Coin roll hunting, as described in wikipedia, is a tactic I've begun within the past few weeks to begin collecting silver. I personally tend to search nickel rolls for the war nickels because, as the linked article states, the returns on dimes and quarters are much harder to gain. I have a few other tricks I try for those though, which I'll get to momentarily. I'd highly recommend this for somebody with a tight budget, but free time available to them. My job provides me with the time. As a guard I just have to be there, and be alert. Since I'm getting paid for the time spent searching rolls I don't lose out, even when I come up empty handed. If nothing else, it makes my work day go by faster.

Sometimes I get lucky though


I got all 3 of those Indian Head nickels out of one roll, along with various other collectible nickels dated from 1938-42. They aren't worth as much as the 42-45 silver nickels, but anything up to 1945 fetches a premium, as you can see here:
Liberty Head "V" Nickels
Indian Head Buffalo Nickels
Jefferson Nickels

Its important to consider too though, that silver is going up in value, and the metal value may exceed the collector's values listed above. A great site for determining this is coinflation.com

Another technique I'll use at times is asking friend's and family member's what they may have, which is how I acquired 3 of the silver nickels pictured above. I've also hit them up for pre-83 pennies, which I'm separating by year and mint mark, on the chance that certain years will become rare as the black market melting of these coins continues.

I've also hit up the change machine at a coin operated car wash to search quarters, but came up short on that trick. I'm debating the merits of trying it again.

Either way, I'm never out anything but some time on this, since all I'm ever doing is trading "x" amount in FRN's for an equal value of coins. I personally enjoy doing this, and can check a roll of coins in no more than 2 minutes. If you do this already, or decide to try, let me know how it goes... I'm gaining more appreciation for the coinage of our realm daily. I'll celebrate your successes, and mourn your losses, with you.