5-gallon water jug, what can it hold

[Dozer D]

A close friend of my 30-yr old son, says he has several (4-5) of these 5-gallon water dispenser type jugs filled with pocket change he has dropped into over the past 15-20 years. I told him I would love to have access to (naturally one at a time however), to check them out for old coins & or silver. He said sure, whenever you want, I trust you. My question to all, has anyone ever had the opportunity to search through a jug of this size, and approx how much in mixed face $value could we be talking about, let alone the possibility of having some silver, 15-20 years back it may have been flowing loosely. I told him that since you trust me so much, that I would dump at the bank those coins not needed, and give him the cash + the face value of the coins I kept.
Has anyone done the same coin (JUG) hunting in the past.

 

[SanMartian]

I've done some jug hunting, but before I was married.

 

[CoinFetcher]

I woudl say...each jug has about 1200 face value. I have done a one gallon, and got a about 300 from it.

Take it a coin machine that spits silver out, and just make the machine sort it for you. although, you would miss war nicks.

 

[MIhunter]

Go ahead and do it, you have noting to lose but your time
You will likely find some silver (war nickel, dimes, quarters), plus wheats
I wouldn't use a coin counter, you can't trust that it will kick out all of the silver
Silver didn't flow freely 10-15 yrs ago.

 

[silver seeker]

Do it!! But if I was you I wouldn't take it to a coin machine. If you don't have a machine that doesn't charge, then you have to use coinstar, and they charge! Also all the wheats you'll be missing. It shouldn't take too long, get some help and bust it a weekend. Good luck

 

[bertmaster2000]

A close friend of my 30-yr old son, says he has several (4-5) of these 5-gallon water dispenser type jugs filled with pocket change he has dropped into over the past 15-20 years. I told him I would love to have access to (naturally one at a time however), to check them out for old coins & or silver. He said sure, whenever you want, I trust you. My question to all, has anyone ever had the opportunity to search through a jug of this size, and approx how much in mixed face $value could we be talking about, let alone the possibility of having some silver, 15-20 years back it may have been flowing loosely. I told him that since you trust me so much, that I would dump at the bank those coins not needed, and give him the cash + the face value of the coins I kept.
Has anyone done the same coin (JUG) hunting in the past.

Funny you should mention this. A coworker of mine has asked me to do the same with a 5-gal container of loose change he has accumulated. The deal is I keep what I want as I sort, and give him currency for the total. There are no banks with counters in my town, so a counter is not an option. I may consider using a coinstar AFTER I sort the coins IF I can get a no-fee gift card for the (grocery) store the coinstar sits in. Then I'd take currency out of my bank account and give it to the coworker, and spend the gift card over the next few months.

 

[Iamrussell]

I did a 5gal that was about 1/4 of the way full and it had roughly $250 in it all mixed qtrs, dimes, nickles and cents- the guy I bought them from(i gave him $200 so I made about $50) said he'd been throwing in pocket change for about 20 years- there was NO silver- about $20 in copper and about $10 in wheats-
So to answer the how much would be in a full 5gal jug I'd say roughly $1000

-------------------------------------
just keep stacking, just keep stacking, stacking stacking stacking

 

[EccentricInTexas]

I went threw about a gallon of loose change a while back found 6 or 7 Canadian pennies, 3 or 4 wheaties, one blank plachet error penny and one silver dime. You never know what you might find. I would go through it all. It might take a month or more but it might be worth it.

 

[Thorne]

I went through a Carlo Rossi jug of loose change and got a bunch of wheats nothing more but hey if it doesn't cost you anything. do it to it comrade

 

[rfishoutofwater]

I just emptied my 2 glass 5 gallon jugs which were filled with copper pennies 59-82 and it yields roughly $278 weighing in at 181lbs per glass 5 gallon jug. I still have the pennies just got them moved to a 5 gallon bucket as I was afraid the glass was going to break. As far as what's in yours since it's mixed denominations it's a crap shoot. Could be up to a couple thousand or ? All I know is if it's pennies it's under $300. I'd search those for sure. Keep is posted.

 

[SilverForBrains]

you just never know. i went through my Grandpa's coin jars after he died and did not find one silver, and now that I think about it not even any wheats. I always thought he had a secret collection of silver somewhere that I didnt' know about, it sounds like he was sniping his change. must be where I get it from! I metal detected his yard and found a silver 1957 quarter but not hoard

 

[baddbluff]

Sounds awesome! Go for it. You should keep the coppers too and throw them on eBay. You'll make a little from those, even if you don't find any silver.

I looked through a smaller jug like that when I was a kid and found a nice die 1 1972 doubled die cent! Get a Cherrypicker's guide and look for varieties.

Good luck!

 

[BigWaveDave]

I deliver 5 gal bottles for a living.. I lift average 200 bottles a day, 44 lbs each, for 14 years, and if they don't have Crystal Springs water in them, I want nothing to do with them! Have been told by many customers over the years how they save change in them, and how heavy they are, and glass bottles shatter if you try to lift them..heard it all, but one thing you don't want to forget.. after you dump your change, return the empty bottle to a store that sells them, you will get a minimum $6 refund on the empty bottle!

 

[CW3(ret) US Army]

A close friend of my 30-yr old son, says he has several (4-5) of these 5-gallon water dispenser type jugs filled with pocket change he has dropped into over the past 15-20 years. I told him I would love to have access to (naturally one at a time however), to check them out for old coins & or silver. He said sure, whenever you want, I trust you. My question to all, has anyone ever had the opportunity to search through a jug of this size, and approx how much in mixed face $value could we be talking about, let alone the possibility of having some silver, 15-20 years back it may have been flowing loosely. I told him that since you trust me so much, that I would dump at the bank those coins not needed, and give him the cash + the face value of the coins I kept. Has anyone done the same coin (JUG) hunting in the past.

I haven't done "jug" hunting but I used to put quarters into a gallon plastic milk jug. It would hold approximately $810 in quarters when full but it weight around 25 lbs. If the jugs were all quarters it would be roughly $4000 when full. The problem wasn't filling the jug but getting the coins out. You could cut a hole in a plastic jug but if it was a glass jug, you would either have to let the coins run out through the narrow neck which would take a long time or break the jug (which I wouldn't reccommend due to fact that broken glass pieces could cut you & are hard to get up). I don't remember silver flowing that freely 15-20 years ago but I say give it a shot as it will only basically cost you time. If you do do it, keep us posted as to how you make out.

HH
Gary

 

[CW3(ret) US Army]

I deliver 5 gal bottles for a living.. I lift average 200 bottles a day, 44 lbs each, for 14 years, and if they don't have Crystal Springs water in them, I want nothing to do with them! Have been told by many customers over the years how they save change in them, and how heavy they are, and glass bottles shatter if you try to lift them..heard it all, but one thing you don't want to forget.. after you dump your change, return the empty bottle to a store that sells them, you will get a minimum $6 refund on the empty bottle!

If they are plastic bottles & he cuts a hole in it to get the coins out, would he still get the $6 deposit refunded?

HH
Gary

 

[50cent]

they can hold anything that will fit. Marbles. Water. Hot water (it'll go cold). Tea. BBs. Paintball bullets, bullets, airsoft pellets, keyboard keys, keys, suvineur spoons, pennies, tobacco, rocks. the possibilities are limitless.

 

[Vdubguy]

I went through a little bowl of change at my friends place one time, ended up with a silver Rosie, you just never know what you will find. But if I was in your position, I wouldn't hesitate to take him up on his offer.

HH

 

[boristhespider88]

I'd jump all over it. I searched a 2 liter Coke bottle that had the top cut off that was full of change. I didn't find much, but I'd love to search a mass set of change like that.

 

[Jav]

I did a 5 gallon jug recently and found 3 rosies, 2 washingtons, 2 war nickels and a ton of 1920 pennies. Also found a cool rainbow toned penny. All the other change was taken to a bank coin counter. The total was almost $1300 in change. Def take them up on the deal. You will def find some nice coins.

 

[Gold Maven]

Just dumped 3 gallons of change I had been saving, no pennies, got $2380.