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6 Posts |
 Posted - 06/23/2009 : 12:06:11
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Hi all, I'm 34 and have been collecting coins off and on since I was a small kid. I have been thinking of sorting copper pennies for a little extra cash on the side and was wondering if it is really worth the time/effort? I wouldn't be surprised to get a 25-30% ratio of copper out of the pennies arund here. I just found this site and see that a lot of you have been doing this for some time now and could offer some really good advice. My biggest qustion is where or to who would I sell the copper ones to? What would $100 in copper pennies be worth? Is the 25% ration of copper pennies enough to get into this. I can find a bank to take the pennies back, that's no prob. Any advice would be appreciated!! Thanks!
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slickeast
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
2533 Posts |
Posted - 06/23/2009 : 12:20:47
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Welcome Shorton,
There is work and time involved in sorting. You have to find a bank(s) to get pennies from and other bank(s) to take the zincs to.
Rule #1. Never dump were you pick-up. You will get cut off quick.
Selling is easy. Just sell to another member. You might get a few bucks more on e-bay but the fees will eat the profits.
$100 in copper would get about $145 or so shipped. $9.85 for the shipping costs plus packing materials will give you about a $35 profit. Subtract gas and time spent. Is it worth it?
Most are saving till copper reaches a higher price per pound.
25-30% is great. Some are sorting and only getting %'s in the teens.
If you are going to do any high volume sorting then getting all the right equipment will come into play. ( Ryedale, buckets, coin counters, carts, and a good relationship with your banks)
Again welcome and I am sure others will put in their 2 cents worth....lets just hope they are copper. |
You don't have to be the BEST you just have to be.......SLICK
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6 Posts |
Posted - 06/23/2009 : 12:22:52
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| WOW, that was quick! Thanks so much! I can tell I'm gonna love this site! |
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Market Harmony
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1274 Posts |
Posted - 06/23/2009 : 13:29:33
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Yeah, listen to Slick. He's well aware of the penny sorting in's and out's
You should be getting around 22% ratio c/z
The selling market is relatively small as of today. Most of this is due to public awareness. If/when melt bans are raised, or the penny is no longer made, awareness should rise. This makes sorting a long-term investment. Get in now while the ratio is still good.
$100 face is equal to 64.94 pounds of pure copper. You can find the market price of copper You must be logged in to see this link.
To make today's action "worth it" in the future, you would be doing yourself a favor by either buying from sellers here, or buying the sorting equipment to do it yourself.
Kind Regards,
Michael |
goto the new and improved realcent: http://realcent.org |
Edited by - Market Harmony on 06/23/2009 13:30:20 |
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Cody8404
Penny Hoarding Member
USA
602 Posts |
Posted - 06/23/2009 : 13:55:25
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Obey the law.
Right now there is a melt ban on. You can collect the coppers, but you can export or melt them. Stay well aware of the law.
Banks are very nervous about money. Always be nice. When they ask what you need those many cents for or where you got that many cents be ready with an answer. Mundane business answers are the best. It does no good to be reported to the secret service for brining a bucket of cents every Monday Morning. There is nothing illegal about taking change to a bank, but if they don’t like you all it takes is one accusation to have your name plastered in the media.
If I get one box every month or so from a bank I tell them I am a collector looking for old cents.
If I get more than one box I tell them my business needs change and my regular bank is out, or will close before I can get there. That works great at 4:30.
Some banks will order coins for you. Some will ask you to pay a fee. Some clerks are great; some are mean, ornery or lazy. Always have a smile and be nice. Many of the tellers are new, and by the time they get good they are promoted away from being tellers.
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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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daviscfad
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1664 Posts |
Posted - 06/23/2009 : 13:55:32
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| welcome shorton! A lot of knowledge to be had here... I agree with both slick and market harmony. |
Inquiring minds want to know |
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13 Posts |
Posted - 06/23/2009 : 14:26:40
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Here's what i figured: "Is it worth it" really depends on your target and meaning of "extra money". As SlickEast puts it.. a $100 Face in Copper could yield you about $35 profit after sorting.. so about 35%. Getting an average 20$ copper pull would get you numbers like this:
If you wanted to make an extra $350 a week.. you'd have to:
1) get $1,000 in Copper. = 100,000 pennies, which will be 20% of what you have to process, or:
2) $5,000 in pennies. =
3) Half a million pennies a week.
A Ryedale (someone want to sponsor me?) sorts 18,000 pennies an hour which would be 27-28 hours of constant feeding (assuming no jams or breaks in the supply chain) so let's put that at a reasonable 30-32 hours. Lets throw the time it takes to get to the post office and ship them out as a freebie. since this could vary, we'll even throw in the time it took you to collect your pennies from the bank.
You've just spent a good 32 hours to sort, package and mail copper out to someone for $350 in profit.
You've made $10.94 an hour.Now you have to dump all those unwanted zincs somewhere, and get charged a fee for doing so. I don't really feel like doing any more math.
So I think a good summation is that most people here are in it for the long term and have a decent job that lets them have this as a hobby, but I can't really see that someone could make a lot of extra loot by doing so in the short term.
Although, i'd like to be proven wrong.
BTW, i worked the above numbers up in my head because I was wondering if it was viable to support a living by doing this in order to pull just over $1000 a week in profit. I figured there is no way I'm going to be able to process 1.5 Million pennies A WEEK to do so, and sustain my family to do so for the next 8 months or so.. as i just found out a few days ago that i'm losing my job at the end of July. |
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buyingsilvers
Penny Collector Member
441 Posts |
Posted - 06/23/2009 : 15:42:16
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you should do it more as a hobby, not purely as a profit making venture. Unless you hit a home run (find a very rare coin), your profit margin given the time and effort spent is marginal.
you could look at it as a type of savings plan. Put away $500 in copper pennies a month, which is probably worth $750 versus spending it away or letting it collect dust in a savings account. |
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jonflyfish
Penny Hoarding Member
USA
693 Posts |
Posted - 06/23/2009 : 17:30:11
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First of all- welcome!
The question raised about being worth it or not is subjective and personal. For me it is worth it because I know that when hyperinflation sets in within the next few years, the price of everything will rise. Copper pennies will have been filtered out of circulation and in demand much like other hard goods. Finding a few treasures along the way just makes it that much more fun.
Cheers! |
The first panacea for a mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency; second is war. Both bring a temporary (and false) prosperity; both bring a permanent ruin. But both are the refuge of political and economic opportunities. |
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copperpennies
Penny Pincher Member
USA
222 Posts |
Posted - 06/23/2009 : 18:54:12
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quote:
Originally posted by Sleeping Martyr
Here's what i figured: "Is it worth it" really depends on your target and meaning of "extra money". As SlickEast puts it.. a $100 Face in Copper could yield you about $35 profit after sorting.. so about 35%. Getting an average 20$ copper pull would get you numbers like this:
If you wanted to make an extra $350 a week.. you'd have to:
1) get $1,000 in Copper. = 100,000 pennies, which will be 20% of what you have to process, or:
2) $5,000 in pennies. =
3) Half a million pennies a week.
A Ryedale (someone want to sponsor me?) sorts 18,000 pennies an hour which would be 27-28 hours of constant feeding (assuming no jams or breaks in the supply chain) so let's put that at a reasonable 30-32 hours. Lets throw the time it takes to get to the post office and ship them out as a freebie. since this could vary, we'll even throw in the time it took you to collect your pennies from the bank.
You've just spent a good 32 hours to sort, package and mail copper out to someone for $350 in profit.
You've made $10.94 an hour.Now you have to dump all those unwanted zincs somewhere, and get charged a fee for doing so. I don't really feel like doing any more math.
So I think a good summation is that most people here are in it for the long term and have a decent job that lets them have this as a hobby, but I can't really see that someone could make a lot of extra loot by doing so in the short term.
Although, i'd like to be proven wrong.
BTW, i worked the above numbers up in my head because I was wondering if it was viable to support a living by doing this in order to pull just over $1000 a week in profit. I figured there is no way I'm going to be able to process 1.5 Million pennies A WEEK to do so, and sustain my family to do so for the next 8 months or so.. as i just found out a few days ago that i'm losing my job at the end of July.
I find that $10 an hour is a good estimate but in order to make that you need a ryedale $500 and most likely a coin counter (CS-10) $360. You may be able to get the Ryedale used for less than $400 but that is still about $750 in equipment to start making money. Now i personally think that it is worth it for me to sort and sell but i am also 15 so $10 an hour is great. If $10 an hour is worth it to you then yes it is worth it but if you dont think that making $10 an hour is worth your time then it is now worth it. |
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buyingsilvers
Penny Collector Member
441 Posts |
Posted - 06/23/2009 : 19:33:38
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$10 an hour is probably overly optimistic, especially when you factor in the gas money, the time transiting from banks to pull/dump, the fact that you're probably sifting through the zincs to find the weird stuff that got accepted, sifting through the coppers to find the wheats, etc. I'd say it's more like $5/hour.
Then like copperpennies said, you're looking at a $500 machine to sort + wear & tear on that machine. |
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NotABigDeal
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
3890 Posts |
Posted - 06/23/2009 : 19:57:48
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Welcome first and foremost. Treat it as a hobby first. Then....
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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6 Posts |
Posted - 06/24/2009 : 03:37:28
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very interesting math, sleeping ... Getting the pennies is no problem. I happen to work for a buisiness where I could easily order $500 in pennies a week with no fee and nothing would be thought of it. I have a couple of banks that I could take the unwanted ones back to, so that's no problem. I just wanted to make sure there was a market for them before I actually started doing it. I was thinking of only keeping the wheats I found, but now you guys have got me to thinking about keeping all the copper ones for the long term investment. Now I really don't know what I want to do...thanks a lot!
Anyway, I like collecting so I might just start out going through $500 worth over the next couple weeks just to make sure the ratio is what I think it will be, and if nothing else I'll have a bunch of copper to add to my collection of coins.
Thanks every one for the advice! Keep the suggestions coming! |
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Gr33nday43
New Member
Uzbekistan
10 Posts |
Posted - 06/24/2009 : 04:21:11
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| Shorton, don't expect many wheats. I get about 10 per $25 I sort. Also, if copper stays at the levels it is at now, no matter how much math someone can do, I don't think it's worth it to sell them. You would be better off saving them for the future. Think of it as a risk-free savings account. Inflation = higher copper price, deflation = cash position. Unlike many of the "nuts" (sarcasm) on this forum, I do not believe in TSHTF. There are too many powers working against that. I do however believe in moderate inflation over the next decade or so which will push commodity prices up, much like an extended Jimmy Carter presidency. Another good option for you would be to sell half and hoard the other half, but I'm rambling now. Be careful, hoarding copper will develop into an addiction after you start. It is a very hard habit to break. All of the members who have lost personal relationships because of their addiction to copper and want some kind of gratification come up with tales about finding indian heads in circulation. Don't become one of them! |
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PreservingThePast
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1572 Posts |
Posted - 06/24/2009 : 13:32:19
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Shorton...welcome.
Is it worth it? IMO, it's a wonderfully, relaxing hobby to sort through the rolls of coins and I definitely find it worth it. Four rolls ($2.00 of pennies) takes me and hour or more to sort through. Cheap enough entertainment. The occasional find of a wheat cent or the years I need for the birth year coin projects is added satisfaction.
Enjoy. |
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PreservingThePast
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1572 Posts |
Posted - 06/24/2009 : 13:35:05
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BTW, i worked the above numbers up in my head because I was wondering if it was viable to support a living by doing this in order to pull just over $1000 a week in profit. I figured there is no way I'm going to be able to process 1.5 Million pennies A WEEK to do so, and sustain my family to do so for the next 8 months or so.. as i just found out a few days ago that i'm losing my job at the end of July.
Sleeping Martyr.......I am very sorry to hear of your upcoming job loss.
Hang in there.
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dakota1955
1000+ Penny Miser Member
2212 Posts |
Posted - 06/24/2009 : 13:37:18
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| I would have to ask you what would you be spending your time on if you did not sort pennies. Then decide what your time and values are then you will see it this is worth your time or not. |
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CoinHunter53562
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1805 Posts |
Posted - 06/24/2009 : 13:47:50
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Welcome shorton! I dont have much to add since the members who replied gave some excellent advice. I will add that you can check the intrinsic value daily of copper pennies and other coins (including silver ones) by visiting:
You must be logged in to see this link.
It's a very useful site, with a breakdown of the calculations as well as entertaining links to coin and economic articles.
Whatever you decide to do...we wish you good luck! |
My hobby: collecting real money 1 copper cent or nickel at a time.
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beerdoodle
Penny Sorter Member
USA
28 Posts |
Posted - 06/25/2009 : 01:21:12
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| I am doing it as a pastime and not for profit per se. But where else can you get 50% return? It may never hit 3/1 again. But could hit 5/1 or better. We all speculate, but it is a quest that pays for itself and has huge profit potential depending on how much you put into it. I make a very modest living, but have no debts. So I piddle in it and have made some nice finds. |
I am really getting good at barely getting by |
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PreservingThePast
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1572 Posts |
Posted - 06/25/2009 : 09:05:27
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quote:
Originally posted by beerdoodle
I am doing it as a pastime and not for profit per se. But where else can you get 50% return? It may never hit 3/1 again. But could hit 5/1 or better. We all speculate, but it is a quest that pays for itself and has huge profit potential depending on how much you put into it. I make a very modest living, but have no debts. So I piddle in it and have made some nice finds.
Beerdoodle...nice finds, as in error coins or older coins?
Enjoy. |
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SANITARIUM_INMATE
Penny Pincher Member
211 Posts |
Posted - 06/25/2009 : 23:37:33
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| I would like to welcome you to the clan. This hobby is not about "is it worth it" it is more like a savings account that you gradually put money into. Yes, there is a chance that this savings account could go to $10 a pound or more but being realistic you will have the same amount that you spent in from day one, your money will not go away. At $500 a week you will get $100 on a 20% average put towards your savings or retirement, whatever you want to call it. Don't sort more than you are willing to put away for a while is basically what we all are trying to say. You CAN make money off these or just send them back to the bank for your money back, it's a win win situation. |
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beerdoodle
Penny Sorter Member
USA
28 Posts |
Posted - 06/26/2009 : 00:35:12
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quote:
Originally posted by PreservingThePast
quote:
Originally posted by beerdoodle
I am doing it as a pastime and not for profit per se. But where else can you get 50% return? It may never hit 3/1 again. But could hit 5/1 or better. We all speculate, but it is a quest that pays for itself and has huge profit potential depending on how much you put into it. I make a very modest living, but have no debts. So I piddle in it and have made some nice finds.
a 1902 IH, 3 1909 wheats, several wheats in the teens. Nothing great, but also about 28-30% copper return, so it is a win-win situation.
Beerdoodle...nice finds, as in error coins or older coins?
Enjoy.
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I am really getting good at barely getting by |
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6 Posts |
Posted - 06/26/2009 : 03:25:38
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Well, I bought my first box today. I'm half way through it and so far the copper count is running right at 23% . I have found 4 wheaties (3-1955 & 1-1946 I think), 1 2009 log cabin, 2 canada, and three "s" mints - 70s, 72s, and 73s I believe. Do the "s" mint ones one at about the same ratio as the wheaties? Are the canada pennies made of copper? They were both in the 70's I think.
I enjoyed sorting through the first half and can't wait to start on the second half! |
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6 Posts |
Posted - 06/27/2009 : 03:26:01
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| Final tally was... 550 coopers (22%), 5 wheats, 5 "s" mints, 5 canada. A guess it was a decent box. |
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newbie...love it...is it worth it??
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