Nickel Roll Hunting (Canadian Version)

Greetings Everyone,

I am writing this post from Nova Scotia Canada.  We arrived Monday evening after driving for most of the day.  We left Monday morning at 12:30am to arrive at a ferry in New Brunswick, CA by 12pm.  So with no sleep and thankfully no traffic we drove up the east coast through the morning, arrived at the ferry with time to spare, and made it to the house some time around 7pm or so.

3 $100 boxes of Nickels, 2 $25 boxes of Pennies

We were meeting other family up here in NS, and it was nice to find a couple nickel and penny boxes at the house.  I have just made it through all the nickels.  The percent of 99% nickel coins was around 10% of $200 worth.  I was surprised to find that the 3rd box was a solid 2008 box.  All plastic wrapped and looking brand new.  Probably the bank ordered it a while back and never left the bank since.  I haven't heard many people reporting these types of boxes.  I wouldn't think it rare to get a solid year box, but perhaps now that it's four years old maybe it is.

Solid box of BU 2008 CA Nickels

Aside from the minor set back of getting skunked on a box of nickels, the others weren't so bad.  I wasn't expecting to get solid rolls of 99% nickel or anything.  Just trying to get a little stash of 99% nickel coins before the Royal Canadian Mint's (RCM) recycling program goes and removes all that remains from circulation.  It was nice to get what I did.  It would take forever to find this many 99% nickels in the boxes of US nickels I search back in the states.  At best I just usually find the ones from 1982-present (non-99% nickel years).

The weather up here on Tuesday was pretty dreary.  It rained on and off most of the day, which kept us inside.  Perfect weather to do a puzzle or if you have rolls of coins to Coin Roll Hunt (CRH).  So yesterday I was able to go through all the nickels and not have to pass up on a beach day or hiking trip into the woods.

I still have to go through the $50 in Pennies.  Ever since I sold my Ryedale I've been almost avoiding any and all pennies that I would need to sort by hand.  Hopefully I can get around to sorting them, since these are Canadian coins, and the death of the penny isn't far away.

Happy Coin Roll Hunting, from Nova Scotia!

I think we're going to make today a beach day even if the temps don't go above 21 degrees...

~JobIII

Silver Is On The Move, Was This Summer A Bottom?

90% Silver US Half Dollars

For anyone invested in silver, this year is proving to be quite a ride.  Silver started the year at just under $28/oz and in a matter of months climbed up to $37.50 (actual date 2/29/2012) up 33% for the year.  

This high was very short lived, and silver prices began to fall almost immediately after reaching that high.  Silver consistently lost around $2/oz per month from March to June, and leveled out around $28/oz.  Since June the price has been hovering around this value.  It has been stuck at this value and it has been boring to watch.

If you look at silver's performance dating back to 2009.  The last time silver had more than a 3 month period of flat or little change was between the spring and summer of 2010.  Which as we now know was followed by silver's nearly steady 8 month climb from the $18 to $48.70 (actual date 4/29/2011).  

Silver began this week (8/20/2012) at $28.09 and has steadily climbed nearly 5% over the last 3 days to $29.47 (8/22/2012).  ProShares Ultra Silver (ETF) AGQ [currently $43.27] which is down 65% from one year ago, has gained 12% in the last 5 days, and nearly 16% over the past month.

Perhaps we have just past another bottom in the silver market.  There are plenty of factors that could push silver up; the European debt crisis, Greece leaving the euro zone, changes in China's economic growth, US economy is still recovering and the upcoming US presidential election to name a few.

I'm not trying to suggest that we're about to see a repeat of silver's steady climb from 2 years ago.  But it's nice to see silver beginning to move again.

Canada Extends The Life of the Penny

In March 2012 reports started coming out that the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) intended to stop distributing pennies to financial institutions in September.  Please see my previous post:  Canada gets rid of their penny. Now new reports are coming in that the RCM will now continue to distribute pennies until February 4th, 2013.  This is a 5 month extension for all you copper hoarders and penny collectors out there to continue doing your thing.

Penny production for the 2012 year has already ended.  I am curious to see if this extension may bring about a possible 2013 Canadian penny. 

Happy Hunting!

~JobIII

Nickel Roll Hunting part 1 (w / video & pictures)

I've started to really enjoy documenting the process of coin roll hunting.  I think it has a lot to do with the new camera I was recently given.  Now that I can take HD video I might as well use it while coin roll hunting.
Below is the first attempt to film Nickel Roll Hunting in action.  
I sorted 2 boxes ($200) and it took me 96 minutes.

Here are some pictures of the coins I found in this sorting batch.  I want to apologize if the pictures aren't what you're used to.  The camera doesn't have the best macro setting and I'm still working on perfecting it.  That being said.  I hope you enjoy them.  I found some really old Canadian nickels this time around.  The 1931 was a first for me while roll hunting.

Leave a comment if you like!!  Happy Roll Hunting 8^D

 ~JobIII

 

A Closer Look Into Coin Roll Hunting

Silver finds haven't been all that great these past couple weeks.  So I choose to work on a video I made a little while back when my yields were a bit higher.  Remember to switch to HD if you watch the video.  This was my first attempt at making such a video, hope you like it.

Happy Hunting!!!

~ JobIII

Finally a little pay dirt

After a lot of terrible weeks worth of coin roll hunting for silver Kennedy half dollars.  I finally experienced a nice box of silver.  The other boxes yielded very little in comparison and didn't have any silver half dollars on the ends.  This box reminded me of the ones I used to see weekly back in 2010.

Take a close look at the coins.  Can you find another unexpected coin in this picture?  Also do you know what it is?  


Thanks for looking!!! 
~JobIII

Canada Gets Rid Of Their Penny

CNN just posted that the Royal Canadian Mint will officially stop releasing pennies in the Fall of 2012.  They will still be allowed to circulate, but people may need to start rounding transactions if they find themselves missing the small cents.

Based on this report, it's not clear to me if people will be able to get them from banks once this new policy is started.  

I think it's fair warning for any penny collectors, and those that sort for copper cents / rare varieties:

Start ordering more now, while you still can!!!

What does this mean for copper sorters in the U.S.?  Who knows at the moment.  Canada has already been recycling other coins out of circulation.  But that program did not include their penny.  Most people felt that the program would shift to include the penny eventually.  And I  for one am surprised to learn that they will simply stop releasing pennies versus slowly filter the copper cents from circulation.

Here is the link to the CNN story:

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/03/30/business/canada-penny/index.html

Let me know what you think.  

The Perfect Birthday Surprise

After a couple frustrating weeks without finding a single silver or proof half dollar.  I am happy to say that I had a rather refreshing time during my roll searching last week.   And it they were all found on my birthday as well.  Kind of like a present to myself.


Funny fact.  All of the finds last week came from only 2 boxes.  All the others proved to be void of keepers.     







The highlights included 4 rolls with keepers on the ends.  One '64, two '65-'69s and one non-ag proof.  And even a couple Ben Franklins in the mix.


I would have had 4 in the bottom picture but I second guessed myself and opened the roll before taking a picture of it.

I also found two 1987's that were in pretty good condition.
                                                                           
It isn't hard to request more boxes, the problem is whether or not you can actually get them. And then you also need to find the new places to return the unwanted halves.


This kind of reminded me of what it was like a couple of years ago.  Minus the number of silver-less boxes.


Feels really good to put almost 40 boxes without anything behind me.


I hope that the Ag-less trend is over for me for at least a couple more weeks. 

Another Week With Little To Show. Did B.F. Skinner foretell my response?

This week proved to be the worst in for the year.  I have now been unsuccessful in finding any silver coins for 2 weeks straight.  With these types of returns one begs the question of whether or not this hobby is really worthwhile.

One could make reference to the works of B.F. Skinner to explain why so many of us continue to do this.  If you will forgive the comparison, what we do is very similar to the responses seen in the pigeons studied by B.F. Skinner.

Basically, we are just like the rats who push a button to release a pellet of food.  It's a variable ratio schedule, where we don't know how much we will need to search before we get our reward.  However we know there is a reward, so we keep on searching (pushing the button) until the reward is released (i.e., we find silver).

This form of operant conditioning is one of the easiest to form in lab test animals, and also has a very high resistance to extinction.  Which explains why people continue to hunt for silver even if they have been 'skunked' for many weeks straight.

Alright enough with the psycho-babble.  This week wasn't a complete bust.  I was able to find a 1903 victory nickel.  I thought it was a penny at first because the color was so different from the other nickels.


Will I continue to hunt for silver?  Yes.  :)



Let me know what you think. 
If you feel your hobby isn't just some real-world version of a classic psychology experiment...
Leave a comment!

Nickel Coin Roll Hunting

With all the fun so many of us have been having not finding any keepers in our Half Dollar hunting.  I decided on a whim to also pick up some boxes of Nickels and Dimes at my return bank.

First I wouldn't call this a relapse.  I figure I'm good as long as I don't start sorting Pennies.

Anyways the Dimes turned out to be a complete waste of time.  We've all seen the amounts of boxes people search to get 1 or 2 silver Rosies.  

The nickels turned out to be a little more fun.

Keeping right up with last weeks Half Dollar hunting results, I found a solitary War Nickel that also happened to be on the end of one of my rolls.

I haven't searched nickels in a while so it was a refreshing change to see one of these and on the end to boot.  Too bad I didn't simply keep that one roll and return the rest, and save myself a heap of time hunting.

I also found a couple rolls worth of 2010 and 2011 coins.  They were lightly circulated but still look pretty good. 

Not the biggest treasure find, but when you're not really finding a lot of anything it's nice to get something now and again.

I think I will be bothering a couple of my banks in the neighborhood to pick up some more boxes.

As always Happy Hunting!

~ JobIII

Stay updated on all the latest and greatest:

Subscribe to our Youtube Channel

Follow us on Blogger

Coin Roll Hunting Blues

After searching more boxes of half dollars then I would like to admit.  I come up almost completely empty handed.  I feel it is necessary to mention silver is still out there for the taking.  If you are one of the lucky few who find themselves in a location that is yielding good silver percentages, congrats to you!  

This was the first box I searched and thought I was in for a good night of roll hunting.  Take a close look at the picture to see why I thought I was in for a good night.  By the end of the night I learned that I would only be rewarded 1 silver coin for my multiple hours of work.

I really hope that I see some better results in the next weeks.  And too all you who are posting those awesome Silver Roll returns (you know who you are) I'm totally jealous.  Congrats and keep it up!

~ JobIII

Stay updated on all the latest and greatest:
Subscribe to our Youtube Channel
Follow us on Blogger

Penny Error 1957 D - Double Die or Machine Doubling

Stumbled upon this coin while putting a pile of wheat pennies into jars by decades.  There is clearly something going on with the Obverse.  The front of Lincolns face, and parts of the date show signs of what i would call doubling.  The doubling is most pronounced on Lincoln's face, the date also has minor doubling but you need a loupe to really see this.

The Reverse does not have any doubling.  There are a couple areas on the Reverse that have wear.  Just under the "E" in ONE, and below the America between the wheat stocks at the bottom. 

Take A Look.  And Let Me Know What You Think.  Double Die or Machine Doubling?

**Update New Photos Below**
As requested I have taken 7 new pictures.  These were all taken looking at the coin directly overhead.  I also was unable to make use of the magnifying glass.  The original pictures can be found at the bottom of this post.