Coin Roll Hunting: How To Find Collectible Coins In Circulation | rescued (2023)

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There are many different ways to hunt for treasure, and today I want to share a little about coin roll hunting. This can be a fun and easy way to find collectible coins still in circulation.

If you're interested in starting coin collecting but don't have a big budget, Coin Hunting can get you started with virtually no investment.

What is Coin Roll Hunt?

Coin roll hunting is the process of searching through coin rolls that are still in circulation in hopes of finding rare or collectible coins.

Browsing coin rolls is a fun and easy way to find collectible coins, especially Half Dollars, Wheat Cents, Silver Coins, and Mistake Coins.

The good thing is that you only pay face value for coins that are still in circulation.

If you go to a bank and ask for 10 pennies, it will only cost you $5...and you can always exchange those pennies for five dollars in cash, or just spend the pennies like you would any type of money store.

Where can you get coin rolls?

Coin rolls are available from almost every bank. It makes sense to start with the local branches where you have an account. Some banks are friendlier to coin collectors than others.

If you really love this hobby, you can also always open accounts at different banks. This gives you more choices, but there really isn't a specific strategy like "buy your coins from XYZ bank on Tuesdays".

I suppose you could try following patterns like this, but it would probably drive you crazy. It is best to think of it as a free way to play the lottery. You never lose more than you spend, but you might find something good!

You can also buy coin rolls from an online retailer. Some people have had success with this, but others are a little suspicious of whether it's really worth it or not.

How do you know if a roll of coins is really "unsearchable" and why on earth would a coin collector sell it if they didn't search for it first?

Anyway, it is very easy to circulate coins. You can buy a single roll, you can buy a whole box. If you're shy about buying quarter rolls, tell them you offer to run the Sunday morning bake sale at church, go to the flea market, or do laundry.

Are circulation coins valuable?

The only downside to coin roll hunting is that the coins are technically circled. This means that coins are used every day by banks, shops, buyers, etc.

Obviously, coins in mint condition and uncirculated coins are worth a lot more than coins that have been jingling around in someone's pocket all day.

However, it can come in handy when looking for coins that are relatively rare but still common. The coin roll hunt is especially popular with penny collectors like me because even if you find a wheat penny it is still worth 1-3 pennies and is fun and relaxing.

Another benefit of coin roll hunting is that you can sometimes find bug coins quite frequently. In today's world of automation, few machines are capable of detecting errors or even sorting coins by date or year.

Coins that are the right weight and not significantly damaged end up in circulation again and again.

My favorite thing about browsing coin rolls is that it doesn't take a lot of time and it's relaxing. You really don't need any special skills, just a willingness to look at things and do a little research.

How to find rare coins during coin roll hunt

I've had some success researching coin rolls, but I think a lot of that success is down to knowing what I want to find and what I'm looking for.

Step 1: Search for the coins you want to search for

Before you start looking through coin rolls, it helps a lot to do some research on the types of things you find interesting and want to collect.

There are all sorts of different coins out there, even if they're not necessarily the ones we use all that often. You can easily get dollar and half dollar coins from almost any bank.

Most coin roll hunters prefer certain types of coins that interest them. Suppose you want to search for error coins. Do you want to search for errors in cents, coins, dimes or pennies?

If you want to find bug coins, it's important to get yourself a good guide on the subject. There is a LOT to learn and it's easy to lose some of the most valuable coins still in circulation.

The Getting Rich With Small Change book is a must-read for anyone who loves to hunt for error coins!

Personally, I like getting rolls of pennies and pennies. These are my two favorite types of coins that run around to collect every day.

I love browsing them for different error coins as well as different variations and older coins that are worth more than face value.

Step 2: Start the search

Searching is fun! Each coin collector has a different research method.

I like to carefully open the rolls on a soft surface that won't scratch or dent them and watch the coins under my USB microscope camera.

I cannot recommend a digital microscope highly enough for coin collecting. Seriously, it's life changing!

You can easily see all your favorite coins the first time... and since it connects directly to your laptop or computer, you can even look things up while looking at it at the same time.

When I'm looking for my penny rolls, I usually start with the basics of sorting into piles by date. Neighborhoods that I tend to classify as pre-1964, ordinary spaces, and representation spaces.

Coins are not as easy for me as pennies because there are so many different coins, but I still like them!

It helps me to speed up the search process a bit if I notice something and I know I'm looking for specific years. Everyone is different so I encourage you to do what you enjoy and what works best for you!

Step 3: Organize and keep good records

If you haven't started organizing your coin collection yet, you should definitely invest in a decent way to store and protect the coins you find while browsing the reels.

What good is a collector's coin if you don't know where it is and can't find it later? Coin tosses are an easy way to keep them labeled and together without taking up too much space.

I like to slip the coins into these 2×2 pocket side guards in a binder. Makes it super easy to move everything around easily and keep everything organized. Best of all, the standard 3 ring binders fit perfectly on my office bookshelves!

Not every coin you come across will be the one you want to keep; So after a while, you'll want to trade them in for more coin rolls to research or bank.

It's also a VERY good idea to have paper money wrappers on hand so you can easily return them.

Finally, I like to record everything I find and what I look for. If you don't already have a good recording system, you should at least download minefree printable coin collection tracker!

It's a super quick and easy way to keep track of what coins you find where!

Coin roll hunting can be a fun way to find collectible coins in circulation. Finding collectible coins in circulation is easier than you might think!

Knowing what you are looking for can help you sort and organize the coins you are looking for. It can also help you quickly identify bugs and other interesting things.

Do you want to discover the best bug coins? Don't forget to read Get Rich With Small Change - it will seriously change the way you look at every coin you come in contact with!

I hope this post has been helpful to you – and of course, if you have any coin roll hunting tips, do share with us your best coin roll hunting secrets in the comments section below! What are you collecting? What do you look for when looking for coin rolls?