A Review of APMEX Unc Rolls

[jallengomez]

I was glad to find that APMEX is once again offering unc rolls, so I decided to give them a try. My first order was for about 20 rolls of wheats and a second order was placed for 50 rolls of Memorials. My first clue that the rolls had probably been meticulously searched was that every single cent in every single roll was placed into the tubes with the obverse side up. There wasn't a single, minor variety to be found in the whole lot. Even in the multiple 59D and 60D(both large and small date) rolls there wasn't even the most minor of tilted-serif RPMs anywhere. Another thing of note, which wasn't as much of a surprise, was that all the coins, even in the more modern rolls, were almost all choice. I don't think I found a single coin of GEM quality, so they were also searched and sorted for the better MS examples. I just thought I would share the experience and see if anyone else has had any experience with them recently. I know they get rolls from different sources, so perhaps I'll wait until a new batch of inventory crops up and give them another try. The one positive experience with these rolls is that a few of the wheat rolls were listed below "Grey Sheet" price, and it's easy to turn a profit on such items.

Jody

[jfines69]

That's unfortunate... The least they could do is leave something for you to get excited about... Hopefully the next batch you try will yield better results!!!

[willbrooks]

You are a true friend to our hobby.

[Petespockets55]

Interesting to hear someone's experience with Apmex. Their offers pop up all the time and I've wondered about them. Did you contact Apmex with your concerns? I've had the same disappointing thing happen with other (usually good) sellers. Roll of 1953d had two 1955s and 1951D roll had a 1958. (He said he sells them just as he receives them and doesn't know) Honest mistakes can happen but it definitely makes you loose faith in them. They have to know from photographing all the rolls and still they advertise as "OBW unsearched". I do like Ray Parkhurst's piece he wrote on what he looks for to confirm a sellers OBW- Original Bank Wrapped Rolls. It is very helpful information and it has saved me $.

[GrumpyEd]

Interesting info!

Are you buying directly from their site?

In the past I saw them listing some good date tubed wheat rolls on auction sites.
The thing that turned me off was they had good pics, either showing side views of tubed rolls or some that were paper wrapped. Some even had the coins dumped showing the obverses.
BUT then I noticed the side view pics of the tubed rolls were the same pics used in several of the listings, it was like they had several side view tubed pics and re-used them. Nothing said they were stock pics but the same pics were used for several different dates. That turned me off because sometimes seeing the side view of a tubed roll will clue you in if it's truly a roll that was put in a tube (where all the coins match from a single roll) or if it was a put together roll.

[jallengomez]

Interesting to hear someone's experience with Apmex. Their offers pop up all the time and I've wondered about them. Did you contact Apmex with your concerns? I've had the same disappointing thing happen with other (usually good) sellers. Roll of 1953d had two 1955s and 1951D roll had a 1958. (He said he sells them just as he receives them and doesn't know) Honest mistakes can happen but it definitely makes you loose faith in them. They have to know from photographing all the rolls and still they advertise as "OBW unsearched". I do like Ray Parkhurst's piece he wrote on what he looks for to confirm a sellers OBW- Original Bank Wrapped Rolls. It is very helpful information and it has saved me $.

There are really no reasons for me to contact them. They simply advertise their rolls as uncirculated, and they are indeed. I knew the coins were in tubes and not OBW rolls, but I had no concerns over that. Most of my best varieties and my top grades have come out of tubes. I love a good OBW roll, but I don't find that a necessity for finding varieties or top grades.

[jallengomez]

Interesting info!

Are you buying directly from their site?

In the past I saw them listing some good date tubed wheat rolls on auction sites.
The thing that turned me off was they had good pics, either showing side views of tubed rolls or some that were paper wrapped. Some even had the coins dumped showing the obverses.
BUT then I noticed the side view pics of the tubed rolls were the same pics used in several of the listings, it was like they had several side view tubed pics and re-used them. Nothing said they were stock pics but the same pics were used for several different dates. That turned me off because sometimes seeing the side view of a tubed roll will clue you in if it's truly a roll that was put in a tube (where all the coins match from a single roll) or if it was a put together roll.

Yes, they are once again selling directly from their site. If you go to the "Collectibles" section and then "Cents", you'll find links to wheat and memorial bags and rolls. They seem to be using stock images there as well. However, these were definitely what I call "original source" rolls, in that each roll contained coins from only a few different dies, so I know they weren't put together in that sense. Their website pricing can be all over the place. Sometimes they are listed at Grey Sheet, sometimes way above, and on occasion you can find rolls priced below.

[eaxtellcoin]

The best way I've seen over the years to tell if it's a put together roll is as said. If the sides of the coins - color - do not match then someone has taken a few out and replaced them with other's. One thing you have to remember though is they may be looking for high grades, cuds, double dies or RPM's but few people including myself look for them all. I have tubes on my floor now that I never checked for double dies. Not my thing - or cuds - or extremely high grade. So yes it takes time and $ but there may still be something there.