What is going on with pennies???

[jrf30]

I was picking up about 18 boxes of pennies a week for a while, mostly in late 2007 and early 2008, but I got behind recently and had over 70 boxes sitting at my office. So, I stopped my orders and have been working off the excess. I quit getting my pennies for about 6 weeks. today I got 4 boxes at a bank, for the first time since late Janaury.

WOW. What HAPPENED?

I have been averaging about 16% copper in my boxes. I know some people say they are getting 22% of more, but I've been pretty steady at 16%.

The boxes I got today were at 4%! Total. WOW.

It's like all of a sudden someone took all the copper out and it is getting scarce. I know it happened to halves recently, and the yields are down a lot (Don't blame my article in W&E T, as it was getting scarce before that, and we already saw that not many came to work CRH based on that article alone) but now it seems like all of a sudden it is changing with Pennies too.

We will never run out of copper pennies, as there are too many, but if the yields drop significantly then it will get a lot harder to make it profitable or fun to do.

Anyone else see the yields in copper pennies drop off the last few weeks?

John

 

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[Codes]

I started out getting around 25% last year. Now my machine rolled percentage is up to 35% and sometimes 40% per box. So I can't say I'm having the same problem as you.

 

[GMan00001]

Could it be that you are getting your own rejects?

 

[jrf30]

Tis possible.

Too bad I didn't mark some, so I would know. ;-)

I figure pennies are so plentiful that I would not get my own, but I might be.

Tomorrow I go to a different side of town and get some, so we'll see what happens there. It is all client rolled stuff. They save it for me every month, and i pick it up when I go in to pay the 11 mortgages I owe them on the 15th of the month for some rentals I own.

That normally is much higher than my boxes, and I even came across four rolls of wheats there late last year. :-)

 

[DrDetector]

My last buy of pennies was 31.4% copper

 

[Hydrantman]

My question is this... is it really worth the hassel of pulling the copper out? Is there a call for it? I just bought 4 bags from the bank the other day and I started pulling the copper but I was doing purely by date, checking each and every penny. I got half way through the first bag and I started going blind!

I was doing OK... I guestimate about 25%-35% was copper. But man was I going buggy eyed so I just gave up and just pulled the wheats.

 

[jewelerdave]

Could just be whats at the rolling place at that time, if they had a shipment of new pennies it would dilute them down quite a bit. They order cents in shipments of 50K at a time.

Even having 70 boxes in your office witch is a lot, is still just a drop in the bucket. Probably just the current run your in.

Also, could very well be a lot of your rejects.

I still cant see how saving pre 82s would be profitable. Who is gong to pay for them at this time?
Even if one illegally melted them into bars. What scrap place is going to give you more than a % of the value. One will never get spot for them or even close.

I get a box now and then for the heck of it, but I just save the wheats and Let the coppers go.

 

[tsnf]

70 boxes, my goodness!

I'm averaging 22% - 26% copper per box. On Tuesday I picked up a box and started searching on the way back from the bank and I found a very nice looking 35D and a pristine 59 - beautifully toned. I think it will be worth it and and when it is, we'll have plenty on hand to supply those people looking to buy them at 5 cents a pop (dream on!). I love searching pennies and it keeps my kids busy when we go on long car rides - listening to the radio, talking and searching pennies.

Now that I have a bank where I don't have to roll them up again, I'll be searching a little more. I told my kids that I have a standing order for copper pennies from someone who wants to buy $50 worth for $75 including shipping - I'll front them the money, they have to do the work and I get $5 from every batch they sell. They are excited about the idea - so am I! Their eyes are much better than mine at this point.

I'm not selling my hoard until the magical 5 cents per copper is reached! Think about it...

HH and don't go blind.

TSNF

 

[jrf30]

HYdrantman,

I use the Ryedale machine, so I don't have to search all the pennies looking for copper. I unwrap them while watching movies with my wife, and then throw them in the machine. it takes very little time, and I can get 6,000 copper penny in a good evening. (or get 0 coppers on a GREAT evening ... when I am preoccupied with my wife doing something other than using the Ryedale machine. But that's a different topic. LOL)

ANyway, the Ryedale is a WONDERFUL machine. Much more useful than my DFX. I get a lot of coppers. I watch the zinc side when I sort, so that hte older wheats that pop out are caught too. then, when I am done, I go through ONLY the coppers to look for the rest of the wheats.

I find that it is actually faster for me to do that than to search only for wheats if I serached ALL the pennies, like i used to. Because now I am only searching about 16% of the pennies looking for wheats, and that is faster than searching all of htem. SO, I end up with the same amount of wheats, in the same time, AND I have the coppers to boot.

<<I still cant see how saving pre 82s would be profitable. Who is gong to pay for them at this time?
>>

Dave,

A box of $50 of coppers sells on Ebay for about $120 on average. Right now. SO, there IS a way to sell them AT a profit, even now. Although I"m holding on for a higher price when the penny gets exposure in 2009 during the 100 year celebration. PLus I am hoping copper continues up a little bit by then. I"m looking to have 2 tons by then. :-) (That's only 600,000 coins. WOW!)

 

[jewelerdave]

If its working for you more power too you. Id sell and turn as many as you can while you can if thats the case.
Most likely copper will go up in the next few years, but if congress changes the composition to our coins there is going to be a lot more copper on the market. This could drive prices down.
two tons of cents is a lot to have, dont keep it in one place, A silver dealer in my town made the mistake of putting a ton of silver on his floor before a customer picked it up. And now his floor is damaged and creeks and there is a depression on the floor.
Spread the load out!

 

[DesertTumbleweed402]

I've been getting an average of 30% copper with Brinks lately.

 

[TxTim]

All the Brinks boxes in Houston fed. branch district have been cleaned of copper pennies since early Feb.
There is either an effort by Brinks to remove it or a large industrial sorter with a contract for Brinks.
I can only get copper from CWI rolls or bags now.
Weight your boxes before you sort and if they are 14 lbs. or less, turn them back unsearched.
Good Luck!