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Mikep2020
Penny Collector Member
USA
402 Posts |
 Posted - 07/24/2009 : 11:21:01
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I might have an oppertunity to purchase a hoard of pennies from someone who's collected them for the past several decades. The hoard is contained in two 5 gallon water jugs filled to the brim. I don't know the exact weight of the penny filled jugs, because the guy can't even lift them up to put them on a scale.
If it takes 146 copper pennies to make a pound and 181 zinc pennies to make a pound, what would be a fair offer per pound without knowing the zinc/copper ratio in the jugs? I was thinking somewhere in the $1.60/lb range, But might be willing to go up to $1.70/lb What would you offer?
I won't have the oppertunity to inspect them or weight the jugs until I send the guy a price per pound offer, apparently he's fielding offers from several folks. I didn't get any other information other than the jugs contain only pennies, no other change and no mention of any wheats included in the hoard, but i'm assuming there will be "some" wheats in there. Thoughts?
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dakota1955
1000+ Penny Miser Member
2212 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2009 : 12:46:58
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| I would start at about 1.55 per pound and be willing to go up if needed. |
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Mikep2020
Penny Collector Member
USA
402 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2009 : 14:07:51
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| I put in a starting offer for $1.50 a pound and the guy accepted!! I didn't even have to counter offer! In his reply, he estimated 170 lbs per jug, or 340 lbs total, so $510 for this batch should be less than the face value. Also, I got a little more info about the hoard, he started collecting pennies in these jugs starting in the late 60's, so it took him 40 years or so to fill both jugs. One jug might be 75% or more CU! I'm so anxious to see what's at the bottom of the first jug. It will take me a long time to hand sort this batch, but I will let you guys know if I find anything of significant value. Picking them up in two days. |
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goodcents
Penny Hoarding Member
USA
504 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2009 : 15:04:33
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Can't be 1.50/lb. That's a no brainer. Good luck on finding a bunch of cu and more!
Keep us updated. |
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Computer Jones
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1112 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2009 : 17:44:52
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Come on Wheats!
Nice score. |
There's profit if you melt things!!
8{> |
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Gr33nday43
New Member
Uzbekistan
10 Posts |
Posted - 07/26/2009 : 00:53:33
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| Let us know how it turns out...Good luck! |
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JobIII
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1507 Posts |
Posted - 07/26/2009 : 07:49:07
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I'd like to see pictures of the full bottles. Good luck finding wheats, also good luck getting the coins out! That will be some work, before you sort.
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Selling Copper cents. $0 FV available at 1.4xFV. Also interested in trading for wheat pennies and other coins Please pm me for requests or inquiries.
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theo
Penny Hoarding Member
USA
588 Posts |
Posted - 07/26/2009 : 10:07:47
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The chances are that you've made a great deal here. However, make sure that you at least visually inspect these bottles before paying. The fact that he was "entertaining offers" worries me a little. He apparently knows he has some potentially valuable coins and therefore may would be tempted to give his hoard at least a cursory search for AU/BU copper and/or wheats. However, even if that were the case it would still be a solid deal for you.
The thing you need to guard against is the outside chance that he's made a more thorough search of his hoard and is selling you 300+ pounds of mostly zinc pennies. A quick inspection should alleviate any concerns here. I hope it works out for you. |
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HoardCopperByTheTon
Administrator
USA
6807 Posts |
Posted - 07/26/2009 : 10:16:01
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I would have guessed about 166.5 pounds per jug, for a total of 333 pounds of pennies.. 169 pounds for the first jug and 164 pounds for the second jug. Hope you weigh them when you get them out and tell us the actual weight. You can do this easily by putting the them in smaller batches after you liberate them, taking a tare for the bucket and adding all the bucket loads together. A small stick or rod will make getting them out a lot easier.. you ain't gonna be shaking these out. I estimate a total count of 50,000 pennies, so $510 for $500 face is a great deal. Looking forward to hearing the stats for actual weight, count, copper percentage and wheats. Stats for each jug would be interesting so we can compare the changes of what was in circulation over a 20 year spread.
If they are the glass water bottles you will probably want to take some duct tape to wrap them in so they don't bust and create a major mess when you try to move them. They can be rolled on end, but I would suggest a dolly and straps to make it safe and easy. Don't bust up the bottles. The glass bottles have value.. even the plastic ones are worth a few bucks.
We will want pictures of course!
Good luck!  |
If your percentages are low.. just sort more. If your percentages are high.. just sort more.
Now selling Copper pennies. 1.6x plus shipping. Limited amounts available. |
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Mikep2020
Penny Collector Member
USA
402 Posts |
Posted - 07/27/2009 : 09:14:46
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I wasn't able to pick them up yesterday due to a scheduling conflict, but I will check them out and pick up sometime early this week. I will dump out a small pile to do a quick once over check to make sure there are in fact a good percentage of Cu before paying, they guy seems honest based on the emails back and forth, so i'm not overly concerned that he did a pre-sort of any kind. I didn't think about the jugs being glass, and I hope I don't need to dump out the entire contents of the jug through that narrow opening, that would be a huge pain and consume a lot of time. I'm hoping these are in a plastic jug and was planning on dumping out just the top layer, then use a sawzall to cut off the top of the jug to be able to pour these out into smaller containers more easily. I think i'd rather mutilate the plastic jugs to get easier access to the pennies then try to save the jugs and waste a bunch of time trying to rod these out through that narrow opening.
I'll keep you guys updated and take pics! |
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BOHICA
Penny Sorter Member
USA
41 Posts |
Posted - 07/27/2009 : 10:29:41
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You made a score. I saved every penny for five years and filled a 5 gallon jar to the brim. When my daughter cashed it in for Christmas we dumped it into a coin machine and it totalled just over $310. FYI, we sorted out all of the pre 82s and saved them ($40 in Cu, 27 Wheats, 1 tarnished Ag Roosevelt dime and $272 into the coin machine).
Edited to add:
If they are glass bottles, they are not that hard to get the coins out. I laid the bottle on its side and used a butter knife to start the coins falling out and just rolled the bottle back and forth to keep the coins flowing. If they jam just use the knife or a small dowel to keep them flowing.
Somewhere on my old computer I have an article that has some formulas that allow you to calculate how many coins in a given volume based on size. I'll see if I can find it and post it here. This seems like the perfect place for it. |
Edited by - BOHICA on 07/27/2009 10:38:40 |
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hobo finds
Penny Hoarding Member
838 Posts |
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wolvesdad
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
2164 Posts |
Posted - 07/28/2009 : 03:46:36
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actually, won't he score either way?? IF it is all zincs, then there are many more per pound and he has an instant(though less dramatic or desireable) turnover for profit. About 30 cents per pound.
One thing that you should be careful of is if there has been any moisture in the jars. That can cause all kinds of disappointment and trouble! Corroded pennies are the worst!!!!!
I ONCE was given the opportunity to sort through this ladies 'penny bucket' that she had been collecting for 5 years. Unfortunately she had kept them underneath her sink and they were AWFUL!!!!!!!! AHHHH!!! I hated pennies for a whole 4 days after that experience..... I had to 'clean' the pennies before my dump bank would take them.... we had tried a cup full 'as is' and they jammed the machine. Yes, they were that bad!!!
Wow, I feel better now that I've gotten that off my chest! |
"May your percentages ever increase!" |
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Mikep2020
Penny Collector Member
USA
402 Posts |
Posted - 07/28/2009 : 07:53:17
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quote:
Originally posted by wolvesdad
One thing that you should be careful of is if there has been any moisture in the jars. That can cause all kinds of disappointment and trouble! Corroded pennies are the worst!!!!!
Thats a good point! I'll be sure to check for moisture and corrosion. If all goes well, I'll be picking these up this afternoon.
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Mikep2020
Penny Collector Member
USA
402 Posts |
Posted - 07/28/2009 : 18:30:48
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Jug on right weights 174.5 lbs, jug on left weights 172.5 lbs, Haggled a little and paid $480 for this lot.
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coinwolf
Penny Collector Member
USA
277 Posts |
Posted - 07/28/2009 : 18:43:16
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I see a indian head cent in the left jug just above the right corner of the sticker! |
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hobo finds
Penny Hoarding Member
838 Posts |
Posted - 07/28/2009 : 18:51:35
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| Great buy! You made more than $480.00 face value! |
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Mikep2020
Penny Collector Member
USA
402 Posts |
Posted - 07/29/2009 : 19:19:18
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| I weighted out and sorted a 30 lb pile from the left jug, which was supposed to be the newer of the 2 jugs, lots of 2000 - 2008's. A little disappointed, only 4 pounds of copper & 3 Wheats for 13.3% Cu. If this sample is anything like what the next 317 lbs will be like, then the guy totally lied to me about these jugs. I'm going to do a 30 lb sort of the right jug next to see whats in there. The only bright side is that the face value will be well over $600 if there's a lot of zinc. |
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giddyup99
Penny Pincher Member
USA
154 Posts |
Posted - 07/29/2009 : 19:44:39
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| I think I would be pretty happy with the purchase either way. Even if the rest of the collection is identical you'll add over 40 pounds of copper to your pile and cash in the zincs for more than you paid for the whole works. Free copper! |
Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want. |
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Bluegill
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1964 Posts |
Posted - 07/29/2009 : 19:45:16
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Interesting that the seller was able to estimate within a few pounds of the actual weight. With the weights being so close together, your results will probably be the same for the other jug.
Regardless, like others have mentioned, you got a great deal even if you bought pure Zn.  I would have bought them at that price. 
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hobo finds
Penny Hoarding Member
838 Posts |
Posted - 07/29/2009 : 20:09:52
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| As this was the "new" jug you should be fine. Lot's more copper in the "old" jug. And you found wheats in the new one! |
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HoardCopperByTheTon
Administrator
USA
6807 Posts |
Posted - 07/29/2009 : 23:36:40
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I would have guessed the right jug was the older one just by looking.. the color looks better. You would expect a much higher zinc concentration in the top of the newer bottle.
Don't forget you can make out pretty well with zincs too. Set aside the shiny ones and maybe batch them by dates. BU zincs are in demand. 86's go for a pretty penny, and certain years have Wide AM varieties.
I wasn't too far off on the weights. Tell us what the jugs weigh when you empty them so we can subract them from the total weight.
I think you will be fine on this deal. |
If your percentages are low.. just sort more. If your percentages are high.. just sort more.
Now selling Copper pennies. 1.6x plus shipping. Limited amounts available. |
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Mikep2020
Penny Collector Member
USA
402 Posts |
Posted - 08/03/2009 : 08:54:19
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I sorted through 100 lbs from the right jug yesterday, it appears the guy must've sorted out a lot of the wheats, I mean if your going to go through the trouble of sorting by denomination, you'll tend to keep a lot of the wheats seperate from the rest of the mix. Thats the conclusion I came to since I only found a few dozen wheats no older than 1940 on the low end of the grading scale so far in this jug. So, the stats for the right jug so far is 20 lbs Cu from 100 lbs sorted, or 20%, 32 Wheats (including 2 1943 steelies) 15 S-mints, 18 Canadian Cu, 3 Dimes, one 1971 5 Lire coin, and an undetermined copper blank planchet. There was not a penny in the mix newer than 2000, but there were a LOT of road rash pennies, and even a few hundred what looked like water fountain pennies, badly deteriorated, corroded, or otherwise unrecognizable.
About the 2 1943 Steelies, one was in poor shape, but one was in excellent shape except for a small black mark right by Lincoln's ear, other than that small mark, the penny is mint. And I also found what appears to be a copper blank planchet, but it weights 3.4 grams, so i'm not sure if its a penny planchet or a planchet from a different coin, maybe foreign. Also found a 1999 zinc penny with a cross punched out through the middle. I'll take a pic of these to post soon, but no other great finds so far. It appears this will mostly be a Cu sort with a few oddball coins. |
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taijitu
Penny Sorter Member
74 Posts |
Posted - 08/04/2009 : 00:39:53
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| I have a Civil War Token that weighs 3.4gms |
Edited by - taijitu on 08/04/2009 00:40:56 |
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knibloe
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1066 Posts |
Posted - 08/06/2009 : 21:10:05
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| nice score. I do think that the guyu lied to you about how long he has been collecting them. I would dare say that neither jug is from the 90's let alone the late 60's. Are they glass or plastic? |
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Mikep2020
Penny Collector Member
USA
402 Posts |
Posted - 08/07/2009 : 09:48:35
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quote:
Originally posted by knibloe
nice score. I do think that the guyu lied to you about how long he has been collecting them. I would dare say that neither jug is from the 90's let alone the late 60's. Are they glass or plastic?
Its looks like one jug was filled from the late 80's to 2000, and the other from 2000-2008. The jugs were plastic and weighted 1.2 lbs empty.
Here is a pic of the mysterious blank planchet found, does anyone kow what this is? It weights 3.4 grams and appears to be copper. It is slightly bent from something crushing it.
Here is the pic of the 1943 Steelie I found
Odd find
Aren't these the saddest set of wheats?
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Topic |
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Whats a fair offer for bulk mixed cents?
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