In Depth Study:

BU Roll Buyer's Guide

David Lange writes in the The Complete Guide to Lincoln Cents that collecting coins by the roll first became relatively common in the mid-1930s.  Indeed, 1934 is the first year represented in the Coin Dealer Newsletter's price sheet for BU rolls which would seem to substantiate Lange's research.  Our experience also correlates as we frequently buy and sell BU rolls from about the mid-1930s to date but rarely see earlier rolls.  For a couple of decades, Lange writes, collectors and speculators generally confined themselves to a roll or two of each date.  Then, in 1955, it was widespread knowledge that 1955 would be the last year for use of the S mintmark on the Lincoln Cent.  Accordingly, collectors and speculators not only set aside more rolls than usual but even began to hoard and trade cents in bag (100 roll) lots. 

In the years that followed, collecting current issues in roll and bag quantities became even more widespread reaching its height in the 1960s.  In 1960, the mid-year revision of the cent dies creating a large and small date version heated up the speculation in current issues in roll and bag quantities.  Then, starting in 1961, it became growingly apparent that the nation was in a coin shortage.  While the shortage was actually due to an increased demand for coin and currency driven by a growing economy and the proliferation of vending machines, the Mint blamed collectors, speculators and hoarders for the shortage.  

At the height of the shortage in 1964m the Mint began to take measures to reduce the amount of coins withdrawn from circulation in roll and bag quantities by collectors, hoarders and speculators.  The first step was legislation in late 1964 that froze the 1964 date on coins until the shortage was remedied.  Second, mintmarks were removed from coins for 1965 through 1967.  In both instances, the thinking at the time by those in charge was that by reducing the number of different date/mintmark combinations that could be collected or hoarded, the aggregate amount of coins pulled out of circulation for such reasons would be reduced. 

Accordingly, 1964-dated coinage was produced through all of 1964 and much of 1965 resulting in record mintages for the date (see Table 1).  It was also the last year for 90% silver dimes, quarters and halves for circulation causing even more people to put away rolls of this already widely available date.  As a result, even today, 1964-dated coinage is one of the most readily available in BU rolls, with the 1960 to 1963 coinage also being plentifully in BU roll quantities.

Speculation in any commodity tends to drive prices continually to new highs with everyone clamoring to buy and limited quantities available.  Then, one day, large holders began selling and soon everyone is a seller, there are no buyers and the market crashes.  The crash in the BU roll market came in late 1964 and for many dates the prices have not recovered to the 1964 high ever since.

Each passing year since 1964 up until 1999 has seen fewer and fewer BU rolls put away in the year of issuance.  Just look at any price guide that includes pricing information for BU rolls and notice the general trend.  The 1960s rolls tend to be a few cents over face value--virtually no premium despite being 40 years old and in BU quality.  The rolls from the 1970s are bit more pricey but not as much so as those from the 1980s or early 1990s.

Uncirculated Sets (aka Mint Sets) sold annually by the US Mint represent the primarily source for BU singles during the post-roll-bust era.  For the most part, a few million sets were produced each year and the packaging has kept the coins in nice BU condition and suitable for sales as singles.  One notable exception is the years 1982 and 1983 when no Mint Sets were produced.  As a result, prices for rolls from these two years are outliers.  Take, for example, the 1983-P quarters.  At this writing (April 2003) the wholesale dealer Ask price, as reported in the Coin Dealer Newsletter, is $800.00 per roll.  Compare that to the comparable price for 1981-P and 1984-P rolls of $12.50 and $16.00 respectively and one can see the impact of Mint Sets on the BU roll market.  More importantly, one can see that very few coins were being put away in roll and bag quantities by the early 1980s.

Another event in the early 1980s that forever impacted the BU roll market was the rise in value of silver and gold to levels not seen previously (or since).  Silver approached $50 per ounce and, as a result, many of the the BU rolls that were put away two decades previously came out of old-time collections and hoards and found their way into the melting pot.  This somewhat offset the glut of early 1960s rolls but even today they are still readily available.

The final two impacts on the BU roll market came in the mid to late 1990s.  First, a significant subset of collectors began to pursue their favorite series in as nice of condition as possible.  This created a new market in coins for the finest known or near finest known examples unlike any every seen before.   As a result, entrepreneurial dealers and collectors began searching rolls for the top quality coins.  As prices for the finest known coins rose, BU roll prices were pulled up as well, particularly for unopened and original rolls.

The last (but by no means least) impact came in 1999 when the US Mint introduced the fifty-state series of circulating quarters.  This immensely popular program made coin collectors out of much of the nation's population and a popular way of collecting these exciting new coins was in BU rolls.  The short 10-week production schedule and economic ups and downs created an number of issues that are rarer than others in BU rolls.  For those in shorter supply, prices rose causing speculators to enter the market, which in turn tended to create surpluses of other issues.

Now, around 70 years after roll collecting first became popular, it is again a widespread phenomenon within the hobby.  Both times, it was accompanied by a large influx of new collectors into the hobby.  Many of these new collectors are not content to build roll sets of the 50 State Quarters but are also looking to collect the earlier issues.