Box of pennies results...

[Bmaintz]

Just finished my penny box...
10 wheats...
554 coppers
How did I do??_____
Bob

 

[jrf30]

You did a little above average. Averge is about 8 wheats and 18% copper. You were higher on wheats and over 22% on copper.

You must be in the midwest or east. :-)

 

[Bmaintz]

Thanks,
Located near Denver...
So, if you can sell copper pennies for around $2.50 a pound on Ebay...
I have 554 coppers, 10 coppers = 1.2 ozs...
554/10 = 55.4 x 1.2 oz = 66.48 ozs./16ozs. = 4.15 pounds x $2.50 a lb.(ebay) = $10.38 profit on a box of pennies..
I like figures....
Bob

 

[dave5710]

I was taught that there are 146 - 150 copper cents to a pound.

 

[onfire]

Besides wheats what years are the coppers?

 

[mts]

I average around 25% coppers in my penny boxes so I must be in a good area. I also usually come up with about 10 wheats per box but I've had as few as 4 in a box. My oldest wheat to date is in the 1940's so I'm not getting the really good stuff. My last box produced 29.76% copper (744/2500) which was the highest I've ever had.

 

[jrf30]

Besides wheats what years are the coppers?

Pennies (cents here in America, but we call them pennies anyway) went from copper to zinc mid-year 1982. So some 1982 are copper and some are zinc. Pre 1982 are all copper.

It is about 150 pennies to the pound for copper. Prices for actual SALES, versus "value" are about $75 - $80 per $50 bag (Plus they pay shipping) on ebay right now, although last year I was gettting about $130 per $50 bag. I'll wait until I get at least $100 per bag again before i sell more. I'm hoarding for now, gathering a few tons until prices go back up.

Using a Ryedale makes it MUCH easier to do pennies. Look for the Ryedale topics and threads to research this machine. :-)

 

[mts]

Yes, I sure wish I had a ryedale. But I can't justify that kind of expense for the quantity I currently do. I'm hoarding for the long term so for me it is acceptable to do about one box a week which takes about an hour and a half using my metal detector. If I was looking at turning them quickly for profit there would be no real way to do it profitably without a ryedale sorter.

 

[mts]

Thanks,
Located near Denver...
So, if you can sell copper pennies for around $2.50 a pound on Ebay...
I have 554 coppers, 10 coppers = 1.2 ozs...
554/10 = 55.4 x 1.2 oz = 66.48 ozs./16ozs. = 4.15 pounds x $2.50 a lb.(ebay) = $10.38 profit on a box of pennies..
I like figures....
Bob

If there are around 150 pennies per pound then you have about 3.7 pounds. At $2.50/lb. you would have $9.25. But your profit after fees for selling that amount would be approximately $7.07 (this is basic fees alone without setting a starting bid). So you made $1.53. Of course, you could also make a little money on shipping and reduce the fees by selling much higher quantities at a time. But the fees still take a big chunk out of our profits. So I'm with jrf30 and wouldn't start selling on eBay until the price goes much higher.