Two 1953-D paper rolls...which one is OBW and which is a Re-Wrap???

[ray_parkhurst]

I just got back from a trip to SoCal to visit the Redondo Beach Electronics Swap, and made the rounds of coin shops while I was there. I'll start another thread on that topic but for now I want to show a couple of 1953-D paper rolls I picked up. The wrappers are very different, see the pic below. I'm 99% sure one is original, and 99% sure the other is a re-wrap. But which is which? It's intriguing because this is the first time I've had a truly original roll from this era from FRB Cleveland. Almost all FRB Clevelend "OBW" rolls are re-wraps, which is why I recommend not buying them in my "OBW Buying Guide" you can see here:
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http://www.lincolncentforum.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-26219.html

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and here:
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https://www.lincolncentforum.com/original-bank-rolls-obw-buying-guide/

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So here are the rolls...which is "real" and which is "fake"??
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[mustbebob]

I never paid too much attention to this particular year and I very seldom bought OBW wheats. By looking at the fonts alone, I would say the bottom roll is 'real'. The fact that the top roll was printed or stamped twice makes me believe it may be the fake one.

[ray_parkhurst]

I am a big fan of 53-D rolls, especially OBW. The RPM's are quite dramatic! 53-D is also much harder to find than many other rolls, so are quite a challenge.

The top roll looks to be in a genuine bank wrapper from the late 50's or early 60's. Many 1960-D rolls were searched during the 60's roll craze, and it seems the empty tubes were used to re-wrap other dates, perhaps from bags. I did not picture the ends, as it would be a giveaway, as the top roll has both ends showing good crimps, but with one having the telltale "fuzz" of a re-wrap. The bottom has paper on one end, and a tight and clean crimp on the other.

[kloccwork419]

I dont believe there are any OBW rolls but there are plenty of “OBW” rolls. 54-S is one of my favorite rolls to go after.

[ray_parkhurst]

I dont believe there are any OBW rolls but there are plenty of “OBW” rolls. 54-S is one of my favorite rolls to go after.

Many "OBW" rolls are not true OBW, but there are indeed many true OBW out there. I've lucked into quite a few hoards of true OBW rolls in my collecting career. The ones I got in this "closed shop" hoard are for sure not re-wraps. I have even been lucky getting true OBW rolls from eBay, believe it or not, though it has been a few years. They are too expensive now to even try, especially given the low probability of them being true OBW.

I like 54-S as well. I always find something interesting in an original 54-S or 55-S roll, tubed or OBW.

[kloccwork419]

I have one seller that I buy rolls from

[ray_parkhurst]

I have one seller that I buy rolls from

There are a few folks who say that about me.

[ray_parkhurst]

I decided to open what I believed to be the "fake" 53-D roll, and found that I was correct. It was beautifully crimped on the end, but had several telltale signs of being a re-wrap.

First, the re-wrapped end shows fuzziness in the paper crimp. This is a strong indicator of a re-wrap.



Second, the pic below shows a coin in the middle of the roll whose toning does not match the other coins. This coin was probably an end coin, since the obverse matches the other coins. I found 4 such coins in this roll, which means it was put-together from coins from at least 2 true OBW rolls whose end coins were toned. The color here is subtle, mostly because of the flash, but you hopefully can see the different toning.



A third sign is the roll had 51 coins (!). That would never happen in a true OBW.

There were a couple more subtle signs that I won't publish here, but can relate to interested folks who PM me for the details.

Overall, the quality of the coins was so-so. They were all BU, and all 1953-D (all 51 of them), but were not the super bright and beautiful coins you often see in un-molested rolls from this date.

Luckily, the people searching the roll were not variety searchers, as I found 10 pieces of RPM #14 Stage C in this roll! Not too bad, and if anyone needs this RPM for their collection, let me know.