (copper) - I imagine your zinc blank is worth more! Brockages seem more common in 1c. Die breaks and cuds are VERY common, but still exceptional enough to merit attention. And collector interest, of course, seems to only exist in 1c when it comes to variety collecting. (C'mon, who out there actually PAYS MONEY for RPMs other than 1c?) ... And I think, because so many mint errors make coins unrecognizable on quick glance, that surviving wheats in circulation are actually MORE likely to be errors than unsearched bags stored away years ago. I found a pretty good wheat brockage just last week.

 

The halves were already searched. Duh. Nobody asks for halves anymore, except collectors, so the coins are basically a bunch of library books getting checked out over and over again.

 

Dimes? It's hard to tell the "missing clad" apart from severe toning. I just love seeing these totally ***-ugly coins emerge from some water-logged basement Fed vault in 20 colors and plenty of black and copper, where the toning is so extreme that your eyes tell you the coin is F but the sharpness of the coin is more like AU or MS. I've had best luck with struck thru's with dimes, but my sample size is too small.

 

I haven't searched for dimes too much, because they seem to wear in circulation too fast to warrant searching circulated examples, and the silver is all gone. I've found more war nickels (about 2 a box) by far.

 

Hope that helps, Todd - I'm a kid at heart, I love panning for gold in the bank boxes, and I take more pleasure in my registry when it's come via sweat and blood.

[skystaff]

By searching 'bank boxes', I assume you mean searching coins that are already rolled? You'll have far better luck in your searching if you ask your bank for bags of loose coins to search through instead. Normally the bank will order a bag from whoever their Armored carrier is or they might give you one that they were getting ready to have picked up. Make friends with a teller at the bank & let them know that you're searching so they won't give you the same bag over & over. (yes, it happens)

The armored car companies pick up bags of loose coins from the banks, dump them into bins & send them through their rolling machines. Most times the rolling machines themselves kick out any odd shaped coins (errors) and if the rolls are the clear plastic ones, I guarantee you that if there were silver coins in those rolls, ithey're spotted & removed by the person manning the rolling machine. I've seen many bank bags that contained rolls of pennies, dimes & quarters that someone found in grandpa's house after they passed away that were just taken to the bank & deposited without being opened up first. Many were copper pennies or silver dimes & quarters. Not everyone is informed about 'pocket change'. We had one roll of 'pennies' that was a roll of $5 gold pieces!

When you order a bag of whatever denomination, wait at least a couple weeks before ordering the same thing again to make sure that you actually get a different bag. That's not really much of a problem if you're asking for pennies, nickels, dimes or quarters but if you're searching halves you need to order bags from different banks, not just different branches of the same bank. If you live in a small town, chances are that the same Armored company services all banks, so no matter what bank you order your bag from, it will come from the same vault at the Armored carrier's warehouse. If you're in a big city, ask the bank who their carrier is so you can get bags from more than one. If you don't have accounts at different banks, ask a relative or friend.

If you get really bored, ask your bank for a bag of brand new coins. The Armored either gets bags from the mint or mint bins (steel bins of loose coins. a bin of new quarters is $50,000 worth). The mint bins are a treasure trove of blanks & other errors. Normally these are caught by the rolling machines & returned to the mint, but if you can get a loose bag they will not have been gone through. These will definitely be a special request to the Armored company, but if you have good relations with your bank they should be happy to oblige. New coins aren't always available because of the mint's shipping schedule but it does not hurt to ask. A bag like this would be weighed (not counted) to determine the value. You'd need to ask for $50 in pennies, $200 in nickles, and either $500 or $1000 in dimes or quarters. These are normal $$ values & the armored would be most likely to consent to put together a bag when requested for these amounts.

 

Good luck & good searching!

[Thane]

Thanks for the suggestion on the bank bags (loose change).

 

I already asked my bank branch today if they could provide me bags - they said only rolls :-(

 

You've had some amazing runs with your searching - a ROLL of $5 gold for $.50?!?!?!

 

If I ever get super serious about coin searching, I may look into a credit union or such (right now, I'm with a big bank).

 

Thanks again, and continued good luck and fun!