| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Copper Catcher |
Posted - 06/27/2008 : 14:44:55
I'm not sure if this is real or a spoof. Has anyone seen this receipt in person?
http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,76437.0.html
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| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| legacypac |
Posted - 09/14/2008 : 02:20:00
I see lots of RCMint rolls in plastic wraps too. I also found the guy that sold them the machine but did not ask what brand it was as it is way beyond my current asperations. |
| Copper Catcher |
Posted - 09/13/2008 : 17:13:55
HoardCopperByTheTon I got faith in ya! I think you will eventually get one. :-)
Ok, we have well established ways to pull out copper from circulation.
The few obstacles remain.
Anyone can play the game. It all depends if you want to be a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond or if you plan on doing the fishing!
Like any business cash flow requires that you have enough money to "invest" in the equipment and labor and in this case inventory of pennies to sort, keep and store. Likewise, you have to account for the time value of money even if you plan on making a 100% ROI.
Further as part of the master business plan serious consideration would need to be taken to “invest” money, typically in a minimum of $4000 increments, as political contributions to “your friends” in Congress to get the melt ban lifted so you could "cash in". Leaving such to chance would be unwise.
Of course, there is another alternative. Instead of trying to beat them you could join them and act as an agent and be part of their recovery efforts underway. Just a thought!
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| HoardCopperByTheTon |
Posted - 09/13/2008 : 11:23:40
Looks like one machine I will never have. Oh well, I prefer the paper wraps anyway.  |
| fasTTcar |
Posted - 09/13/2008 : 11:20:50
quote:
Originally posted by PreservingThePast
A week or so ago I got ten rolls of pennies in the clear plastic wrappers from a local credit union and took note of the fact that in 500 pennies there were only 4 copper pennies.
The company that makes the plastic wrapper is Frisco Bay. The only user of this tech in North America is Brinks. The machines are worth about $250k.
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| tadpole |
Posted - 09/13/2008 : 10:08:39
There are self service coin redemption machines that will discriminate beetween "old" pennies, copper and "new" pennies, zinc, However after they pass through the discrimination process they are deposited into a mixed bulk container or bag and need to be later sorted by denomination before they can be rolled. Programming can be done on some of these machines to allow them to "accept" or "reject" the pennies so that you can pull out the copper. |
| legacypac |
Posted - 09/13/2008 : 10:00:37
quote:
Originally posted by Copper Catcher
Well it’s official....the machines exist. The question remains, are these machines being used in the US and if so, by whom? Is our precious copper being snatched from our collective fingertips as we speak? How long before the supply is exhausted? If you remember many moons ago I reported about a company in the western part of the US that had ask a university to help build a machine that would allow him to sort coins to pull out the copper. If I remember right, I think he was willing to invest up to twenty five thousand into the project! I would assume now he has his answer. Sooner or later I’m sure someone on here will buy one of these machines! If so, please provide pictures, don’t be shy!
Yes, as I stated ALL coin counters look at alloy. Every coinst*r, every bank, everyone. The real question is not what happens at the coinst*r machine (all accepted coins go in one bin) but what happens to the coin after it is collected and sent for processing into bags or rolls. If you buy Brinks or other processors boxes you can tell us if they are removing all the copper in your area. Compare to the CWR you buy from the same area.
The owner of the company you talked about is a member right here. |
| PreservingThePast |
Posted - 09/13/2008 : 09:47:55
A week or so ago I got ten rolls of pennies in the clear plastic wrappers from a local credit union and took note of the fact that in 500 pennies there were only 4 copper pennies. That is an extremely low percentage even for my area. I haven't gotten anymore from them. To the best of my knowledge, this C/U does not have any sort of coin counter for customer use.
I actually don't like getting coins in these wrappers as I find the coins are much dirtier than when they are in paper wrappers of some sort. I don't know if it is a chemical reaction or if the plastic holds in moisture or what it is but I can sure feel a difference in the coins.
My regular bank is a small, independent bank with a few branches and they don't have any coin counters or sorters yet. They also told me they rarely purchase coins from any coin services. But the way the ends of the "shotgun shell style" wrappers are crimped it sure doesn't look like someone did it by hand. |
| Copper Catcher |
Posted - 09/13/2008 : 07:54:20
Well it’s official....the machines exist. The question remains, are these machines being used in the US and if so, by whom? Is our precious copper being snatched from our collective fingertips as we speak? How long before the supply is exhausted? If you remember many moons ago I reported about a company in the western part of the US that had ask a university to help build a machine that would allow him to sort coins to pull out the copper. If I remember right, I think he was willing to invest up to twenty five thousand into the project! I would assume now he has his answer. Sooner or later I’m sure someone on here will buy one of these machines! If so, please provide pictures, don’t be shy! |
| fasTTcar |
Posted - 09/13/2008 : 06:03:08
Legacypac is correct. The coins are tested for alloy for both slug separation as well as weight calculation. In Canada, some of the machines are set to reject US and some accept them.
I ran a large volume of dimes through 2 different machines being tested at TD recently. I threw in some foreign as well as some bents to see if they would accept them. The Coinstar labelled machine kicked out all the brand new dimes (as well as 2 silver!). The DeLaRue machine kicked out all the US. Both caught all of the foreign and bent.
Both of those machines are being serviced by CDI. The are doing alloy recovery for the Canadian mint, using the mints machine at its processing facility in Toronto. |
| legacypac |
Posted - 09/13/2008 : 00:58:00
Talked to a machine guy today that told me all coin machines do alloy recognition - that is how they know if you are feeding them American coins or steel slugs. The machines are programed to accept clad, copper, zinc, silver. Will reject all international coins (like aluminum and Canadian steel). In Canada they program to recognize the US coins and count them seperate - then either give credit or no credit/reject. All coins just go into the same bin though. |
| the_cent_guy |
Posted - 07/05/2008 : 06:38:58
We have a coin machine at my branch, not too long ago I called to get it serviced and this really cool guy came out and was telling me how they have special machines just for sorting copper vs. zinc. I don't know if SCAN-COIN is doing it, but I know IBS (I THINK THAT'S WHAT THE COMPANY IS CALLED, IT'S EARLY) I have the model number at the branch, I'm going in today, I'll see if I can find out more info on it.
I think the guy was telling me that's how COINSTAR machines operate to, it won't separate them, but it keeps track of them that way.
I would bet that the bank that has that wouldn't keep or send to a courier company in any special way. Almost everyone I know in banking could care less about a "copper penny", or even just "a penny" for that matter.. |
| AFModell |
Posted - 07/03/2008 : 22:05:42
The Del Rio Natl Bank I used in Del Rio, TX had a coin counter that kept track of the coins as well. It had an extra line for listing the older pennies. I dont remember what it titled them, although it might have been "Pre 82." I started using that bank back in late 06. |
| mickeyman |
Posted - 07/03/2008 : 10:33:08
There are coinstar machines at some banks in Toronto which offer free coin sorting. According to the branch staff, the coins in the machine are taken away by the coin company.
There has been talk that Coinstar is acting as an agent for the Royal Canadian Mint, which announced last year that they would remove all coins of copper, nickel, or their alloys from circulation. Presumably the Mint offers the company a premium for each such coin. The cost of this is made up from recovering the metals or by the seignorage obtained by replacing the nickel coin with a steel coin.
All I know is that nickel quarters and dimes up here have all but vanished from change and from bank rolls. Last year they were 60% of the coins in circulation. |
| MaDeuce |
Posted - 07/01/2008 : 21:31:18
It's real, and has been for a good while, maybe longer:
http://realcent.forumco.com/topic~TOPIC_ID~616~SearchTerms~,coinstar.asp |
| fb101 |
Posted - 07/01/2008 : 12:10:32
If this was a test case and there are more, we can foul the percentages by following Hoard's credo. Our dumps can make it look like the percentages are lower than they actually are. So, if you spot one, start dumping in it like there was no tomorrow, or there may not be. |
| Bluegill |
Posted - 06/28/2008 : 10:27:49
I went to the BofA today to asked them a few questions about their sorter/counter. Well they don't have it anymore, they reversed their loose coin policy. That machine was only their for a few months.
The guy I wanted to talk to was not there today, but one of the other tellers said the machine broke a few times and they couldn't get anybody to service it, so they got rid of it. That machine was brand new so that explanation isn't going over to well with me.
The guy I wanted to talk to had told me that they were one of the first branches to get one and that it could sort out foreign coins.
I wanted to ask how it seperated 2.5g U.S. Zn from 2.5g Canadian Cu if it truly did sort by weight. I also wanted to know the make and model.
I wonder if this was a trial run to see if how much Cu they could actually collect from people turning in coins. Seeing as how MI has some of the highest percetanges in the country I'm not sure this was a coincidence.
I'm wonder if the PTB are reading our sorting percentages threads and taking notes. It's not like our hobbby is a secret...
BofA has that Countrywide mess they are buying and is going to need some capitol. I wouldn't be surprised if some shadowy entity would be buying their sorted Cu at above face value for later scrapping.
BofA gets some capitol and the entity makes money when the melt ban is lifted. And I'm sure the taxpayer will get to foot the bill for the infrastructure for all of this in some round about indirect way...
I'm going back monday and see if the guy I wanted to talk to is there. He is a cheerful kid who likes to volunteer information.
I don't know, maybe I'm all wet and need to take off my aluminum foil helmet so the mind controlling satellites can make me believe everything is OK...
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| Lemon Thrower |
Posted - 06/28/2008 : 06:58:19
from a bank's perspective, it does not make much sense to invest thousands in these machines for a few hundred bucks extra per week in copper, assuming they could even realize the value. most branches don't do enough pennies to make it worthwhile and banks are in cost cutting mode right now. it does not seem plausible that BofA is doing this. |
| Copper Catcher |
Posted - 06/28/2008 : 06:04:28
Is this a sign of the end times? For us copper horders at least? |
| fiatboy |
Posted - 06/27/2008 : 23:21:36
One of the coin counters I frequent separates coppers from zincs.  |
| Ryedale |
Posted - 06/27/2008 : 22:04:42
I have limited knowledge of this, but I'll weigh in.
The machine is probably made by Scan Coin
http://www.scancoin-usa.com/
I have heard theres a bulk bin in some of these machines (like a coinstar machine has, but not a Coinstar brand machine).
A teller told C140Cessna that it keeps track of New/Old coins because the coins weigh differently, and there is a limit on how heavy the coin box can weigh. (to get it on and off an armored car) If somebody were dumb enough to put all copper coins and fill the bin it would weigh 20% heavier than all zinc. I believe the limit on the box is 350 lbs, so immagine if it were filled wiht all copper pennies, by "count" instead of Weight. it could weigh 70lbs more by being all coppers instead of all zinc.
This is all "rumor" but from a pretty reliable source.
Final thoughts, banks have many bigger problems on a corporate level to worry about right now, than copper pennies. JMHO. Andy |
| tadpole |
Posted - 06/27/2008 : 20:40:45
There is a machine in use that can recognize the difference between the copper and the zinc penny, however both coins are deposited into the same bag if it is a bag machine or coin bin if it is a bin machine. |
| NDFARMER |
Posted - 06/27/2008 : 20:12:46
I sure don't like to hear things like this. I am just getting about half way to my goal, and I was hoping to sort and sell copper after I reached my goal. So far I have not noticed any drop in my copper percentage. I guess it won't be long before finding a pre 1982 penny will be as rare as finding a wheat penny is now. |
| swusc |
Posted - 06/27/2008 : 18:09:32
well that might be why people are getting more pure or high % zinc.
I will say this. I have noticed that my copper % in change received has dropped a ton around me. My boxes have been fine, but I don't do a lot of cent sorting.
-SWUSC |
| Copper Catcher |
Posted - 06/27/2008 : 17:47:20
Darn it! I knew something was up when I was getting skunked buying the boxed coins from Bank of America. Bluegill email me and lets talk I'd love to know where you are located. See my other posts reference commercial sorting machines!!!!!!!!!! Who let the cat out of the bag? I feel like I just got back from watching a bad movie.....and the greasy popcorn is making me sick. |
| Bluegill |
Posted - 06/27/2008 : 17:34:57
One of the Bank of America's I frequent went to a loose coin policy and got a brand new coin sorter/counter. The tellers claim it sorts coin by weight. Every time I go in there there are 2 or 3 clear $50 bags of pennies sitting on the floor next to it.
They refuse to sell them to the public, I've already tried several times...
The bags looked like they were mixed but I couldn't tell for sure. If they aren't sorting now, it looks like the infrastructure and equipment is getting put in place to do so.
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