Ok I finally figured out what obw stands for, Original Bank Wrap. Does that mean that they are unc. or that they are circulated ones that were assembled and rolled at a bank?
OK - this is where a lot of folks get confused about what constitutes circulated and uncirculated. From a purely technical point of view - once a coin enters commerce - into the hands of a bank, financial institution or individual - it could be considered circulated. But it is possible for a coin to go through several hands or transactions and still be considered uncirculated. Confused yet ? Well that's because the definition of a circulated coin is one that shows wear. So a coin can go to the Federal Reserve - be distributed to a regional bank - be distributed to a member bank - and then be distributed to a local bank. Then the coin can be distributed to an individual and that person can spend it at say the grocery store. And the next day - I can walk into that grocercy store and recieve the very same in change and still be able to say - Cool an uncirculated coin ! How ? Because the coin does not show any wear. Then again - it may. And of course if it does show wear - it is not uncirculated. Now what does all this have to do with your question about original bank wrapped rolls ? Well I'll tell ya - there's no such thing as original bank wrapped rolls. Now ya confused ? Thought so Here's why - first you have ti understand the process a coin goes through when it is made. The very instant ot comes out of the coin press it is ejected into a large bin or hopper with thousands of other coins already in it. And I do mean large - 5 strong men could not pick one up. So here is this coin laying in the bottom or the middle of the hopper with thousands of other coins dropping onto it every second. From the hopper the coin goes to the bagging room - it's all done by machines now, but it used to be done by men with shovels - and the coins are weighed and placed into a bag again along with many other coins. Then these bags are shuffled around, dropped on top of each other and eventually shipped off to the Federal Reserve in a truck - with one bag right on top of the next. Sound like these coins are being beat to death yet ? Well they are - literally by the tons of weight of other coins. Then the coins are handled yet again and eventually they get into the hands of a company like Brinks. And it is this company which dumps these bags of coins into yet another big hopper which empties into a counting and rolling machine. This is where the coins are placed into rolls for the first time. By now - these coins have gone through more hands than a picture of a first grandchild among a gaggle of grandmothers. And that doesn't include the machines. But ya know what - they are all uncirculated. And you want to know about original bank wrapped rolls ? Folks - this is just a marketing gimmick. The only original rolls - that could even come close to being deserving of the name - are those sold directly by the US Mint. And they don't even sell all denominations. Did that answer your question ?
collect4fun: GDJMSP gave a great answer as to the process the coin will go through but I think (correct me here if Im wrong) what you want to know is if the bank just rolled the coins that they got in from customers via normal transactions (circulated coins) in wrappers marked with the banks name or if they are coins straight from the mint or their source, rolled with the banks name on the wrap and never put out into circulation. My answer to this would be you have to ask the source that you are getting the rolls from because it could be either. I have searched through bags of pennies all losse (5000 per bag) straight from the bank and never put out for circulation. I have also had rolls from the bank in the same condition so it could go either way. As GDJMSP said it's a "marketing gimmick" so dont be afraid to ask the the people marketing the rolls.
No problem cush - speak your mind. That's what this place is all about But there is a small problem with asking those you are buying the rolls from - they don't know. They can't know. For how can you tell what coins are in a roll without opening it up ? And once you open it - it sure aint original any more The whole point of my post is that there is no such thing as original bank rolls. The rolls could have been rolled up by anybody. And a banks name on the roll means nothing. It could still contain circulated coins or uncirculated coins. The only time a name on a roll really means anything - is when it says US Mint
That was a great answer.. I was often curious about that Myself.. OBW rolls. Usually the only time I figure I have anything coming close to that OBW thing is when I get a roll and open it to find all the same year and mint mark.. but even with that I figured that some regional place wrapped them from bags they received from someplace else..~~ Thanks for clearing up and confirming Most of My thoughts..~~
Great answers folks and no GDJMSP you did not confuse me. But, if the bank is the one that rolls the coins directly from the mint bag, wouldn't that be considered OBW?
I suppose it could be - yes. But very few banks roll their own coins. They either buy them in bags or already rolled. The real problem I have with such listings and ads is this - the only reason a seller list his wares that way is to try and make a buyer think he is somehow getting a higher quality - supposedly because the rolls are in original wrappers. But if you consider the process the coins go through before they are ever put into a roll - even for the first time - well that doesn't exactly make them high quality. OBW is a come-on - a sales gimmick - nothing more. Don't let it make you think you are getting something special - you're not.
Original bank wrapped tends to be very much a misnomer anymore. Banks rarely wrap their coin anymore and with a few recent exceptions the mint never did. Most of the coins now are wrapped at counting houses. These coins come mostly from contracted banks but also coin from the fed and some of these "directly" from the mint. The coins are usually mixed in hoppers and rolled in plastic tubes as they come out. There are types of wrappers in use and there will be solid date rolls when one of the ballistic bags (old pallet quantity) is fed into the hopper. I can't recall seeing any bank rolls after about the mid '70's. The chances of finding gems is probably even lower in these than other wrappings because the other sources are far more likely to be coins cherry picked from OBW rolls, but the chances of finding varieties is usually much better. This is especially true for post 1964 coins since the "other sources" are often mint sets which rarely have varieties. Original rolls (however they're wrapped) are far and away the best source for varieties right up to the current day. Gems can be found anywhere but generally show up in tubed coins and mint sets much more often then OBW rolls.
