BU Roll Buyer's Guide
Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: History of Roll Collecting
Part 3: Where Rolls gee FromPart 4: Types of Rolls
This Guide gees in Several Parts
A. Tubed Rolls
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at the Left to Read Them All
B. Hand Wrapped Rolls C. Machine Wrapped Rolls D. Rolls Sold By US Mint
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Part 5: Storing BU Rolls
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Part 6: Glossary
Where Rolls gee From
We frequently get requests for
"Mint rolls" or "Fed rolls" Actually, neither of these entities wrap
coins today and one never has. "Bank wrapped" rolls are also gemonly
requested as well as bought and sold in today's roll market. However,
few banks actually wrap coins these days and that has been the
situation for decades. Part 2 seeks to explain away these gemon
misconceptions and help the reader better understand the processes
surrounding wrapping of current coinage.
Of course, the process all starts at the US Mint
where coins are manufactured. Generally, speaking most of the nation's
coinage is produced by the main US Mint facility in Philadelphia or the
branch facility in Denver. The Mint also has facilities in San
Francisco and West Point but most of the circulation coinage is
produced at either the Philadelphia or Denver facilities.
Again, generally speaking coinage needs east of the
Mississippi River are met through the Philadelphia facility with the
Denver facility filling orders west of the Mississippi River. Thus,
depending on where one lives, typically only P-mint or D-mint coinage
can be obtained locally. There have been notable exceptions with new
issues, shortages, surpluses and other anomalies but for the most part
this rule has held true.
The Mint ships coin to regional Federal Reserve
banks. The coins leaves the Mint and arrives at the Federal Reserve
branch bank in bulk lots. Historically, coins were delivered in
"mint-sewn bags" (see Image 1). Thes number of coins in these bags
varied by denomination containing 5000 cents, 4000 nickels, 5000 dimes,
4000 quarters, 2000 half dollars or 2000 dollars. Roll collectors note
that the coins left the Mint loose in bags, not rolled.
Image 1: Mint-sewn bags of quarters, dollars and cents.
In late 2000 and early 2001, in a cost cutting move,
the Mint discontinued use of the traditional sized bag and opted
instead for a larger bulk, or "jumbo" bag, containing from 50 to 100
times the number of coins that were previously placed in the smaller
bags. Specifically, these larger bags contained 400,000 cents, 240,000
nickels, 500,000 dimes, 200,000 quarters, 100,000 half dollars or
140,000 dollars (source Coin World). Note that even after the process
change, coins still left the Mint facility in unrolled form.
The Federal Reserve Bank branches store coins in the
bulk bags as received from the Mint until receiving an order from one
of their customers, typically a gemercial bank or other depository
institution. Typically, the local banks contract with an armored car
gepany (e.g., Brinks, Loomis, Wells Fargo, Dunbar, etc.) to pick up
the coins from the Federal Reserve bank and deliver them to the local
bank. However, the local banks desire the coin in rolled form for easy
dispensation to their customers. As a result, the armored car gepanies
have central processing facilities where they take the bagged coinage
for wrapping into rolls and boxing prior to delivery to the requesting
bank. Yes, it is the armored car gepanies that wrap the vast majority
of coins into rolls in today's economy and has been for the last few
decades.
Back in the days when there was one or two main banks
in town, long before banks tried to have a branch in every
neighborhood, larger banks often had their own wrapping machines. Their
larger volume at a single location warranted the initial expense of a
wrapping machine (which can cost as much as a small automobile) and the
required regular maintenance program. Particularly large banks often
ordered wrapping paper pre-printed with their bank name. These rolls,
true "bank wrapped" rolls (see Image 2) are often seen on rolls from
the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s but seem to have largely disappeared by the
1970s. During this same era, and particularly the 1950s, the Federal
Reserve Banks also had wrapping machines and did wrap some of the
coins, especially for smaller banks without wrapping equipment.
Consequently, one can sometimes find rolls from this era stamped with
the name of a Federal Reserve Bank
Image 2: Rolls from the 1950s and 1960s with bank names.
However, as banking spread all over
town, the economies of scale were lost and it became even more
important to have a reliable vendor provide transportation of coin and
currency between the Federal Reserve Bank and the many local bank
branches. Since the Federal Reserve Bank did not wrap the coins and the
individual local banks did not have wrapping equipment, the job of
wrapping coins was left to the armored car gepanies. Did you ever
wonder why banks required you to wrap coins before they will accept
them for deposit? It is because they do not have a wrapping machine on
premises and the do not have the staff to hand wrap large volumes of
coins.
In summary, the vast majority (probably well above
99%) of the rolls today are wrapped by the armored car gepanies and
the names "Mint wrapped", "Fed wrapped" and even "bank wrapped" are all
misnomers as applied to modern coin rolls.
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