Vanity - Walk into a bank, they hand you silver.

6/26/13 | Me

[DManA]

There's an ad getting heavy play. Guy says there's a loophole in the law. You can walk into a bank and they will hand you silver. Then they direct you to a web site.

I ain't going there. Anyone know what the scam is?

[Turbo Pig]

You’d have just as much luck raiding the trash at the liquor store of used lotto scratchers. I found a $100 winning scratcher in the trash, once. Some people are drunk when they buy scratchers and don’t even realize their ticket was a winner. LOL

I agree, it's a lot of effort for little return. Still, there are people that swear by it.

[null and void]

How on earth do you manage to avoid the ad???

[wbill]

I go through my change. It's been a habit of mine since I was a kid. I have some of those blue coin books, a box full of coins from other countries, a handful of silver, and so on.

I used to find "interesting" stuff - older coins, silver coins, silver certificates - fairly regularly, especially around Christmas time (that time of year when people clean out their sock drawers looking for change? I dunno). Over the last 5 years, though, I've found nothing, at any time. Zip. Nada. Not even Wheat Pennies, which used to turn up in my pocket pretty regularly.

So my $0.02 (pun intended)? If you want to go to the bank, get a bunch of change, and hunt through it ... go for it. But honestly, I wouldn't expect much.

[oilwatcher]

“Weird trick” seems to be another magic phrase indicating a scam ...

[4yearlurker]

Back in 1963 we lived on a Indian Reservation in Shures,Nevada. My dad had a carpenter job there. When he went to the bank to cash his paycheck,the bank would give him a bag of silver dollars. For some reason the bank did not give out currency.

[DManA]

If only you could time travel back to 1963 for two minutes and wisper something into your dad’s ear.

[catfish1957]

Worst case of $4 face value would be a silver clad half dollar '65-'70. 8 of those would be worth $22.01 based on this moment's spot silver price. Non clads would give you near $52 or $53.

I have a tale from when I was a kid working the register at a burger place back in about 1975. I opened a roll of dimes, and every single one of them were from the 1910's to the '1940's. Opened another one. The same., Another the same. Ended up buying all the dimes, and 90% of them were Mercury dimes, many in near uncirculated condition. (4 rolls) for $20. Not a bad investment for a 18 year old kid back in the day.

[KarlInOhio]

Thanks for the response. Makes sense now. Though I don’t know how they intend to make money with this ad. Anything to attract eyes to their web site I suppose.

Seems like none of you have heard this ad. I assumed it was national but maybe it’s just being played locally.

Their website doesn't even tell you the secret. You have to pay something like $40 for it. I think the five "magic words" are "I would like half dollars".

It's been a while since I've seen any silver coins in general circulation. Back when I was a kid one would occasionally pop up, but there's been thirty more years of people picking through coins since then.

[july4thfreedomfoundation]

There are also the wartime Jefferson nickels....those minted in 1942, 1943, 1944 and 1945. The silver ones I have on my desk have a “dull” look to them and there is a giant mint mark above Monticello. The two on my desk have a giant P over Monticello, for the Philadelphia mint.

These particular nickels are 40% silver.

[DManA]

I know, my dad had a coffee can of silver coin he collected over years (it was stolen).

[TurboZamboni]

no chance. sounds like a snakeoil salesman.

then I’ll be on their spam list.

[DManA]

Now that I think about it, I had an uncle that would ask people if they had any change. They’d give him handful and he’d pick out the silver and pay back in other coins. Said he was a collector. People thought he was quirky. This must have been 40 years ago.

So people have “got it” for a long time.

[pennyfarmer]

It is called coin roll hunting. Here is a link to a forum dedicated to it. http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/coin-roll-hunting

[null and void]

The guy who runs Stansberry is very, very, very fond of his own voice. He can talk for a sold hour and convey 30 seconds worth of actual information...

Protip: If you try to quit in the middle it will offer you a transcript, which can be skimmed in a few minutes.

[arthurus]

I have seen it linked from several sources including in my email.

[Unknowing]

Employees at the armored car companies, I have been told, regularly scan the coins being sorted in hopes of finding silver dimes, half-dollars, and quarters. They pull those relics (of a better, vanished time) out of circulation.

One could walk into any bank, ask for as many rolls of half dollars as you can afford and pay face value. Then spend the evening looking at the edges and dates of the coins. Out of $1,000 one may find a silver piece or two.

[Vendome]

Whell!!! No!

If you’d provide a link I could participate in your questions but, barring that I don’t understand your “Loophole” question.

Happy to help and demystify the question.

[arthurus]

Way back when the Hunts were trying to buy all the silver in the world I had a couple of rolls of silver dimes and I needed another motorcycle. I took the dimes to the local coin shop and they were offering 8 for 1. I knew that there were better deals than that out there and found 18 for 1 at a hock shop and traded. The next day silver plateaued and the offered ratios dropped pretty hard at the pawn shops. I bought my motorcycle with enough left over to change the oil and fill the tank.

[Vendome]

Well, Brother, there was no link or any semblance of his post that would give rise to the peculiarities of his question

If you have a link I’d be happy to read it, study it and get back to him with my thoughts.

AS it is, I don’t understand his question.

[Max in Utah]

...my dad had a coffee can of silver coin he collected over years (it was stolen).

My stepfather had a tobacco can of silver coin he collected over years (I stole it).