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beauanderos
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
2408 Posts |
 Posted - 10/15/2009 : 16:05:54
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If anyone has developed a system to sort more than 3,000 pennies an hour with a high degree of accuracy I'd like to know your secret. What I do to obtain that rate is use one of those magnifier lamps balanced towards the edge of a table, under which I've placed a catch box. I don't examine every coin, only the ones which are already face up. I pull all the brown coins and datecheck those, but just sweep the bright coins without checking. Some of the bright have just a hint of off-shade which you can flip and check (they're often 78 thru 81). I don't bother with any 82's, just save them for later. I figure that I may miss one or two bright pre - 82's this way, and I have to visually rule out a few dull brown post 82's each lot (I do 100 at a time), but the object is high-speed sorting, not 100% accuracy. If I can get 18% (about the avg for central CA) of $500 rather than 21% of $100 it just makes more sense on a productivity basis to work as fast as I can (since I haven't purchased a Ryedale yet). Any thoughts on this method? Alot of the rolls I'm getting now I can very quickly sweep clumps of five to ten pennies at a time to eliminate the "most likely to be zincs" from my more leisurely examination. Any thoughts on this method? If there's an easier method, let me know?
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Hoard now and hold on!
http://coppermillions.blogspot.com/
http://wherewillyoubein2012.blogspot.com/ |
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n/a
deleted
4 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2009 : 00:45:16
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OK this is what I do and I can sort about 100 a minute (yes by hand!)
1- get two boxes (one for copper one for zinc)
2- Place the boxes almost flush on the side of a table (use chairs books etc)
3- lightly hold the cents in a stack (i have big hands so I can do a roll at a time) bounce the cents off the table lightly.
copper sings baby! just listen .
wisk the coins in the proper boxes and bam! your sorting like wildman |
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AGgressive Metal
Administrator
USA
1937 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2009 : 01:11:54
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| What is the point of hand-sorting if not to be accurate? I check the date of each coin. No one is going to want to buy your copper if its 5% zincs. |
And he that hath lyberte ought to kepe hit wel / For nothyng is better than lyberte / For lyberte shold not be wel sold for alle the gold and syluer of all the world.
-Caxton's edition of Aesop's Fables, 1484 |
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HoardCopperByTheTon
Administrator
USA
6807 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2009 : 01:33:13
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As a hand sorter I was doing about 2500 coins per hour using a digital scale and weighing by groups. This was about twice as fast for me as eyeballing them trough a glass. Of course this was checking every cent rather than taking a cut by color. I never thought I was particularly fast at hand sorting. Your rate using a scale would probably be much faster than mine.
Let's see.. 3,000 coins per hour with 95% accuracy.. or
18,000 coins per hour with 100% accuracy using a Ryedale.
Hmmmm.. I think I will opt for automation. One doesn't have to sort all that many pennies for the time savings to pay for the Ryedale. You can sort more hours with less effort using the machine also. |
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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chris6084
Penny Collector Member
303 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2009 : 01:42:21
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quote:
Originally posted by HoardCopperByTheTon
As a hand sorter I was doing about 2500 coins per minute using a digital scale and weighing by groups. This was about twice as fast for me as eyeballing them trough a glass. Of course this was checking every cent rather than taking a cut by color. I never thought I was particularly fast at hand sorting. Your rate using a scale would probably be much faster than mine.
Let's see.. 3,000 coins per hour with 95% accuracy.. or
18,000 coins per hour with 100% accuracy using a Ryedale.
Hmmmm.. I think I will opt for automation. One doesn't have to sort all that many pennies for the time savings to pay for the Ryedale. You can sort more hours with less effort using the machine also.
You did 2500 coins per minute by digital scale? Why even bother with a Ryedale? |
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n/a
deleted
4 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2009 : 01:42:31
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Unless me and my wife's hearing is somehow way more acute then everyone else you should have no problem getting %100 accuracy. I actually re-sorted all my visually checked copper and found several errors both ways (after looking at the dates again it verified that I had misread the dates).
So without sounding too extreme I dare say it's MORE accurate way to sort then eyeballing everyone.
My wife doesn't even know what date copper was cut out of circulation and she can sort copper from zinc every time.
BTW- It works best an a non metallic yet hard epoxy or poly type finished surface. Most newer counter and table tops seam to be the best |
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HoardCopperByTheTon
Administrator
USA
6807 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2009 : 01:46:28
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Chris.. you got me.. lol. That was per hour. Guess I better go to bed. Either working too hard or sorting too much.. I need to get some sleep.  |
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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HoardCopperByTheTon
Administrator
USA
6807 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2009 : 01:51:35
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| Actually Chris, now that I think about it.. for a short period of time I was actually sorting 2500 coins every 10 seconds using a digital scale. This was during the time a year or so ago when a lot of us were getting duds.. solid circ boxes of zinc. I used my big scale. I would just put the box on the scale.. the scale would say 14.10 pounds. I would put the box in the return stack. Never even had to crack it. This was some of the fastest sorting I have ever done. Didn't do too much to grow the copper hoard, though. |
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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chris6084
Penny Collector Member
303 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2009 : 09:13:02
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quote:
Originally posted by HoardCopperByTheTon
Actually Chris, now that I think about it.. for a short period of time I was actually sorting 2500 coins every 10 seconds using a digital scale. This was during the time a year or so ago when a lot of us were getting duds.. solid circ boxes of zinc. I used my big scale. I would just put the box on the scale.. the scale would say 14.10 pounds. I would put the box in the return stack. Never even had to crack it. This was some of the fastest sorting I have ever done. Didn't do too much to grow the copper hoard, though.
I am lucky enought to not have found any circulated zinc boxes. Only solid date boxes which are fine with me. |
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chris6084
Penny Collector Member
303 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2009 : 09:14:51
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quote:
Originally posted by Red
Unless me and my wife's hearing is somehow way more acute then everyone else you should have no problem getting %100 accuracy. I actually re-sorted all my visually checked copper and found several errors both ways (after looking at the dates again it verified that I had misread the dates).
So without sounding too extreme I dare say it's MORE accurate way to sort then eyeballing everyone.
My wife doesn't even know what date copper was cut out of circulation and she can sort copper from zinc every time.
BTW- It works best an a non metallic yet hard epoxy or poly type finished surface. Most newer counter and table tops seam to be the best
I agree that the 'drop test' is fairly accurate. Before I had a scale, this was how I tested all my 82's. When I got a scale, I weighed all my 82's and did not have one zinc with them. |
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HoardCopperByTheTon
Administrator
USA
6807 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2009 : 09:24:49
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| Several of us experienced those "dud" boxes when that was happening. Glad you haven't experienced it, Chris. There is nothing to dampen one's spirits more than going through an entire shipment of 24 boxes without getting a single copper. Imagine how I would have felt if I was ringing each coin or eyeballing them. Sure glad I had a scale to check each box before opening. These occurances in the past give us reason to believe the machinery is already in place at the industrial level to quickly pull all the copper out once the rules change. Part of the reason some of us feel we need to sort faster.. while we're still in the game. Sorting percentages are never going to be better than they are today. |
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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JobIII
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1507 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2009 : 14:04:56
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quote:
Originally posted by Red
Unless me and my wife's hearing is somehow way more acute then everyone else you should have no problem getting %100 accuracy. I actually re-sorted all my visually checked copper and found several errors both ways (after looking at the dates again it verified that I had misread the dates).
So without sounding too extreme I dare say it's MORE accurate way to sort then eyeballing everyone.
My wife doesn't even know what date copper was cut out of circulation and she can sort copper from zinc every time.
BTW- It works best an a non metallic yet hard epoxy or poly type finished surface. Most newer counter and table tops seam to be the best
Yeah, I'll disagree with you about sound over sight. Unless y'all be the old fogey type, that require hearing aids and spectacles.  <-- notice the eye wear. But perhaps you're only talking about the 82's. In which case eyeing or bouncing are both less accurate than weighing.
~ JobIII |
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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Mikep2020
Penny Collector Member
USA
402 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2009 : 15:14:52
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| I'd rather sacrifice speed over accuracy. I want to keep every single copper penny that I come across. When I was doing bulk sorting without having to open rolls, I found that I could do around 2500 per hour very quickly while still maintaining 100% accuracy looking at every single date, but I would get burnt out very quickly and have to take a break. Its the time it takes to open rolls that really slow the process down. Now that i'm back to boxes, i'm back to focusing on searching for error varieties and such, therefore copper hoarding is a side effect of searching pennies for unique or rare coins. |
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beauanderos
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
2408 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2009 : 18:13:19
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| okay, that makes sense. If you're coming from a collector's point of view than it makes no sense to be a speed demon. As a handsorting hoarder I sometimes feel like there won't be any left for me soon with all the Ryedale riders around. I need to quit feeling like that and just enjoy the fun this hobby can represent finding occasional old date Linc's. |
Hoard now and hold on!
http://coppermillions.blogspot.com/
http://wherewillyoubein2012.blogspot.com/ |
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Mikep2020
Penny Collector Member
USA
402 Posts |
Posted - 10/20/2009 : 09:26:24
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quote:
Originally posted by beauanderos
As a handsorting hoarder I sometimes feel like there won't be any left for me soon with all the Ryedale riders around.
There will be plenty of copper cents circulating for a long time even with the heavy hoarders pulling tons out of circulation. There is just to many tons to go around that serious reductions in copper percentages will not occur until industrial sorting ramps up if/when the penny is discontinued or the melt ban is lifted. |
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beauanderos
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
2408 Posts |
Posted - 10/21/2009 : 13:08:31
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| I calculated there's something like 550,000 tons of 1959 - 1981's floating around out there, not counting wheaties... it just seems like the big hitters are pulling the coppers out of circulation. As long as it's just us on this forum, fine, we'll share... but let's get em for ourselves before any really big extractors come online. |
Hoard now and hold on!
http://coppermillions.blogspot.com/
http://wherewillyoubein2012.blogspot.com/ |
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fastest hand-sorting method?
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