A Glimpse of an Original, Mint State Roll of 1932 Washington Quarters

[TomB]

There has been some discussion recently concerning what does and does not constitute an original roll of coins. My opinion is that a roll may be considered original if one can be reasonably confident that the coins in the roll were issued together and have stayed together throughout their existence, regardless of whether or not they are in a crimped or sealed paper roll or even if they are stored in a plastic tube. The logic behind this is rather straightforward since paper rolls can be opened at will, and can even be crimped at home, as well as the fact that many rolls were immediately removed from their paper and placed into plastic tubes for long term storage. Truly, continued storage in paper rolls can lead to spotting of coins and I have seen this firsthand in rolls of cents and dimes that had deteriorated to the point of damaging the contents.

 

One original roll that I have had the pleasure to own is a roll of 1932 Washington quarters saved from the first year of issue for this series. I obtained this roll many years ago from a trusted source, one who is very well known and respected within the numismatic community, and have kept the roll intact since that time. The coins that make up this roll exhibit many of the qualities that one would hope to find in an original roll. These characteristics are often missing from put-together rolls, but unfortunately they may also be missing from rolls that were stored from the date of issue in plastic tubes. However, quite a few put-together rolls are placed into paper wrappers and then offered as original with the paper wrapping touted as evidence of originality. If one has an understanding of what might be expected in certain situations then one might be better able to protect their investment in this market. Therefore, this thread will utilize large file size images to show some qualities of an original roll. To better illustrate the points, I have used links to the images instead of embedding them within the text.

 

A paper-wrapped roll of silver coins should show evidence along the reeding of the coins to indicate exposure to acid and sulfur, which until the early 1970s were present in fairly high concentrations in most North American made papers. The roll of quarters shown here illustrates this point quite well with all the coins being rather deeply toned along the reeding in a grey-black manner. Typically, a put-together or dipped roll could not match this type of toning coin-for-coin and this might be an indication that the pieces were not together for a substantial length of time. Of course, a roll housed in a plastic tube might also be missing this toning, which makes the interpretation of the roll more difficult.

 

Additionally, a paper-wrapped roll that has remained undisturbed for many years may contain coins at the ends of the roll that have geometric patterns within the toning. This is perhaps best known within the Morgan dollar series where end of roll coins may fetch astounding premiums if the pattern of toning is especially intriguing and colorful. Unfortunately, however, few end of roll pieces are ever as vibrant as the best Morgan dollars. The roll of 1932 Washington quarters, which was shown above, has both of its end coins toned in auburn with geometric patterns. This is quite unusual to find on a quarter roll of this vintage and, in my opinion, very desirable. In this case both end of roll coins had their reverse toned and they may be seen as coin A and coin B. The corresponding obverses are coin A and coin B. Moving toward the center of the roll the coins quickly become less deeply toned. Coin C and coin D both came from near the ends of the roll and had their obverse facing the end of the roll while the reverse, coin C and coin D, faced the center of the roll. Finally, most coins buried closer to the center of the roll are essentially devoid of deep toning as shown in coin E and coin F obverse and coin E and coin F reverse.

 

Interestingly, none of the coins, including those in the center, are pure white and this can be used to identify a roll that has been together for a long period of time. Each coin in this roll, aside from the more deeply toned end of roll coins, has terrific luster that shows light, lemon toning in the center and faint, sky blue toning near the rims. In the images provided, this sky blue toning may be seen clinging to the perimeter and penetrating to about the depth of the letters. Two other things of note that can be seen in the images are the terrific flow lines, which interact with light rays to produce what we see as luster, and the light motto IGWT. This motto was used only on the issues of 1932 as well as the 1934 Light Motto coinage.

 

Therefore, this roll shows certain traits that one might want to look for in a roll that is being sold as original and these traits include nearly uniformly toned reeding, clearly defined end of roll coins and a consistent patina between pieces. While this short thread could not possibly be used to determine the veracity of every claim, it might help someone who inspects, for example, a paper-wrapped roll of Morgan dollars that are claimed to be original yet show no toning on the reeding or consistent patina.

[MikeInFL]

Great post Tom. Thanks for sharing your knowledge, and gorgeous coins...>Mike

[leeg]

Thanks for the lesson today Tom!! Appreciate you sharing your knowledge. Very nice coins.

[MunkyMan95]

That's really neat!

[rbrown4]

Thank you Tom. Very informative and good facts to remember.

 

Rey

[123cents]

Great informative post Tom.

[Dcoin]

Lots of good stuff, thanks!

[bsshog40]

Good info and illustrations Tom . I would only hope the chance to find a roll of these!

[rrantique]

Great post TomB Thanks for sharing

[MarkFeld]

Well, I guess someone has to play the role of the bad guy and take issue with Tom's comments.......

 

 

But if so, it will have to be someone else

 

Tom, thanks for the excellent information and the equally good presentation.

[MBA101]

I think these are all definintely AT....Attractively toned!

 

Thanks for sharing!

[Tradedollarnut]

I remember at FUN 1986 there was an original roll of 1901 cents for sale. I think the asking price was $2,000. It was in a plastic tube, but there was no doubt it was an original roll as each coin had the same blazing look about it.

[relicsncoins]

Thanks for the great info. Tom.

 

Wasn't there an original roll of seated dimes that was broken up not too long ago?

 

JJ

[pendragon1998]

I think the little blurb under your avatar should read "Quartermaster" - great post!

[MikeKing]

a very informative post, Tom. I wonder what these coins will look like in 100 years?

[CarolinaCollector]

Great post,Tom. Thanks.

[DWLange]

Nice post . . . should be required reading in Numismatics 101.

[kranky]

What a great post! Never had thought about how coins would look different as you moved through a roll (with the exception of the end coins) and how an original roll would "look" as a group.

 

Few people would have the opportunity to see an original paper-wrapped roll from 70+ years ago, and I appreciate this virtual look at yours.

[CathyDad-migration]

Thank you so much for taking the time toshare that knowledge with us. I would consider those points absolutely imperative for anyone considering investing in a roll claimed to be original.

[D.D.]

Thanks TomB for such a great post.