Coin Wrappers: An Illustrated History (With bags and boxes too!)

The purpose of this article is simply to document the different styles of coin wrappers used throughout certain time periods. There was a sales post in a Facebook Coin Sales group where a seller had a lot of coins listed as Original Bank Wrapped or "OBW" rolls of 1958 D. It turned out those rolls were probably wrapped some time in the 80's based on the wrapper that was used. The seller was unaware that these were wrapped at a later date. After seeing this I wondered if anyone had any documentation or visuals that would show the types of wrappers for certain time periods. I did a little digging and found out that apparently noone had done this. I knew right then and there that this would be my next project. Please bear with me as I build this visual library. I'm sure I will have to change the structure as time goes on and I receive more images. Hopefully some will find a use for this. I will say up front, please do not use this as your sole reference to date coin rolls! There are ways to purchase old wrappers and crimp them with tools to make them look original. This article is simply a way to date the wrappers themselves, NOT the full rolls. Although in some cases, that can be done too.

Now a little history about coin wrappers. When people talk about "bank wrapped" rolls, I don't think they understand that most rolls of coins are actually wrapped by a 3rd party company. These companies typically deliver the coins to the banks in armored trucks. I'm sure you have seen them. These are companies like Brinks, Loomis, Garda, and Dunbar. You have undoubtedly also seen lots of wrappers with the company name of N.F. String. This company is simply a manufacturer of coin wrappers, tubes, and wrapping machines. You can see a full line of their products here (http://www.nfstring.com/). As far as I know, they do not physically wrap any of the rolls.

In the 40's through the 70's, when there were fewer banks, but larger branches, some of those banks would wrap their own coins. These are the true "OBW" rolls. Most of those disappeared in the 70's when banks decided that they needed smaller branches in more locations. Coins for circulation were shipped from the mint in cloth bags commonly referred to as mint sewn bags. The coins were loose inside, not wrapped. You can see examples of these bags at the bottom of this post.

The wrappers are typically color coded per denomination. This is the current format seen below. (Source = Wikipedia) Click for larger view.

As with any of my blog posts, I am always updating them as I get more info or pictures. If you would like to provide any pictures to me for any one of my articles, you can contact me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Rhodediggitydizawg, or through email at rhodesc1@yahoo.com.

See Photo credits at bottom of page.

Federal Reserve and OBW Wrappers

Cents

1942 S

1942 S Bank of America N.T. & S.A. California

1946 S

1946 S Federal Reserve Bank San Francisco

1947 S

1947 S Federal Reserve Bank San Francisco

1949 D

1949 D Denver Branch Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

1954 S

1954 S Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Bowser, Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif.

1955 

1955 First Trust and Deposit Co. Syracuse, N.Y.

1956 D

1956 D   Pittsburgh Branch  Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland

1958 D

1958 D  Seattle Branch  Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

1958 D Bank of America N.T.&S.A.

1959 

1959 Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland

1959 D

1959 D Detroit Branch Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

1959 D Cincinnati Branch - Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland

1959 D Denver Branch - Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

1960

1960 D Small Date South Holland Trust & Savings Bank
South Holland, Illinois

1960 D Small Date The First National Bank of Chicago

1960 D  City National Bank and Trust Co. of Chicago

1960 The Chase Manhattan Bank

1961 D

1961 D United California Bank Head Office Los Angeles Bowser Inc. Sunnyvale Calif.

1961 D Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland

1963 D

1963 D Security First National Bank

1963 D Denver Branch Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

1964

1964 P First National City Bank New York

1964 D

1964 D Bank of America N. T. & S. A.

1964 D United California Bank

1964 D Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Cincinnati Branch

1966

1966 Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Denver Branch

1968

1968 S Bank of America N.T. & S.A.

1969 S

1969 S Bank of America N.T.&S.A.

1970 D

1970 D Valley Bank and Trust Company  Salt Lake City, Utah

1970 D    Monroe Bank & Trust - Monroe, Michigan - Complete Banking Services

1970 S

1970 S Bank of America National Trust & Savings Association

1971 D

1971 D   Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland   Cleveland, Ohio

1971 D   Federal Reseve Bank of Cleveland    Cleveland, Ohio

1972 

1972 Oritani Bank   Hackensack, New Jersey

1972 The Chase Manhattan Bank N. A.

1972 S

1972 S   Garden State National Bank   Hackensack, NJ 07601

1973

1973 P Wells Fargo & Company

1973 Security Pacific National Bank

1973 S

1973 S First Hawaiian Bank

1974 D

1974 D Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Oklahoma City Branch

1974 D United California Bank

1975 D

1975 D Bank of America

1977

1977 Continental Bank Norristown, Pennsylvania 19404

1981 D

1981 D Security National Bank of Kansas City, Kansas

1981 D First National Bank and Trust Company Joplin, Missouri

1990

1990 Harris Bank

2009 - Bi-Centennial of Lincoln's Birth 100th anniversary of the small cent

2009 P Bi-Centennial 4 type set - US Mint Issued Rolls

2009 P Formative Years US Mint issued roll

2009 P Professional Life US Mint Issued Roll

Nickels

1959 D

1959 D  Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago   Chicago, Illinois

1959 D  Fort Wayne National Bank   Fort Wayne, Indiana

1962

1962 Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company

1966

1966  Cincinnati Branch  Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland

Dimes

1955 D

1955 D Oklahoma City Branch Federal Reseve Bank of Kansas City

1975-1983

1975-1983 Weirton National Bank Weirton W.V.

Quarters

2002 D

2002 D Tennessee State Quarter - US Mint Issued Roll

Half Dollars

2004 D

2004 D Kennedy Half Dollars  US Mint Issued Roll

2006 P

2006 P Kennedy Half Dollars US Mint Issued Roll

Dollars

1979

1979 Philadelphia Mint Susan B. Anthony - Generic Roll

2009

2009 P Native American Dollars $25.00

Specials/Commemoratives

Cents

This roll was sold by the United States Commemorative Gallery. http://www.uscommgallery.com/

These are usually filled with well circulated common date coins. A quick look at their website showed gold plated coins, and tribute coins. This is all low dollar stuff marketed to new collectors who don't know any better. I am unsure of the timeframe that these were released. 

Similar to the roll above, this roll below was given away as part of a sweepstakes offered by International Home Shopping in Canton, OH. This roll is advertised as containing a mix of "historic" out of circulation Lincoln Wheat Cents from 1909 - 1958. These rolls contain a mix of common date circulated wheat cents, although I suppose the possibility of finding something better is always there. This is a short roll of 30 coins.

The roll pictured below came from the Fabulous Flamingo Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. This hotel was originally built under the name Flamingo in 1946 by mobster Bugsy Seigel. After his death in 1947, new owners renamed it The Fabulous Flamingo and was in operation under that name until 1972. This hotel/casino is still in operation today under the name Flamingo Las Vegas.

Matt Berg, the owner of this roll opened it and found it was filled with all BU Toned 1955 Lincoln Wheat Cents

The roll below was submitted by Jody Gomez. It contains 25 1955 S Cents. The Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas was opened in 1946, making it one of the oldes casinos still in operation in Las Vegas today.

1955 S Golden Nugget Casino Las Vegas (Half roll)

Nickels

Tahoe Biltmore Lodge - Casino Crystal Bay, Nev.

Lady Luck Casino, Las Vegas Unknown Date

Caesars Tahoe   Lake Tahoe, Nevada

The rolls below were submitted by Mike Desiel. These rolls are manufactured by a 3rd party company known as the World Reserve Monetary Exchange company. They are basically a dealer of coins and currency. See their website here. https://www.theworldreserve.com/.

2005 D Bison Nickel 25 ct. roll  from World Reserve Monetary Exchange (From Brick of 500)

2005 D Bison Nickel 25 ct. roll from World Reserve Monetary Exchange Brick of 500

World Reserve Monetary Exchange Nickel Rolls (Unkown date)

2006 D America's New Jefferson Nickel

Quarters

2007 Utah State Quarter roll offered by the World Reserve Monetary Fund, a company that specializes in aftermarket rolls geared towards collectors. 

Generic Wrappers

Cents

1943

1943 Sattley Company   Detroit, Mich.

1956 D

1956 D - Brandt -  Watertown, Wis.

1957 D

1957 D - Brandt -  Watertown,  Wis.

1959

1959 Standard Paper Goods Mfg. Co. Worcester, Mass.

1959 D

1959 D - Brandt -  Watertown, Wis. U.S.A.

1960 

1960 Steel Strong Automatic Coin Wrapper

1960 D

1960 D   Loomis Armored Car Service    Safety With Dispatch

1963 D

1963 D    A.T.   Bowser Inc. Sunnyvale Calif.

1963 D Brandt Watertown, WIS

1964

1964 Brandt Sunnyvale, Calif.

1964 D

1964 D - Sattley Co. - Detroit, Mich.

1965 

1965 Brink's 

1966 

1966 Sattley Company

1966 P Generic Brown Wrapper Patent 1536481

1967

1967 John Fare Box Company, Chicago

1967 "Steel-Strong" Gunshell

1967 - Brandt -  Watertown, Wis.  U.S.A.

1969 D

1969 D - Brandt - Watertown, Wis. U.S.A.

1969 S

1969 S Visi-Rol

1970 S

1970 S - Brandt - Watertown, Wis. U.S.A.

1971 D

1971 D   Unknown manufacturer.

1972

1972 Sattley

1973 

1973 Brandt Inc Watertown, Wis USA

1973 D

1973 D      A. T.

1974

1974 Standard Coin Wrappers

1974 Unknown manufacturer.

1974 D

1974 D      A. T.

1974 D Universal

1974 D Universal

1981 D

1981 D Cummins - Allison Corp.

1986

1986 Sun Coin

1990's

Circa 1990's Yadkin Bank - Now owned by First National Bank

Circa 1990's Yadkin Bank - Now owned by First National Bank

 Dimes

1990's

Circa 1990's Yadkin Bank - Now owned by First National Bank

Modern/Still in Use

Modern Loomis

Modern N.F.String & Sons

2009 Clear Plastic Unknown Manufacturer

N.F. String & Sons   and   Cointainer

Glen L. De Hart & Son, Inc - Chesterfield, Mo

Quarters

1960 Quarters Bowser, Inc. Sunnyvale Calif. 

Foreign

1967 Royal Bank of Canada, Twenty King St. West, Toronto, Ontario

Such as everything else these days that has value, coin rolls and wrappers are no different. They are just as susceptible to counterfeiting as anything else. After I shared this blog article with Ray Parkhurst, a collector and expert on coin rolls, he informed me that he believed this 1954 S roll may be a fake roll put together with paper that was modernly manufactured. When I compared this roll to others from the same general time period, I noticed that the font was very sharp and dark. Others I have seen have a slight blotchiness to the font and of course have faded slightly due to time. Judge for yourself.

Fake Morgan Dollar Roll - To quote JT Miner: Please beware of Morgan Dollar rolls being marketed as original, especially Carson City or rolls with other supposed key date end coins. The machines to roll coins in this manner were patented in the early 1900s and were not common in production for some time after that. The Carson City Mint closed in 1893. These rolls will have nice end coins and will otherwise contain common date coins. This is a hustle which is common on eBay and many other platforms. BEWARE!

Roll with Shield Nickel showing on ends. Shield Nickels did not come in rolls. (Fake)

Mixed date roll with 1909 VDB on the end. Found on Ebay. These are what we refer to as "seeded" rolls. 

Coin Bags

Unknown Date - Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

Unknown Date - The National Shawmut Bank of Boston (1836 - 1975)

1960 Philadelphia Mint Cents $50

1972 Philadelphia Mint Cents $50

1973 D U.S. Mint Denver Cents $50.00

1974 Philadelphia Mint Cents $50

1980 D    U.S. Mint $50.00 Cents

1993 U.S. Mint Cents $50

1994 Philadelphia Mint $50.00 Cents

2008 Philadelphia Mint Quarters (Alaska) $25

Generic

Generic

Generic

Generic

Generic

U.S. Mint Dimes $1,000 unknown date

United California Bank Los Angeles, California unknown date

Coin Boxes

The Lonson Coin Box Mankato Paper Box Co. Makato, Minn.

Photo credits: Thank you to the following people for providing me with photos of coin rolls and wrappers for this article. I rely heavily on you all for pictures to add to my articles. I am forever grateful! Chuck Daughtrey, Jay Painter, Pat Mcc, Brian Patrick, Niranjan Khalsa, Alan English, Jody Gomez, Ryan DaCone Madison, Julie Clay Wilsey, Riley Joseph, Rick D. Taylor, Jessica Itta, Carlos De La Hoya, Woody Norton, Amy Antone, Ron Lubetski, Ray Parkhurst, Dana Murner Champion, Jay Meltzer, Dustin Wilcox, Leonard Matyjasik, John Ade, Dilenia Fiore, Matt Berg, Galina Holmer, Anthony Prater, Adam Chambers, Amber Pannell, Mike Desiel, Hemen Ali, Jimmy Lowery, Mauri Villegas, Yassar Almanaseer, Sulaiman Majeed, LexKian Vargas, Robert Adams, Sky Smith, justin LaCapria, Franklin Bamba, JT Miner, Craig Stevenson.