Question for you penny hoarders

rfishoutofwater

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Haven't been super active with coin roll hunting as of late because of building a new home and all that stress that goes with that but I have a question for the penny hoarders. I have 362lbs of copper pennies I have hand sorted over the years and listed them on Craigslist to sell. I got a hit from a gentleman that's interested in long term holding of these since you can't melt them yet! and offered me $636 cash for them. There is roughly $556 worth of pennies in those buckets. So my question is would you take that offer or hold out for more. I'm not in a hurry to sell but thought if I could make a profit and not have to move them to the new home that would be great. I would only profit $80 off this deal. So I'm asking your thoughts. Penny or cent. Let's not make this an argument of what's right. Lol. Happy hunting!

UPDATE!!!!!! Relisted them on CL and within hrs I got a bite. I listed for $750.00. They just came over and bought them all for my asking price. So I profited roughly $200 on $550 worth of face value pennies. He was thrilled and said he would be interested in more when I get them. So looks like I have a local buyer. I love it. My wife is ecstatic. She could not believe I sold them for more than face.
 

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Zukovsky

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I'd keep em. 80 bucks for all that work? No thanks.
 

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rfishoutofwater

rfishoutofwater

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Yep. That's my thought but wasn't sure what others have been getting for them. Like I said I'm not needing to sell them. Just thought if I could why not.
 

Aug 20, 2009
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Keep em until the price is right or the economy nose dives,which ever comes first.
 

MIhunter

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Jun 29, 2011
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362 pounds of pennies = 5,792 oz of pennies (362x16)
a copper penny weighs 3.11 grams, thus 10 pennies weighs one oz
5,792 oz of pennies = 57,920 pennies = $579.20 of pennies

$636 divided by 57920 pennies = 1.1 cents per penny

1.1 cents is a little low, but I would take it. I wouldn't want to keep hundreds of pounds of copper pennies.
Buy yourself a half oz of gold, takes up less space!!
 

Joe777Cool

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Tell him the market is around 1.4 to 1.5 each, cut him a deal at 1.3 each or keep them. Thats about $753.
 

Omega

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I sell mine for 1.4c each. Ebay is like 1.27ish after fees.
 

nomad 11

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first question i have to ask:how far will you have to move them to your new house?if you're not desperate i say keep em.just reserve a spot in the corner of your garage in your new home.last time copper spiked i think it was 2 years ago something like that a friend sold a $100 worth of pennies for $160 soooooooo!!!its an investment of your time.
 

uncubano13

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I buy them at 1.25 cents each myself for what it's worth...just my 2 cents! lol
 

maverick

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Hey rfishoutofwater, nice to see you post, I haven't been on a whole lot lately but haven't seen you in some time, hope you're doing well. If it was me, I would keep them for now, I only search halves, stopped doing pennies for a while but, I would keep them if it's not toooo much trouble to move with them, just MHO. Good luck and HH, Maverick.
 

Uncleslick18

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Oct 24, 2011
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You can get more than that on eBay for them, but that's also a lot of extra work. You have to count or weigh them out. Bag them or figure out some sort of way to keep them all together. Tape the crap out of the box and hope to god it doesn't bust open when you ship them (which has happened to me a few times), take them to the post office and get all the Nasty looks from the postal employees that have to handle a 69 pound box, hope they don't some how "decide" the box is too heavy after you've paid to ship it and then have them bring it back to your house and tell you it's too heavy (that happens too)...

And there are other little fun things that happen that make the whole process of selling them on eBay not worth it too...

I've got two 5gal Home Depot buckets full of 59-81 pennies now and I'm still just stashing them for whatever reason. I tell myself I do it because I'm after the wheats and the occasional ih's, plus the older king George's..

It's pretty much a crap chute either way..

I look at it as, that's all that money (however much is down there) that I've saved and not spent, that will provide a higher return than putting that money in the bank, and presents no risk of loss... It all depends on what you're looking for...

If you don't need the money, don't sell them, or try to get the guy to come up a little bit...

Tell him to go price out that much on eBay, and you'll make it worth his while to buy them from you...
 

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rfishoutofwater

rfishoutofwater

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I buy them at 1.25 cents each myself for what it's worth...just my 2 cents! lol

Thanks Maverick. Ive been lurking and reading posts but havent been super active in the hunt. I'v e done a lot of boxes of pennies but my problem has been just getting rid of the junk. I just haven't had time. On a side note - WE WILL NEVER BUILD ANOTHER HOME AGAIN! Too much stress! Our builder has delayed our move in now 2 months. Wont be done until end of March! I will hold on to the pennies until I get my asking price which was $750.00 If I can get that Ill sell them. I still have another bucket thats half full already and will continue to stash once moved. I plan on picking up a sorter so I can sort faster and leave me more time to look for errors etc. Still itching for the silver but picking have been very slim. HH
 

BuffaloBoy

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Feb 16, 2011
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It's nice to see you posting! I have quite a few copper pennies myself but don't plan on hoarding any more because I don't see the market making it worthwhile anytime soon. I would keep them, toss them away hidden somewhere and forget about them until someday when the melt ban is lifted.
 

ArkieBassMan

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362 pounds of pennies = 5,792 oz of pennies (362x16) a copper penny weighs 3.11 grams, thus 10 pennies weighs one oz 5,792 oz of pennies = 57,920 pennies = $579.20 of pennies $636 divided by 57920 pennies = 1.1 cents per penny 1.1 cents is a little low, but I would take it. I wouldn't want to keep hundreds of pounds of copper pennies. Buy yourself a half oz of gold, takes up less space!!

Is this correct? Copper is NOT a precious metal, so I always assumed copper was bought/sold/figured in "regular" ounces and pounds, not troy. If thats correct, then there are 28.35 grams per ounce and not 31.1, which would be 9.12 cents per ounce or ~52,823 ($528.23) copper cents. A $636 offer would be 1.204 cents each...which in my opinion is a very good cash offer in today's market. No shipping, no muss, no fuss.

Forgive me if I'm wrong on the troy thing and/or with my math.
 

BRChiver

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Is this correct? Copper is NOT a precious metal, so I always assumed copper was bought/sold/figured in "regular" ounces and pounds, not troy. If thats correct, then there are 28.35 grams per ounce and not 31.1, which would be 9.12 cents per ounce or ~52,823 ($528.23) copper cents. A $636 offer would be 1.204 cents each...which in my opinion is a very good cash offer in today's market. No shipping, no muss, no fuss.

Forgive me if I'm wrong on the troy thing and/or with my math.

Yes sir, I'm fairly certain copper is traded on the Avoirdupois system. At least the scrap yard follows this with copper.
HH!
BRChiver
 

MIhunter

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Jun 29, 2011
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Is this correct? Copper is NOT a precious metal, so I always assumed copper was bought/sold/figured in "regular" ounces and pounds, not troy. If thats correct, then there are 28.35 grams per ounce and not 31.1, which would be 9.12 cents per ounce or ~52,823 ($528.23) copper cents. A $636 offer would be 1.204 cents each...which in my opinion is a very good cash offer in today's market. No shipping, no muss, no fuss. Forgive me if I'm wrong on the troy thing and/or with my math.

You are correct

Another way to calculated is by converting pounds directly to grams

362 lbs x 454 grams/lb = 164,348 grams of pennies

164,348 grams divided by 3.11 grams per penny = 52845 pennies or $528.45 in pennies

$636 divided by 52,845 equals 1.2 cents per penny

I stand corrected with the following excuse,
2 different types of ounces? Very Confusing!
 

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Diggin-N-Dumps

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The Whole face that you dont have to ship or pay fees....I think that is a good return right now....of course the minute you sell, Copper will sky rocket and they will discontinue the Penny like they just did in Canada...lol

Thats how it always works out :laughing7:
 

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rfishoutofwater

rfishoutofwater

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Feb 11, 2011
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Thanks guys. He won't pay more than the $636. I'm going to hold them. I think I can get more. Like I said I'm not in a hurry to sell. Especially now that I got them out of the glass 5g jugs with out breaking them. Safely in covered buckets and can stash them in the garage at the new house. If someone wants to buy them for my asking price I will then sell.
 

CardsNCoins

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The easiest math is 1 lb of copper pennies = $1.47

362 * $1.47 = $532.14
 

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rfishoutofwater

rfishoutofwater

Sr. Member
Feb 11, 2011
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UPDATE!!!!!! Relisted them on CL and within hrs I got a bite. I listed for $750.00. They just came over and bought them all for my asking price. So I profited roughly $200 on $550 worth of face value pennies. He was thrilled and said he would be interested in more when I get them. So looks like I have a local buyer. I love it. My wife is ecstatic. She could not believe I sold them for more than face.
 

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