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orionstarman
Penny Pincher Member
USA
106 Posts |
 Posted - 09/05/2009 : 10:57:54
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I just did a little experiment in the kitchen today. I took a large (4 cup) measuring cup and filled it half way (2 cups) with water. I then dropped pennies in until the water level reached 3 cups. I was going to go to 4 cups but, it looked like the pennies would be over the water level before I reached that point.
After reaching the 3 cup level I poured out the water and counted the pennies. In my little experiment it took 571 pennies to displace 1 cup of water. After doing the math I came up with 9136 pennies per gallon. This would have to be considered a rough estimate. I would have to repeat this several times and average out the answers to get a more accurate number. As 1 gallon and 5 gallon jars and buckets are a common way to store pennies this would be an easy way to estimate the size of your hoard.
Go ahead and try it and see what you get. Remember to post your answer here.
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Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.--Benjamin Franklin
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NotABigDeal
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
3890 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2009 : 11:00:39
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It's $50 per gallon.
Deal |
Live free or die.
Plain and simple.
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your council or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."
- Samuel Adams |
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twocents
Penny Collector Member
398 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2009 : 11:21:16
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| You guys are very far apart on your numbers. I had come up 7,700 per gallon based on an internet search and averaging different answers. Starman's method would be the most accurate if repeated. Might be more accurate to try it in a slotted 5-gallon bucket. Don't know if you would want to soak that many pennies, though. |
Just my two cents! |
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NotABigDeal
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
3890 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2009 : 11:52:40
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Get a gallon container. Get a known amount of $50 in pennies. Pour them in. Very close. Try it. You'll see....
Deal |
Live free or die.
Plain and simple.
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your council or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."
- Samuel Adams |
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natsb88
Administrator
USA
1850 Posts |
 Posted - 09/05/2009 : 11:54:35
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In this case the water method is not accurate. It gives you the exact volume of the pennies, not the relative volume of the pennies in the container. The water fills spaces that pennies could not fill. That means your water level in the container reads low. The relative volume is much greater because of the empty spaces in between coins. The figure of 9136 pennies per gallon would only be true if there were no air spaces between the coins.
The best way to get an average is to fill up a bucket or jug of known volume (dry), dump them out, and count them   |
Nate
The Copper Cave
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Kurr
1000+ Penny Miser Member
2906 Posts |
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twocents
Penny Collector Member
398 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2009 : 12:56:34
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quote:
Originally posted by natsb88
In this case the water method is not accurate. It gives you the exact volume of the pennies, not the relative volume of the pennies in the container. The water fills spaces that pennies could not fill. That means your water level in the container reads low. The relative volume is much greater because of the empty spaces in between coins. The figure of 9136 pennies per gallon would only be true if there were no air spaces between the coins.
The best way to get an average is to fill up a bucket or jug of known volume (dry), dump them out, and count them
I do fully see your point, Nate. It also sounds as though Deal has actually tested this as well. I guess I should have never trusted internet calculations when I could have just asked persons who have measured directly. |
Just my two cents! |
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orionstarman
Penny Pincher Member
USA
106 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2009 : 16:42:05
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Experiment #2 fill a 1 gal. milk jug with pennies. I just emptied two boxes of pennies (5,000) into a milk jug with enough room for 600 more. So, that made it 5,600 total or $56 and 28,000 for a 5 gal. jug. I could have stopped at $50 but I thought there was still too much room.
I forgot about the extra room left between the coins in the first experiment.
How much does the shape have to do with the number of pennies the container will hold. Can you get more in a 1 gal or 5 gal bucket? The 1 gal milk jug I used I was able to get the pennies to go down the handle part maybe in some jugs the pennies won't fit. |
Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.--Benjamin Franklin
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Edited by - orionstarman on 09/05/2009 16:46:33 |
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twocents
Penny Collector Member
398 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2009 : 16:57:34
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I would imagine the density of pennies would be higher in the 5 gallon bucket than in the 1 gallon bucket. That is because the surface area to volume ratio is lower for the 5 gallon bucket. Every contact point between a penny and the side is going to make an air pocket. The side of the bucket will not conform to the pennies, but there would be an infinite number of ways for a penny to slide up against another penny, so the air pockets in the middle should be smaller than at the edge. So I would imagine there is an increased efficiency for storage with increasing container size. Also a cylinder or sphere should be more efficient than a cube.
Just my two cents! |
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NotABigDeal
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
3890 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2009 : 18:32:10
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You guys are splitting hairs. $50 is a fair amount. Bulk purchases of pennies at $50 per gallon is more than fair.
Deal |
Live free or die.
Plain and simple.
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your council or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."
- Samuel Adams |
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orionstarman
Penny Pincher Member
USA
106 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2009 : 18:57:27
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| I'm not talking about a bulk purchase. I just wanted to know how many pennies are in a gallon. |
Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.--Benjamin Franklin
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slickeast
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
2533 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2009 : 19:10:01
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300.00 is about right for a 5gal bucket. 116.00 is about what i get in a 2 gallon bucket. so 56.00 for a gallon would seem right. it appears that the larger the container the more per gallon you can get in. the pennies can fit in tighter and remove more air pockets.
the 1st test using water displacement tells you how many liquid pennies per gallon...and we all know about the melt ban. |
You don't have to be the BEST you just have to be.......SLICK
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myfundsarelow
Penny Collector Member
USA
388 Posts |
Posted - 09/06/2009 : 11:00:35
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| who is going to lift the three hundred dollars worth of copper cents that would be over 200 pounds per 5 gallon bucket i just sort the cents, dump the zincs roll the copper cents always know my inventory happy holiday all PEACE!! |
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Kurr
1000+ Penny Miser Member
2906 Posts |
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HoardCopperByTheTon
Administrator
USA
6807 Posts |
Posted - 09/06/2009 : 12:47:32
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I use a pair of bags to carry out up to 8 boxes at a time also.. but 80% of them are zincs.. so they ain't all that heavy. I displace a lot more water than Kurr though.. and have a lower center of gravity.
Other members are correct about the first method not accounting for all the spaces between the pennies. The number in a loose container depends on how well settled the pennies are. Unwrap a box of pennies and put them all back in the box. It can be done.. and some members can do it, but it requires a lot shaking. I usually only get 1900 to 2000 loose pennies in an empty penny box.
Being a roller, rather than a shaker.. I just roll them up when I want to get a bunch of pennies in a container. That way you can easily get $100 face in a medium flat rate box. When they are rolled, there is generally less air space between the pennies. The roundness of the rolls does create some wasted space between them, but is generally pretty efficient. There are guys here that can achieve a more optimal space utilization.. but that is a lot of shaking.. and I am lazy. If you really want an exact count, you just run them through a high speed counter. $50 per gallon is what I usually figure. That would be an unshaken volume. |
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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slickeast
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
2533 Posts |
Posted - 09/06/2009 : 14:41:04
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quote:
Originally posted by myfundsarelow
who is going to lift the three hundred dollars worth of copper cents that would be over 200 pounds per 5 gallon bucket i just sort the cents, dump the zincs roll the copper cents always know my inventory happy holiday all PEACE!!
I use several 5 gal buckets when I am doing my returns. All zinc. So they weigh about 165-170. I am not a little guy. And I use to lift weights so 170, although heavy, is not hard to pick up and put in the van.
I did just purchase a new hand truck, the other one looks like it is about to lose the rubber wheel that is on the plastic rim. |
You don't have to be the BEST you just have to be.......SLICK
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Pennies per gallon?
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