I've noticed something odd regarding my collection of US Silver Eagle bullion coins. Since I buy my eagles in their original containers (20 coins to a roll), each roll contains all the same year of mint. In other words, one roll has all 200x eagles, and another roll has all 200x eagles. Today I compared two rolls side by side, and could not believe my eyes. One roll appeared to be over a coin and a half taller than the other roll. Thinking that one roll had more coins in it than the other, I stopped to count the number of coins in each roll. But after counting and recounting, both rolls have 20 eagles in them. After dumping the coins out of each roll, and creating two stacks of eagles on my desk, it is clear that one roll is nearly 2 coins TALLER than the other! I wanted to know if the silver eagles were minted at different thicknesses?

I've noticed a similar thing with mine. I have rolls going back to 1987, and it seems the earlier rolls fit in the tubes more loosely, while the new ones are very tight. Also, the older ones had a higher relief, but lower rims. Many of the newer ones especially since 2000 have "wire rims" such that there is an extra bit of metal at the edge that make it seem thicker, and this is where I think the problems lie with the newer coins appearing thicker. At least that's my theory anyhow!

Yep, I'll bet that's it. I've noticed the wire rims on SAEs before. I've never paid any attention to how they fit in tubes, but what you're saying makes sense.