Any coin collector who searches for coins at ebay have noticed the copious amount of “unsearched” roll auctions. Lincoln Cent rolls make up the bulk of these auctions, and that stands to reason, because of the high mintages of Lincoln Cents and the ease of obtaining cent rolls for little premium.

However, some Lincoln Cents have low mintages and demand a decent premium, so do many mint errors and varieties of this most popular cent. A couple more facts that make unsearched rolls more appealing, is that Indian Cents and sometimes Flying Eagle Cents are found in bank rolls of Wheaties bought in collections. It’s these facts that are misrepresented to lure potential buyers into paying more for rolls of cents.

It’s no wonder, how popular unsearched cent rolls can be with only a face value of 50 cents. It’s also no wonder so many sellers on ebay sell unsearched rolls, but that’s where the problem begins.

Unsearched roll sellers know how to use the cent’s reverse, or key date cents, or Indian, or Flying Eagle Cents to their advantage and to entice would be buyers to bid.  I know some of you might have seen a roll of unsearched pennies with the reverse showing the V.D.B. designer’s initials. Only two Lincoln Cents have the V.D.B. on the reverse, the 1909 V.D.B. and the rarest Wheat date, the 1909-S V.D.B. Both of these dates and mints demand a premium, and if the reverse of a 1909 V.D.B. cent is showing on the end of the roll, it begs the question “Is is a 1909-S V.D.B. rare key date?”. But the odds are against that being the case and this fact is purposely over looked by some sellers who host unsearched roll auctions.

The seller knows this fact, and they sell this roll with the question, “Is it the 1909-S V.D.B.?”.  I know this Wheat date sales for several hundred dollars, and I doubt the seller would allow such a find to slip away. But I’m not going to get into the why and why not of this being the case, I want to look at some other facts to consider. You, the coin collector, must use your own good judgment and common sense when buying unsearched rolls.

As I stated before, anyone can buy thousands of wheat cents for a small premium, and old paper cent rollers can also be purchased, along with a few semi-key dates or even a complete collection of Lincoln Cents, for a small investment. If such a person where to make these purchases and roll these rolls, placing the best dates on the ends, then it can be realized just how easy it would be to create shotgun rolls that appear to have rare dates with the possibility of more inside.

This act also can be accomplished using a few low grade Indian and Flying Eagle Cents if one can’t find or isn’t willing to purchase a complete cent collection. I know that complete cent collections demand high premiums, but scratched, cleaned and very low grade examples can be found for less. Remember, one need not purchase a 1909-S V.D.B., but 1909-S and 1909 V.D.B.’s can be used to create the impression that one might be or could be found in the rolls. The add a low grade Flying Eagle or Indian Cent, and the final value of these rolls increases above what they’re worth.

Furthermore, a tightly “self” wrapped roll of cents can also be given the steel wool treatment, where steel wool or another abrasive is used to make the roll appear older and more “rugged”; and just because a roll is tightly wrapped, doesn’t imply it was bank wrapped as many sellers want the bidders to believe. It’s amazing the lengths some sellers will go to just to sale common grade and date coins, and I’m sure I have missed something, or another will come up with another roll-type scheme in the near future.

I have watched ebay for several years, and I have seen some of the worst and most sad tricks to convince buyers to part from their hard earned money. You know, it’s not just the sellers fault, but the buyer must take some blame for being foolish, instead of educating themselves on coin collecting and a little common sense. The internet is full of helpful guides and articles, as is are website, so there’s just no excuse for coin collectors or cherry pickers to fall for these scams and schemes.

If you would like to read more about unsearched rolls visit my article How To Buy Unsearched Coin Lots, or if you have a question about an ebay auction or buying coins, let our members help you here CoinHELP! Message Board

The US Mint reports that 140,000,000 collect the State Quarter series in America, and many of these collectors often wonder if they are worth anything or how much they will be worth in the future. It’s a legitimate line of thought considering the millions upon millions of State Quarters the mint churns out every year. However, there are some ways to consider that could help State Quarter collectors get a return on their investment.

Below I highlight 3 different ways to collect the highly sought after quarters, so the chance for a return on your investment should be greater than just putting a few back out of your pocket change.

1. Buy rolls for face value from your local bank, put them away, and don’t ever touch them again until you ready to sale them. You will get these rolls for face value, and they will be unsearched, and unsearched rolls sale for more of a premium than searched rolls. Just check ebay for unsearched State Quarters rolls to see what I mean.
It’s a win-win situation for the collector because you can always get your money back without a loss, when needed, or wait a few years and make a little return for your “savings”. I just think of this as a savings that I can always tap into at a moment’s notice, or continue to add to it, and make more interest than banks allow me to earn if I just made regular deposits from my pay check.

2. Buy State Quarter Silver Proof Sets (red box) from the mint because these coins are silver, and have a substantially lower mintage than the business strikes quarters mentioned above. It’s usually a good idea to collect silver coins and/or the lowest mintage strikes of any series as they almost always allow for a break- even mark, and a good chance of a future return.

If a collector would have bought as many 1999 Silver Proof Sets they could afford, from the mint in 1999, look at the return they would be realizing today considering these proof sets now sale for $350 and up!

3. Read and learn as much about grading State Quarters, and modern coin grading in general, then buy rolls and bags of State Quarters from the mint and/or at your local bank, search these rolls for coins with the least amount of contact marks, and carefully handle them as you put them away in a safe place.
When you are confident that you grading skills have improved enough, then send a few of the coins off to a top tier grading company like PCGS or NGC and see how well you did.

You might first discover your skills lacking, but after a few submissions you will get the hang of the little coin grading nuances, and begin to amass a collection of high grade State Quarters that are valuable and much easier to sale for a premium.

It might prove to be a bit daunting and costly method at first, but before you ride this off as a “too tedious and expensive of a task”, consider this fact: PCGS reports values, for some State Quarters graded MS and Proof in the top two grades of 69 and 70, anywhere from hundreds of dollars and up into the thousands of dollars. It all depends on the population of each grade.

Many State Quarters dates and states have never been graded the perfect grade of 70, and the value of finding one would net the finder many thousands of dollars on a huge auction platform like Heritage Auctions.
*This method is the most difficult to master and can get expensive if you don’t learn grading, but many experienced collectors do make money using this method.

In conclusion, although no method of collecting can guarantee a return for your investment, these methods outlined above where written considering a few history lessons, and the study of coins values and why certain rolls and graded coins are most valuable.

Disclaimer: The author does not guarantee that any collector will earn any money from the methods in this article, and is not responsible for any monetary losses if you try them.

Check out our coin guides on ebay Ebay Guides