Any discussion on copper pennies can go here. Hobby level, hand sorters, hard core Ryedale sorters are all welcomed to join in the discussion.
Any discussion on copper pennies can go here. Hobby level, hand sorters, hard core Ryedale sorters are all welcomed to join in the discussion.
"We can guarantee cash benefits as far out and at whatever size you like, but we cannot guarantee their purchasing power." Alan Greenspan
OOoooohhH!!! Thanks for opening this!
For those who aren't already aware (and who ISN'T on this site!) - Pre-1982 copper cents are THE best deal in metals currenly available. Currently on sale, courtesy of the U.S. Mint, a Pre-1982 (and a sizeable percentage of 1982 as well) copper cent sells for over HALF OFF it's actual metal value! That's right, you get TWICE as much metal as you pay for! Plus, being guaranteed by the U.S. Government, you will NEVER get LESS than you pay for them when it's time to sell!
A quick tip for sorting 1982 pennies to separate the copper from the zinc:
Drop the pennies on a hard wooden surface like a table or counter. You will hear a distinctive copper "ring" for those made of copper, and a duller "thunk" for the zinc models. Practice with a pre-1982 and post-1982 penny to get the "ear" for it - once you learn what to listen for, you'll never forget it!
There are two kinds of people in this world:
People who just want to be left alone, and
People who won't leave them alone.
No coercion, no fraud. Let rationality and liberty prevail! A=A
Love with your heart... for everything else, use your brain!
"Gold is very patient. Are you?" -mamboni
"Government has NO business being in the 'business' business" -Gaillo
Coinflation has the values of coins currently in circulation and old US silver coinage.
http://coinflation.com/
The Real Cent forum is the most popular one on the penny sorting topic.
http://realcent.forumco.com/
I just started doing this in 2010 thanks to reading the threads about this.
It's fun.
I usually buy $5.00 at a time.
Here are my recent percentages of copper pennies found.
89 out of 500 = 17.8%
118 out of 500 = 23.59%
160 out of 500 = 32%
134 out of 500 = 26.8%
148 out of 500 = 29.59%
129 out of 500 = 25.8%
117 out of 500 = 23.4%
Dang, I'm going the other way. My last box was my worst ever with 8 wheats for an entire $25.00 box!
hand sorter here
not that into it, probably have done $50 of copper worth
I enjoy it to not only get coppers but also to find better quality coins for my whitman folders and find those random foreign coins to go into my foreign coin change jar
even found a zimbabwean penny once
Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months
Silver will have its day...
People are rolling up their penny/change jars to make ends meet.Originally Posted by RatHoler
I would have lots of cash if I didn't keep wasting it on barbarous relics.<br /><br />“The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but by iron and blood.†- Otto von Bismarck
I'll usually pick up $5-$10 worth of pennies whenever I stop by the bank. I think I'm averaging somewhere around 25-30% per roll.
What do you guys do with the zinc pennies you have left over? My better half is starting to complain about the coffee cans full of pennies that's accumulating under my desk. I can't decide if I should roll them or just suck it up and take them to my nearest coinstar.
"If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people, under the pretence of taking care of them, they must become happy."<br />- Thomas Jefferson
Small time sorter here that needs to get back to doing 4-5 boxes each week. I took a break when I felt like I had enough but now am getting the itch to add to the stash. My goal is to add another 100K of copper cents by the end of the year which shouldn't be a problem doing what I did before. I've been tempted to go the lazy route and buy some that are already sorted but then I take a step back and realize that would be stupid on my part when I can get them for face value. Why pay someone 1.5 to 2.0x face for these when I am getting 30% yields on my own?
I like to use Coinstar and I take the Amazon option so I won't get charged a fee. Always have stuff to buy there.