Sunday, March 25, 2012

Jackpot!

In A Treasure Hunt for Silver Coins, I posted how I was ordering boxes of half dollars and searching for silver halves (pre-1965 at 90% silver, 1965-1970 at 40% silver) with our daughter  After searching 6000 coins, we found only 5 silver halves and ended the coin roll hunting project.  We did continue to get quarter dollar rolls to fill a state quarter book I had given our daughter.

However, the last time I turned in our change to the bank coin counter, our daughter asked to get more halves.  The bank happen to have 8 rolls in their vault and I took all of them.    In the first roll our daughter opened, she immediately found to 40% silver halves and then proceeded to find another.  Our total for the eight rolls was nine 40% silver halves. 

In reviewing the coins, virtually all the dates were before 1974.   I'm guessing someone inherited the coins and sorted out all the pre-1965 coins.  However, they apparently didn't know that 1965 to 1970 half dollars also are part silver. 

Since we hit the jackpot, relatively speaking, I've started stopping at local small banks and asking for any 50 cent pieces, and other hand rolled coins.  So far, we've only found one additional 40% silver half, a silver quarter and a silver dime.  Not as big a find as our jackpot, but still fun enough to continue for until the summer :-)

For more on New Beginnings, check back every Saturday for a new segment.



This is not financial  or coin collecting advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2012 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

3 comments:

Karunesh @ chase-a-dream.com said...

Kids really enjoy the times when parents work together with then to build something or collect something. I myself have some sweet memories. All the best to your Treasure Hunt

Miiockm said...

Is there any benefit to finding the silver coins or is it just for fun?

Super Saver said...

@Miiockm,

There is a small financial benefit. However, the time invested far exceeds the financial return. So I search for silver coins mainly for fun.

For reference, with silver at $32.24/ounce, a 40% silver half is worth $4.76 and a 90% silver half is worth $11.66 to people collecting silver coins. That is based on the silver melt value of the coin. I believe that coin dealers will pay about 80-85% of the melt value unless the coin has a numismatic premium.