
Collecting Original U.S. Mint Wrapped BU Rolls
I've never been much of a "roll collector" but lately have purchased a few for my collection. Roll collecting had it's heyday back in the mid 1960's, but went bust soon afterward. It was mainly driven by the depletion of silver in our coinage and was fueled by collector and investor alike. For a long time I viewed roll collecting as a form of hoarding, with storage being a main issue. What I've chosen to collect, however, are brief commemorative issues that were intended for circulation with relatively low mintages. These include the 2009 Lincoln Bicentennial issues and the 2004-2006 Jefferson Westward Journey designs. What really makes these rolls interesting is their colorful original U.S. Mint wrappers. To me these wrappers are a key element. They certify the rolls contained were wrapped at the Mint and have never been opened. They usually sell at a small premium compared to no-name bank wrappers, but are well worth it. I've recently added a few 2009 Territorial Quarter rolls in original U.S. Mint wrappers as well, after researching just how minuscule their mintages were compared to the larger Statehood series. When you put them all together the wrappers really pop.