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z118
New Member
3 Posts |
 Posted - 07/27/2008 : 09:27:13
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I've been checking out this forum every so often for the past year or so... I found out about it through another forum on the web.
The whole penny sorting/hoarding thing has always seemed a bit hard to grasp for me.
I am an avid metal detector so I wind up with a lot of pennies. It has never really made sense to me to sort them.
Out of boredom/curiosity I sat down to roll a jar of pennies this morning and figured what the heck, why not weed out the coppers. So I did and I wound up with 8 rolls of clad pennies and 4 rolls of coppers. Now I'm not really sure what I'm going to do with the coppers, but I guess it was kind of fun anyway.
My question is... among you folks would you say that at least part of penny sorting is something of a relaxation/amusement/hobby sort of thing? Maybe I don't really understand the math or the methods but it seems to me that from an investment/profit standpoint you'd be better of working a job than sorting. I'm not criticizing, like I said I just don't fully grasp the math. I can kind of understand it from a hobby perspective though.
Another question... is there a market for rolled copper pennies? I don't really see myself accumulating enough to hang on to, is it feasible to sell them to someone else?
Thanks!
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jorhyne
Penny Pincher Member
174 Posts |
Posted - 07/27/2008 : 09:40:04
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I use a Ryedale which can sort through a box (2500 pennies) in less than 10 minutes, and I have averaged selling boxes of 5000 copper pennies for $85 a piece. I went back and calculated my time spent and figured that I earn an average of $17-$20 an hour, not bad for a "hobby" I can do in the comfort of my own home. But most here don't even sell their coppers immediately, they are using copper pennies as a long term investment to be cashed in at some future date when the melt ban is repealed.
Yes there is a small but developing market for copper pennies on eBay. Search "5000 copper pennies" there and you will see. |
Pennies For Sale: http://tiny.cc/jorhynespennies |
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z118
New Member
3 Posts |
Posted - 07/27/2008 : 10:00:49
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huh! Well that's something different altogether. I guess i didn't understand the scope of the sorting that is possible.
So I wonder if sorting is worth it on a small scale, as in with pocket change and pennies found metal detecting? |
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TenBears
Penny Hoarding Member
873 Posts |
Posted - 07/27/2008 : 10:25:10
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quote:
Originally posted by z118
My question is... among you folks would you say that at least part of penny sorting is something of a relaxation/amusement/hobby sort of thing?
Another question... is there a market for rolled copper pennies? I don't really see myself accumulating enough to hang on to, is it feasible to sell them to someone else?
Thanks!
Yes, and yes. Sorting pennies is a treasure hunt to me. You never know what you might find. Plus, the copper you find is worth twice its face value. It can become an addictive hobby. And, you already know that people are selling copper pennies on ebay from a previous post. Welcome to the forum. |
"Rich," the Old Man said dreamily, "is not baying after what you can't have. Rich is having the time to do what you want to do. Rich is a little whiskey to drink and some food to eat and a roof over your head and a fish pole and a boat and a gun and a dollar for a box of shells. Rich is not owing any money to anybody, and not spending what you haven't got." Robert Ruark
there are too wild Indians...
there are too wild Indians...
there are too wild Indians...-----still taunted
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NotABigDeal
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1848 Posts |
Posted - 07/27/2008 : 10:42:54
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Never sold a single copper cent. I have a Ryedale that doesn't get used like it should. But, to me this is a hobby. Who says hobbies have to make money? I just like the thrill of the hunt, and the glory of the find....Oh yeah, welcome to the forum.
Deal |
I'm so sick over pennies....I frequently trade a dime or two for the whole "take-a-penny" container if sufficient coppers exist. That will get you some odd looks. |
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z118
New Member
3 Posts |
Posted - 07/27/2008 : 10:42:56
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huh! Well that's something different altogether. I guess i didn't understand the scope of the sorting that is possible.
So I wonder if sorting is worth it on a small scale, as in with pocket change and pennies found metal detecting? |
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terminal99
Penny Sorter Member
46 Posts |
Posted - 07/27/2008 : 11:26:53
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| I love to metal detect also. Sorting pennies is a lot like detecting. It's a hobby that pays for itself. |
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fb101
Penny Hoarding Member
USA
894 Posts |
Posted - 07/27/2008 : 15:44:23
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| working on a small scale is fine. I hand sort pennies from the bank and I have sold them on ebay and stashed some. |
A materialistic society cannot afford credit, it will inevitably implode.
Life and success are a "do it yourself" thing |
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wheeler_dealer
Penny Pincher Member
USA
245 Posts |
Posted - 07/27/2008 : 19:41:45
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| Sorting pennies is a labor of love. When you consider the time to hand sort YES a second job is more financially beneficial. However I just sorted a fifty dollar bag of pennies(Almost done) and I have probably found $5.00 or more in wheats. Can't have that much enjoyment from any job. I imagine most on here can afford to take the time to sort and choose to do so for enjoyment as well as potential future value. |
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moboman
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1333 Posts |
Posted - 07/27/2008 : 19:46:38
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| Every once in a while it is fun to sort pennies. 1 day I did over $1000 through my ryedale. I enjoyed the whole day. Some days I dont feel like sorting, some days i feel like its a job. I'd suggest having them sitting around just waiting to be sorted, then when you get the itch to sort some, they will be waiting for you. It's relaxing watching the machine sort. |
I have a hard time resisting the temptation to take a wheat penny out of the take a penny cup when I see one! |
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legacypac
Administrator
Canada
1653 Posts |
Posted - 07/27/2008 : 22:32:02
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| It's NOT as good as my regular business - but a nice diversion. I've bought AND sold pennies at a profit since starting in April 08. I mostly buy smaller lots and sell larger lots... and build my stash up. It's fun and uses less gas then my previous #1 hobby. |
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M83striker
Penny Sorter Member
USA
90 Posts |
Posted - 07/28/2008 : 08:04:26
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| I have recently given up metal detecting and plan on selling my metal detector to fund the penny habit. I have a regular day job, but when it comes to a hobby you can't go wrong sitting in your den (penny room as my wife calls it) and listen to the sweet sound of the Ryedale pounding out those copper pennies. Then you get to flip/sort through the copper and find all those wheats or indians, but I have to agree with Tenbears that you shouldn't hold your breath looking for those wild indians. |
When my wife got after me it sounded like "Blah,Blah,Blah", but now it sounds like "Clink,Clink,Clink". Its amazing what that Ryedale can do for a hounded husband. |
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Lemon Thrower
Penny Pincher Member
USA
201 Posts |
Posted - 07/28/2008 : 14:17:43
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| last week I bought 8 bags. probably spent an hour and a half getting and dumpting coins. 2.5 hours sorting. so 4 hours to get roughly $80 FV in copper. its fun to me, my 5 year old and i look for wheats and foreign coins (no monetary value, but huge psychic value, esp. to a 5 year old). in 13 years who knows what I will sell the hoard for - perhaps a dime a penny. would pay for his college, lol. |
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HoardCopperByTheTon
Administrator
USA
3603 Posts |
Posted - 07/28/2008 : 19:39:15
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It is sort of like metal detecting.. except you don't have to get permission. The only digging required is digging down deep in your pocket to buy that next box of pennies.
I have sold a few.. tons.
Just as in metal detecting, you never know what you might find.. but it is fun! 
Of course, if you have the proper equipment.. it is like hunting in a target rich environment. |
If your percentages are low.. just sort more. If your percentages are high.. just sort more.
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GhettoGold
New Member
USA
18 Posts |
Posted - 07/29/2008 : 00:38:02
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Every wealthy industrious person will tell you that sorting pennies will never be profitable, unless you have the capital to automate every step of the process, reliable sources to acquire and deposit your loads, and a ready market to sell to.
However, watching television isn't profitable either, but a hundred million people will spend hours of every day glued to it. They would be smarter to do this while sorting, but if they were smarter they wouldn't be allowing their minds to be corrupted in such a way. Keep sorting and you will realize, as another poster here said, that the emperor is not wearing clothes. The new foreign coins you eventually run into will remind you that every emperor across the world is naked. It is the television and the radio and the rag which give them the body paint the swine imagine to be clothes. Happy sorting.
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www.cuttingthroughthematrix.com --- Clearing the rubbish from the road to reality. |
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Cody8404
Penny Collector Member
USA
340 Posts |
Posted - 07/29/2008 : 09:07:45
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Too me this is the cheapest form of therapy I can have. It only costs one cent for each copper I get. That is even cheaper than Lucy's Phyciatric help.
Call it a hobby, Call it therapy. I enjoy it and in the end I have something of more value than when I started. Call me small time, I colloect in a year what many folks here collect in five minutes. I also really enjoy the folks on the site. We have lots of down to earth "normal" people who post here. |
Awake, O kings of the earth! Come ye, O, come ye, with your gold and your silver, to the help of my people, to the house of the daughters of Zion, to the help of the people of the God of this Land even Jesus Christ. |
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horgad
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1349 Posts |
Posted - 07/29/2008 : 09:31:36
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quote:
Originally posted by GhettoGold
Every wealthy industrious person will tell you that sorting pennies will never be profitable, unless you have the capital to automate every step of the process, reliable sources to acquire and deposit your loads, and a ready market to sell to...
The real stickler is that you can't build a business around penny sorting as long as there is a melt ban. Businesses need a revenue stream and a reasonable plan to get profitable going forward. Right now the melt ban makes both of these a big question mark.
If penny melting was legal, the only challenge in creating a viable penny sorting business would be tapping into the penny supply on a industrial level. After that, you would just need a room filled with Ryedales and some migrant workers and you would be printing money.
10 Ryedales and maybe 8 workers and the owner/manager would be pulling in $1500 profit a day, 7 days a week, if operating only 1 shift. That is 500k a year for a small operation...
Anyhow enough dreaming  . You may not be able to make a business out of sorting pennies right now, but it does make a reasonable investment with a low risk and decent reward potential. |
Edited by - horgad on 07/30/2008 08:12:03 |
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WilliamC
Penny Collector Member
USA
471 Posts |
Posted - 07/30/2008 : 07:24:59
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For me it's not about making an immediate profit. Heck I haven't sold a single copper yet!
But as many have pointed out penny sorting is an easy way to create future value in the comfort of one's own home. I have a Ryedale and sort ~$500 a week, as much as I can make time for. I like the idea that I am doubling my "wealth" each time I pull a copper out of circulation. Someday either the melt ban will be lifted and the coppers can be sold for profit or inflation will be so bad that copper pennies will be like silver dimes are now, worth at least 10X their face value. And the best part is that there is zero risk from this investment, no matter what happens the coppers will never be worth less than what I paid for them!
Welcome to the forum! |
Sorting In Northwest Mississippi |
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Saul Mine
Penny Collector Member
USA
335 Posts |
Posted - 07/30/2008 : 18:29:14
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Well, it sure beats stealing hubcaps. (That's an old joke; I haven't even seen a hubcap in decades.)
I still have every copper penny I have sorted. I'll keep them until somebody offers a decent price, more than 2 1/2 times face value. If I had to sell them on Ebay I would be working for less than $3 an hour, and Ebay is having a down market in pennies these days. For a long time I held onto the zincs too, but I turned them all in last month when I needed cash for a trip. |
A penny sorted is a penny earned!
Please use tinyurl.com to post links. Long links make posts hard to read. |
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First post, a few questions
