How many cents in a 5 gallon bucket?

[toorude89]

Hello,

I am thinking about selling my copper cents and have about two 5 gallon buckets full. Does anyone know approx. how many cents fit in a 5 gallon bucket? Answers I have found online range from $300-500. Can anyone tighten that gap for me? Thanks. HH!!

 

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[cdickrun64]

I weighed my 5 gallon bucket of COPPER pennies recently......173 lbs, or about 27,000

If I can sell $400 worth of copper for double, I will do it ASAP.

27.000 if they are copper....

 

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[Senor]

Your question and how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop are both unknowable.

 

[Tlucas79]

Answer is using volume.

Hello,

I am thinking about selling my copper cents and have about two 5 gallon buckets full. Does anyone know approx. how many cents fit in a 5 gallon bucket? Answers I have found online range from $300-500. Can anyone tighten that gap for me? Thanks. HH!!

Volume of a penny regardless of metal type is always the same.

Penny Volume = 0.360 cubic centimeters
5 Gallon Bucket Volume = 18,927.06 cubic centimeters

18,297.06 / 0.360 = 52,575.16

52,575.16 / 100 = $525.75 in pennies can fit into a 5 gallon bucket.

 

[Tlucas79]

IT'S AGAINST FEDERAL LAW TO SCRAP PENNIES FYI

 

[weighit]

IT'S AGAINST FEDERAL LAW TO SCRAP PENNIES FYI

If they got melted into 20lb blocks, how would anyone ever know they were pennies? All tell tail signs of a coin would be gone.

 

[LooseChange]

IT'S AGAINST FEDERAL LAW TO SCRAP PENNIES FYI

Also against federal law to smoke weed. Yet, they embrace it in Boulder CO.
Also against federal law to enter and work in the US without a VISA. Yet, they embrace it in San Francisco, CA.

We need a SANCTUARY CITY for melting!!

 

[enamel7]

Welcome to the forum. It's kinda odd to respond to a post almost 5 years old.

 

[barneyb71]

Welcome to the forum. It's kinda odd to respond to a post almost 5 years old.

It’s even worse when you get to the last comment and read that this post is that old.......[emoji15][emoji22]

 

[Spizzerinctum]

Welcome to the forum. It's kinda odd to respond to a post almost 5 years old.

I kind of like it when new people read the old posts. A response is welcome with me, too, if it sheds any new light on the subject.

 

[BigWaveDave]

If I can add to this old post....
I’ve had about 5 customers over the years that a 5 gal water bottle holds $400 in cents.
I got one customer who tosses all of his change into the empty 5 gals....been doing it for over thirty years.
He’s got 7 jugs.... no telling what’s in there.

 

[barneyb71]

If I can add to this old post....
I’ve had about 5 customers over the years that a 5 gal water bottle holds $400 in cents.
I got one customer who tosses all of his change into the empty 5 gals....been doing it for over thirty years.
He’s got 7 jugs.... no telling what’s in there.

I would offer to sort it, roll it, take it to the bank and give him cash back. You could keep anything you find but not tell him that.

 

[Mackaydon]

My guess would be lower: 10,000 coins for $100 in value; assuming the coins were just tossed into the container without being first stacked.
Don........

 

[toorude89]

I was surprised to see this thread come back to life. I did end up selling that bucket of cents, I think for approximately $700. This was obviously years ago when copper was much higher. I never said anything about scrapping them btw.

 

[toorude89]

Volume of a penny regardless of metal type is always the same.

Penny Volume = 0.360 cubic centimeters
5 Gallon Bucket Volume = 18,927.06 cubic centimeters

18,297.06 / 0.360 = 52,575.16

52,575.16 / 100 = $525.75 in pennies can fit into a 5 gallon bucket.

Thanks for the math. Any accounting for space between them?

 

[LooseChange]

Volume of a penny regardless of metal type is always the same.

Penny Volume = 0.360 cubic centimeters
5 Gallon Bucket Volume = 18,927.06 cubic centimeters

18,297.06 / 0.360 = 52,575.16

52,575.16 / 100 = $525.75 in pennies can fit into a 5 gallon bucket.

Thanks for the math. Any accounting for space between them?

Not only is the math wrong, but - as you've pointed out - the voids are not accounted for.

Actual volume of a cylinder with radius of 9.525mm and thickness of 1.52mm (a one cent coin) is 0.43 cm3.
Actual volume of 5 us gallons is 18,927 cm3.

So, if you melted the cents (and de-gassed the molten metal), you could get just over 44,000 cents into 5 gallons.

My experience is that a slightly over-filled 5 gallon pail holds roughly 200lb of brass cents. Which equates to 29,000.

 

[SnakemanBill]

2 cents

 

[Dozer D]

Soon I hope this coming winter I will be doing a similar bulk project, but with 5-gal water jugs (like the kind you see at an office cooler). Friend of my son says he has about 8 jugs filled from loose pocket change from the last 20+ years. Will set up a separate log for that project, with distinct details, but NO CONTESTS. Crossing my fingers for any silver.

 

[Honest Samuel]

Best of luck trying to get a bank to accept them. You may have wheat pennies.