Copper at $3.70/lb

[SFBayArea]

Copper is at $3.70/lb right now just 10 cents from 3.80/lb.. but no ebay prices reflect that. Copper cents on Ebay are just still 25-30% over face and haven't changed dispite up tick in copper prices. Not good.. Some guy seller named pennybullion on there too is flooding the market with bags of copper cents. I think if he was smart, he would sell less volume on Ebay so the prices would be higher. I just have a couple boxes of copper cents but want to get rid of them. However, with 30% profit margin minus shipping costs, time, weight lifting, & Ebay fees, it's not worth it right now. I'm just ranting but I'm hoping at some point these copper cents will trade at double face value so I can get rid of the couple bricks of copper I have. Frustrated because I sort them by hand and use a scale to separate the 82's. It's time consuming. I want a Ryesdale but they are expensive. Just ranting I guess.. any thoughts?

 

[SFBayArea]

Ideally, I'd like to bring them to my local dealer & get at least 75% over face. That's not too much to ask is it?

 

[AGCoinHunter]

Get an Ace sorter from Ryedale. Cheaper than the $400 machine. What I use in my hand sorts. I dont think they are advertised on the site you have to ask Andy about them.

 

[SFBayArea]

Thanks for the info. I didn't know that. I had looked at their website previously and it said they only had the $500 model available. Just curious. What's the difference between the models? The $500 one is more heavy duty?

 

[AGCoinHunter]

Thanks for the info. I didn't know that. I had looked at their website previously and it said they only had the $500 model available. Just curious. What's the difference between the models? The $500 one is more heavy duty?

Nope, the Ace is hand fed. It is controlled with a magnet verses a comparator. Zinc cents are not magnetic so they fly by the stopper while CU cents are pulled toward the stopper and kick out in a different area. Nifty little machine. It is not electric all manual but you can do a lot more at a time than hand sorting. I think I paid around $90 for mine.

 

[FingerGrime]

Copper is attracted to magnets

 

[enamel7]

Copper is attracted to magnets

Yeah, have I missed something?

 

[AGCoinHunter]

Copper is attracted to magnets

Enough to alter the path as they slide into the contraption. This is my observation of how it works, maybe not an expert idea but it works.

 

[Silver Stripe]

Wait till you have $200fv sittin there and silver hunting $$$ gets a little tight, more than once I almost cashed them in. There used to be guys on realcent offering 1.4C for coppers but shipping would be a bear. I just pull mine out of pocket change now, haven't sorted for over a year. I been feeling the need to lighten the load, coppers will likely go to the bank at that time, hoping the gold/silver ratio keeps dropping and I can make a good swap. Anyways thats my rant. HH Mark

 

[2Cents]

Thanks for the info. I didn't know that. I had looked at their website previously and it said they only had the $500 model available. Just curious. What's the difference between the models? The $500 one is more heavy duty?

Nope, the Ace is hand fed. It is controlled with a magnet verses a comparator. Zinc cents are not magnetic so they fly by the stopper while CU cents are pulled toward the stopper and kick out in a different area. Nifty little machine. It is not electric all manual but you can do a lot more at a time than hand sorting. I think I paid around $90 for mine.

That was my understanding of how it worked as well.

 

[Emperor Findus Cladius]

Frustrated because I sort them by hand and use a scale to separate the 82's.

You can always use your MXT to separate the 82's, as the copper ones will read significantly higher than the zinc ones. Seems to me would be faster.

 

[SFBayArea]

Frustrated because I sort them by hand and use a scale to separate the 82's.

You can always use your MXT to separate the 82's, as the copper ones will read significantly higher than the zinc ones. Seems to me would be faster.

I just use a scale for the 82's. Copper ones weigh 3.1 grams & zincolns weigh 2.5 grams. That part is easy but if one wants to do mass quantities, a ryesdale would be ideal.

 

[Diver_Down]

Frustrated because I sort them by hand and use a scale to separate the 82's.

You can always use your MXT to separate the 82's, as the copper ones will read significantly higher than the zinc ones. Seems to me would be faster.

I just use a scale for the 82's. Copper ones weigh 3.1 grams & zincolns weigh 2.5 grams. That part is easy but if one wants to do mass quantities, a ryesdale would be ideal.

You don't even need a pricey scale. A Popsicle stick, pencil, and a control (known copper) on one end. Place each 82 in question on the opposite end.

 

[AGCoinHunter]

Frustrated because I sort them by hand and use a scale to separate the 82's.

You can always use your MXT to separate the 82's, as the copper ones will read significantly higher than the zinc ones. Seems to me would be faster.

I just use a scale for the 82's. Copper ones weigh 3.1 grams & zincolns weigh 2.5 grams. That part is easy but if one wants to do mass quantities, a ryesdale would be ideal.

You don't even need a pricey scale. A Popsicle stick, pencil, and a control (known copper) on one end. Place each 82 in question on the opposite end.

The funny thing is now that I have seen so many 82's I can guess from the look of them and be correct about 95% of the time if one is copper or not. Other than the obvious color difference the other telling thing is the details of the strike. Zinc coins tend to be more mushy looking while CU struck cents have much sharper details. I have noticed that most zincs tend to have a smaller date and MM. Just my observations, your results may differ.

 

[2Cents]

Frustrated because I sort them by hand and use a scale to separate the 82's.

You can always use your MXT to separate the 82's, as the copper ones will read significantly higher than the zinc ones. Seems to me would be faster.

What's an MXT?

 

[Diver_Down]

Frustrated because I sort them by hand and use a scale to separate the 82's.

You can always use your MXT to separate the 82's, as the copper ones will read significantly higher than the zinc ones. Seems to me would be faster.

I just use a scale for the 82's. Copper ones weigh 3.1 grams & zincolns weigh 2.5 grams. That part is easy but if one wants to do mass quantities, a ryesdale would be ideal.

You don't even need a pricey scale. A Popsicle stick, pencil, and a control (known copper) on one end. Place each 82 in question on the opposite end.

The funny thing is now that I have seen so many 82's I can guess from the look of them and be correct about 95% of the time if one is copper or not. Other than the obvious color difference the other telling thing is the details of the strike. Zinc coins tend to be more mushy looking while CU struck cents have much sharper details. I have noticed that most zincs tend to have a smaller date and MM. Just my observations, your results may differ.

Same here. When you search through volumes of cents, you can tell the differences.

 

[quiksilver]

I gave up on the 82s. Too time consuming. Still sortin by hand waiting for the day to come.

 

[SFBayArea]

Frustrated because I sort them by hand and use a scale to separate the 82's.

You can always use your MXT to separate the 82's, as the copper ones will read significantly higher than the zinc ones. Seems to me would be faster.

What's an MXT?

MXT metal detector made by White's. Certain 82 copper cents use the same dies but I must admit I've seen 82 cents pressed with dies associated with copper ones but end up being zinc when I weigh them. Weighing them tells you what it is.

 

[Gresher]

Frustrated because I sort them by hand and use a scale to separate the 82's.

You can always use your MXT to separate the 82's, as the copper ones will read significantly higher than the zinc ones. Seems to me would be faster.

What's an MXT?

MXT metal detector made by White's. Certain 82 copper cents use the same dies but I must admit I've seen 82 cents pressed with dies associated with copper ones but end up being zinc when I weigh them. Weighing them tells you what it is.

For circulation strikes, 7 combinations of mints, compositions, and die varieties exist for 1982 (no Denver small date coppers).

Large:

Small:

As for telling them apart, just flip them in the air or drop them on a table. If it rings, it's copper.

 

[UncleVinnys]

New to this discussion:

How many coins to make one pound?


My first $10 for pennies:

164 total copper

'70 to 81 #129
'60 to 60 # 32
'59 # 1
Wheaties # 2

Plus one dime found in the roll.
I don't sort 81's

Thanks for the discussion - your comments help.
Didn't know what a Ryesdale was til now.