Sorting Coins For Junk Silver.

[Ingomike]

Any short cuts to find junk silver in bunches of bulk coins?

I was told that machines like Coinstar will kick out silver as it is out of the weight parameters the machine looks for in genuine coins.

Anyone have insight into this?

 

[Leo]

I know that people have been getting bags of coins and sorting for silver since at least 1976, as I knew several people doing it back then. I would have to imagine finding silver in circulated coinage is going to be very rare. I look at the coins from my pocket every night, I'll bet it has been 2 or three years since I found a silver dime. Even the solid copper pennies (pre 1982) have become really rare.

 

[Ingomike]

I know that people have been getting bags of coins and sorting for silver since at least 1976, as I knew several people doing it back then. I would have to imagine finding silver in circulated coinage is going to be very rare. I look at the coins from my pocket every night, I'll bet it has been 2 or three years since I found a silver dime. Even the solid copper pennies (pre 1982) have become really rare.

I did read a guy said he checks the coin machines when he is shopping and finds a coin 1 out of 10 checks as folks often leave the rejected coins in the machine…

 

[jerrob]

Saw YoosToob videos of guys buying a few hundred bucks in rolled halves, quarters and dimes from the bank, sorting through them for the junk and selling the regular stuff back to the bank.
Personally, I'd rather buy it for a bit over spot and not touch a few thousand filthy ass coins in hopes of finding some for "free".

 

[hoosiersasquatch]

I know that people have been getting bags of coins and sorting for silver since at least 1976, as I knew several people doing it back then. I would have to imagine finding silver in circulated coinage is going to be very rare. I look at the coins from my pocket every night, I'll bet it has been 2 or three years since I found a silver dime. Even the solid copper pennies (pre 1982) have become really rare.

Same here, finding good coins in change etc., is becoming very rare.

 

[Bugzilla]

Most of the banks I’ve been to, it’s like pulling teeth getting a box of coins since the fakedemic.

 

[Ingomike]

So I used a Coinstar machine for my coins. Sadly it did not work out and I do not believe I will do it again. I had near 60lbs of coins, 1700 quarters, 1000 dimes, 600 nickels, and 2500 pennies. $585 in all. The machine charged $70 to take them so I got $515 cash.

I then had about 50 rejected coins I was excited to check out, had to be some 90% silver in there. Half were nickels and pennies, then the Canadian coins, which left about 10 each quarters and dimes. I found one 90% silver dime and one quarter.

My bank said they charge $5 to send it in with their coinage and deposit the rest in my account. That would have netted me $65 more. I had hoped to find more silver in the coins…

 

[BigMoose]

What I used to do, is ask for half dollars at the bank. These don't circulate and always get dumped on a bank asap by anyone that takes them in.
They also have the advantage of being made in silver longer then the other denominations in 1965 they went to 40% until 1970.
And because NO one uses them, banks will gleefully trade you any they have, unlike the other coins. I found much much higher percentages of silver in them, then any other.

Also, watch the price of copper.. 1981 and older cents are made of copper, and the spot price of copper can exceed the value of these older cents.

 

[miguel]

Any short cuts to find junk silver in bunches of bulk coins?

I was told that machines like Coinstar will kick out silver as it is out of the weight parameters the machine looks for in genuine coins.

Anyone have insight into this?

Do you have kids? If yes, give them the year range and a cut of the take.

 

[miguel]

Most of the banks I’ve been to, it’s like pulling teeth getting a box of coins since the fakedemic.

Chase is pretty good about it. They'll act surprised, but offer to bring some in. Of course I did not tell them why I wanted them.

 

[dieselrealtor]

I have had very little success in sorting coins for silver. I had a Coke machine outside my office a few years ago, had a lot of change go through that.

Bottom line, 2 silver dimes in over $1000 of change.

 

[BigMoose]

I remember something I saw on the coin collecting board.

This guy owned a car wash, and he said his machines used not only tech to check shape, but it also used an electrical method to test the coins. Hence why the silver got kicked out.
However the machines had a provision where you could program them for tokens, which had different metal composition then the mint's copper nickel clad coins.
What he did was program silver quarters as tokens in his machines,

Each day he came to fill up the soaps, clean, etc.. he would collect the money. There would never be a day there were not silver quarters waiting in the token bin.

 

[snorko]

Stack them up and look at the edges

I posted about this in the silver thread. Few years ago I was at my bank when someone came in with a ton of rolled halves. I bought them with the bank's permission, like $400-$600. Short answer, nada.

 

[Lex Concord]

Saw YoosToob videos of guys buying a few hundred bucks in rolled halves, quarters and dimes from the bank, sorting through them for the junk and selling the regular stuff back to the bank.
Personally, I'd rather buy it for a bit over spot and not touch a few thousand filthy ass coins in hopes of finding some for "free".

My grandfather used to do this. He once opened a roll of quarters that were all <= 1964. That was probably 20 years ago.

 

[Lex Concord]

So I used a Coinstar machine for my coins. Sadly it did not work out and I do not believe I will do it again. I had near 60lbs of coins, 1700 quarters, 1000 dimes, 600 nickels, and 2500 pennies. $585 in all. The machine charged $70 to take them so I got $515 cash.

I then had about 50 rejected coins I was excited to check out, had to be some 90% silver in there. Half were nickels and pennies, then the Canadian coins, which left about 10 each quarters and dimes. I found one 90% silver dime and one quarter.

My bank said they charge $5 to send it in with their coinage and deposit the rest in my account. That would have netted me $65 more. I had hoped to find more silver in the coins…

Our credit union has coin counters in most of their branches... free for members. Nice perq.