Copper

[apush]

How many folks out there keep copper cents? I go thru 2 boxes per week and find quite a bit. Not like the massive amounts I have seen posted!

Is it really worth hanging on to? Who buys copper cents? And how do you go about selling? Just wondering if this is something that should be considered--at least for this ol' gal. It would be nice to sell the copper and buy silver. Thanks for any responses. I read on a post someone has a "ton"--literally! I call that dedication.

apush

 

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[AGCoinHunter]

I have a coin sorting machine that I rigged up, it puts the copper ones in one jar and it rejects all the rest. This is all done while I watch hockey games in which my team isn't playing. Once I feed them all through, I can then easily pick the wheats out of the copper and if I don't have a busy schedule I will usually look for errors in the copper ones, and if I really have a lot of time I check for errors in the zinc ones as well. It's pretty fun sorting them with the sorter, if you have an extra $50 I recommend getting the coin sorting part on eBay and then making a system in which the coins are shot into jars or something simiar.

This "machine" also can sort other coins, but I don't have it set up for that.

The Ryedale Ace can do this also. Thats what I use.

 

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[2Cents]

I have a coin sorting machine that I rigged up, it puts the copper ones in one jar and it rejects all the rest. This is all done while I watch hockey games in which my team isn't playing. Once I feed them all through, I can then easily pick the wheats out of the copper and if I don't have a busy schedule I will usually look for errors in the copper ones, and if I really have a lot of time I check for errors in the zinc ones as well. It's pretty fun sorting them with the sorter, if you have an extra $50 I recommend getting the coin sorting part on eBay and then making a system in which the coins are shot into jars or something simiar.

This "machine" also can sort other coins, but I don't have it set up for that.

What type of machine is this?

 

[rf2304]

I have also been collecting copper cents for some time now. If you are lucky enough to find some wheats you will pull a small premium. I see copper as a precious metal and believe that the price will continue to increase with time. It just makes sense to diversify and hold as many in-demand metals as possible.

 

[obediah]

I sort copper pennies while watching tv. Not that it really matters but since i dump halves at a number of machines , i mix a lot of the pennies with them so it is not so obvious that i am dumping halves. This way i have a less of a chance of wearing out my welcome. Of course from the hobby standpoint getting wheaties is kool and Indian heads is great. My "dream" woulld be getting a flying eagle.

TV? Not me I listen to Alex Jones or something along those lines or sometimes some classical music with some red wine too, tv gags me it's just a moral sewer and full of propaganda, just makes me mad[d].

 

[Trent Charles]

I sort copper pennies while watching tv. Not that it really matters but since i dump halves at a number of machines , i mix a lot of the pennies with them so it is not so obvious that i am dumping halves. This way i have a less of a chance of wearing out my welcome. Of course from the hobby standpoint getting wheaties is kool and Indian heads is great. My "dream" woulld be getting a flying eagle.

TV? Not me I listen to Alex Jones or something along those lines or sometimes some classical music with some red wine too, tv gags me it's just a moral sewer and full of propaganda, just makes me mad[d].

I also do the same. I find its boring just to sit and listen to different talk shows, its nice to have something to do with your hands. I like Alex Jones, King World News and Financial Sense.

 

[Rich Hartford]

I think that investing in a ryedale and collecting copper cents is a good idea, and will pay off sometime in the future.
I'd do it myself but don't have the time right now.
HH
Rich

 

[jrf30]

It looks to me the feeBay fees consume ALL of the profit and then some on the copper pennies sold on Ebay.

Then let me say again that it is not that way. :-) You can sell a $50 bag right now at about $75 - $80. I know that fees are not ruinning about $30 for an $80 purchase, so there is still MUCH profit to be made.

When I was selling last year at $130 per $50 bag, I was making about 140% NET on the bags sold. Over $70 profit on $50 sold. After ebay fees AND paypal fees. ANd the buyer paid the shipping, in the flat rate box. So yes there are profits to be made NOW, and BETTER profits to be made when copper gets back up closer to $4 per pound and the prices on ebay go back above $100 per $50 bag. That's when I'll sell another ton or two of copper pennies. :-)

MTS said "But counting my time I only made about $5 an hour" At this level, probably true. Especially if you are sorting by hand. But when you get $100 per $50 bag in the near future again, on a net basis, that is a $50 profit. It takes you about 4 boxes to get that much in copper (It tkaes me 5 boxes, but you get more copper than I do, so I"m using your numbers for your hourly wages) Plus the wheats that are not included in this calculation. It takes me about 2 hours to do 4 boxes. It should take you the same when you get a Ryedale. That includes unwrapping and throwing into the Ryedale at the same time, then sorting the copper for the extra wheats. (And watching the reject bin as you go, not the unwrapping with my eyes, so you catch some older wheats that go into the reject tray. I do NOT run them through twice like some do, as I want to get on to other boxes.) Take 2 hours and make $50. Ohhh, add another 30 minutes for putting the auction up, sending it out, etc. Now you are at 2.5 hours, for about $50 profit. About $20 per hour. Kinda cook for "spare time" activities. (Take away the cost of the ryedale and replacement parts for it as it wears out, which parts DO, plus the minor electric used to run it, and maybe you are down to $15 per hour. Still not bad though)

 

[rwb83]

It looks to me the feeBay fees consume ALL of the profit and then some on the copper pennies sold on Ebay.

Then let me say again that it is not that way. :-) You can sell a $50 bag right now at about $75 - $80. I know that fees are not ruinning about $30 for an $80 purchase, so there is still MUCH profit to be made.

When I was selling last year at $130 per $50 bag, I was making about 140% NET on the bags sold. Over $70 profit on $50 sold. After ebay fees AND paypal fees. ANd the buyer paid the shipping, in the flat rate box. So yes there are profits to be made NOW, and BETTER profits to be made when copper gets back up closer to $4 per pound and the prices on ebay go back above $100 per $50 bag. That's when I'll sell another ton or two of copper pennies. :-)

MTS said "But counting my time I only made about $5 an hour" At this level, probably true. Especially if you are sorting by hand. But when you get $100 per $50 bag in the near future again, on a net basis, that is a $50 profit. It takes you about 4 boxes to get that much in copper (It tkaes me 5 boxes, but you get more copper than I do, so I"m using your numbers for your hourly wages) Plus the wheats that are not included in this calculation. It takes me about 2 hours to do 4 boxes. It should take you the same when you get a Ryedale. That includes unwrapping and throwing into the Ryedale at the same time, then sorting the copper for the extra wheats. (And watching the reject bin as you go, not the unwrapping with my eyes, so you catch some older wheats that go into the reject tray. I do NOT run them through twice like some do, as I want to get on to other boxes.) Take 2 hours and make $50. Ohhh, add another 30 minutes for putting the auction up, sending it out, etc. Now you are at 2.5 hours, for about $50 profit. About $20 per hour. Kinda cook for "spare time" activities. (Take away the cost of the ryedale and replacement parts for it as it wears out, which parts DO, plus the minor electric used to run it, and maybe you are down to $15 per hour. Still not bad though)

So I can see how selling the copper pennies on E-bay could make a profit and I can see the reason for others purchasing them. I've seen that the wheats sell at a bit of a premium...what is the best avenue for selling the wheats? In rolls, singles...how?

Thanks for the info.

 

[jrf30]

I think the wheats would sell depending on year and value. The 1958D and 1957D are so common that you would have to sell them in rolls, and get maybe 3 cents per coin. Many others would also get about 3 cents a coin. Maybe even a little less. But when you get back into the 1920's and 1910's, then you'd be able to maybe sell a coin individually, or in a group of 5 or so.

Most of the wheats don't get enough of a premium to sell individually though.

As for me, I'm collecting the wheats. Just keeping them forever. they are my "bonus" from the copper, which I sell. So if i sell the copper and make a profit, the wheats are "free" to me in my mind. And I keep them. At some point I might start selling the excess common ones, but not yet. Just me.

 

[Kauka]

wheaties for me