Dad, what was it like to hunt pennies in the year 2008?

[ringding]

Son, it was awesome. Hardly anyone else was doing it and you could find all kinds of wheats and copper cents. In fact, on May 25 I found a steel 1943 lincoln cent in a roll of pennies. In a box of pennies you could find over two full hand fulls of copper cents. Now that copper is 53 dollars an ounce, I am going to sell the pennies and pay for your college education and buy you that new car that runs on seawater.

 

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[Scott (Mich)]

You may not be too far from the truth there Ringding. I think we are going to witness the change of the metal in the cent and nickel both very soon. This may be our generations version of 1963.

Do we try to keep as many pennies (copper ones) and nickels as possible or let them go because there are so many out there that they will not be worth keeping? I think the people in 1963 probably felt that way about silver - that there was just too much to ever be worth anything.

Happy Hunting,

Scott (MI)

 

[soldierman]

I'm also saving coppers. My wife picked up $25 worth at a local bank and it was mostly old pink hand rolled nothing newer than 81 with a few brinks and odd ball wrappers. I am just guessing but I think 75% copper. Only about 4 wheats but one was a steel cent too.

 

[cyberdan]

Got a total of $340 in cents yesterday. 10 rolls are fed wrapped and someone has written UNC-1975 or UNC-1976D I think I will just keep these sealed for a while. Most of these coins are in $50 bags.

 

[jewelerdave]

Or there is the other way too.

What happens if someone finds some newer and better alloy or composite that works better than copper for all industrial uses. Say a flexible carbon composite that can be made for 5 cents a pound. Rendering copper an antiquated metal. Higher prices and changes also bring changes, there are barriers of resistance as well as solutions we cant even imagine.

Come to think of it, if there were a car that ran on sea water or something other than oil, the dollar would not be faltering and it would be stable. If the most powerful...or by then maybe 5th most powerful nation in the world had no dependence on limited natural resources, its economy and currency would have value.

Could be by then we are not useing dollars as we know it. After a revaluation or even a radical change in government it could very well be the dollar or its similar replacement would be valued differently than the old currency. Look at other nations and what happens with them. ex, WW II German Marks compared to the current Euro.

If the dollar had the same strength it did 10 years ago, there would be less than a cent of copper in a cent. If it was the same as it was 50 years ago there would be just less than a dollar of silver in each dollar of silver etc.
Its all relative, its not that prices are going up as much as this country has been wrecked financially. And resources that were once plentiful are not getting to be strained. too many people, and only one pot of soup. Who gets that food? who dies? Like anything, a correction will have to happen someday.

Whats even worse and even more sad it that its worth wile for many to save copper cents. This fact alone means that this country is having a problem that is much worse than we can all comprehend when its worth while to save copper...these are sad days indeed.

 

[jim4silver]

Son, it was awesome. Hardly anyone else was doing it and you could find all kinds of wheats and copper cents. In fact, on May 25 I found a steel 1943 lincoln cent in a roll of pennies. In a box of pennies you could find over two full hand fulls of copper cents. Now that copper is 53 dollars an ounce, I am going to sell the pennies and pay for your college education and buy you that new car that runs on seawater.

If things get so bad that copper is worth 53 US dollars an ounce, silver should be at 3500 or so per ounce, if we say just for easy calculation that copper is at 4 dollars per pound right now (it is less than that a bit) and silver is 18 per ounce.

Anyone know how many pennies it takes to equal one ton?


Jim

 

[Old Dog]

Jim,

Aprox 31,000

Working with the WSPS idea that 155 is a pound.

Thom

 

[jim4silver]

Come to think of it, if there were a car that ran on sea water or something other than oil, the dollar would not be faltering and it would be stable. If the most powerful...or by then maybe 5th most powerful nation in the world had no dependence on limited natural resources, its economy and currency would have value.

JewelerDave,

I don't think this would matter re the strength of the dollar. I do believe that the high price of oil is in large part due to the weak value of the US dollar, but the oil situation did not cause our dollar problem, bad fed reserve policies did in my opinion. In an effort to keep the appearance of a healthy economy going and to prevent the inevitable, they keep doing things to prevent the recession/depression that is going to happen someday. Lowering interest rates in the face of high inflation, bailing out financial institutions to keep them afloat, talk of bailing out homeowners who bought more than they could afford due to bad mortgages, creating more liquidity day after day for banks to lend out, etc. Perhaps the fed reserve has good intentions in doing all this, but I think it will just make matters worse for us in the long run.

This is all sort of like have a heroin junkie kid, and instead of letting him go cold turkey and suffer a bit, you keep giving him more heroin to prevent the withdrawal symptoms. The inevitable "crash" that junior is going to one day suffer will be worse the longer the process goes on.

There is more than one factor contributing to the dollar problem, in addition to the fed pumping liquidity at too high a pace (wonder why they stopped releasing the M3 number are a few years back?). Anyone interested in knowing what the M3 number is about can google it.

Also, many countries are losing faith in our dollar and are starting to use other currencies in their business transactions with other countries, where in the past they often used US dollars. I read an interesting story a while back that said that crime syndicates in Russia were beginning to store their ill-gotten gains in 500 Euro notes instead of the ever popular 100 US dollar they had been using. This says alot.

If the global oil sales stopped using our dollar in said sales worldwide, the price per barrel would be less or more stable perhaps, but those of us buying with US dollars would still be paying a high price due to the weakness of the dollar.

Whats even worse and even more sad it that its worth wile for many to save copper cents. This fact alone means that this country is having a problem that is much worse than we can all comprehend when its worth while to save copper...these are sad days indeed.

I agree 100%

Jim

 

[jim4silver]

Jim,

Aprox 31,000

Working with the WSPS idea that 155 is a pound.

Thom

Thanks Thom. But I think that if 155 pennies are in a pound, a ton would mean 310,000 pennies? That's alot of pennies either way!

Jim

 

[Old Dog]

You are correct my friend.
That's what happens when I dont' have a calculator handy
and enough cofee on board, Sorry

LOL
I got it part right.
Thom

 

[ringding]

I got a lot of responses in a short amount of time on a Sunday morning. Does this mean that everyone stayed home rather than travel for the holiday weekend? I know we did. We can't afford the gas.

 

[Old Dog]

If by traveling you mean going more than a few miles from home for a holiday...
I never do.
just too many wackos that think they can drive like the Indy on these highways.
Our local gas stations raise the price of gas just for this holiday.
Better to leave early (if you are going to) and come back later.
Not so many crazy people hurrying to get some where,
and then doing the same to get home.
Much rather do my traveling in an off season trip,
And enjoy my time in the desert now when it's cool.

Thom

 

[TxTim]

There are 145 -147 coppers per lb.
A $25 box weighs 17 lbs.
A box of zinc weighs 14.
It's a good idea to weigh before searching.
Yes- skunks are not uncommon- as well as full boxes of new 2008 zincers.
14 lbs.- cash it in without searching. 14.5 + = open and cull copper!

 

[Scalper]

You may not be too far from the truth there Ringding. I think we are going to witness the change of the metal in the cent and nickel both very soon. This may be our generations version of 1963.

Do we try to keep as many pennies (copper ones) and nickels as possible or let them go because there are so many out there that they will not be worth keeping? I think the people in 1963 probably felt that way about silver - that there was just too much to ever be worth anything.

Happy Hunting,

Scott (MI)

Neat topic Ringding and I had to laugh Scott because I am always asking my dad wow what was it like in early 60s when all the coins were silver, Ed

 

[jrf30]

Jim,

Aprox 31,000

Working with the WSPS idea that 155 is a pound.

Thom

Yep, it is about 310,000 to a ton.

155 X 2,000 pounds = 310,000.

:-)

I have a tad under 100,000 since October. I knew it wasn't 3 tons (yet)

I hope to hit 100,000 this next week. real close ....