Hunting Pennies - Some Stats

[UncleVinnys]

I just did some calculations on coin-roll hunting in pennies.

I can screen $12 to $15 per hour.
I find about 20% are copper coins.
I find about 5 wheaties for every $10 searched.

At $12 screening per hour, and copper coins worth about 2.55 cents each, that's
a "profit" of 1.55 cents each, or about $3.60 an hour, less than half of minimum wage.

I still find it "worth the effort" though, since I really enjoy finding the wheaties
and the occasional surprises, such as a dime in the roll.

I'm wondering if Canadian pennies would be better, because they have
more years and more recent years where the coin was 95% copper.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

DR.ÖTEK Metal Detector, Waterproof Gold Detector, Pinpoint & Terrain Modes, Professional Metal Detector - Grab it through Amazon!

[SFBayArea]

Hey on a sidenote. Where is that fool 21stTNCav? That guy is going to owe me $100. If he is a true southern gentleman, he would own up to it. The politics forum is gone so I won't be wasting my time dealing with the extremists.

Good to see you're here Vinny on the most popular forum (CRHing) on Tnet. If that 21stCav shows up here too, it'd be a shame.

Hey, SF!
Yeah, every time I sign on the polit forum is closed.
Oh well, enough to deal with in real life.

I dunno about keeping pennies, but there's something I enjoy about it.
I think a copper penny will always keep its value.

If it can buy me a bag of veggies when the world collapses then so much the better.

Yeah, they got rid of the politics forum... probably because of all the extremists festering over there. 21stTNCav, you better pay me when the time comes!! Doubt he would show his face on this forum. I can pickup my collectible coins the easy way by CRHing while he can continue to break his back to dig for them. MUHAHA.. He's probably ranting and trolling on anti-gov. forums out there. LOL 21st, you know I'm kiddin but you just better pay up when the time comes!

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Treasure of Victoria Peak - Grab it through Amazon!

[Mzjavert]

I don't spend extra time and gas to get my boxes. I get them when I deposit my paycheck. I dump and deposit the rest at my credit union which has a coin sorter.

 

[jlr1076]

Civil society's not collapsing in our lifetimes, despite what all those goofy web sites and conspiracy nuts say (not to mention all the people that have a vested interest in selling gullible people all kinds of armageddon supplies).

So have fun, CRH, enjoy your friends and family, then pass your coin collection onto your children when you die.

 

[Dok Holliday]

I don't count my CRH wage in dollars per hour, but ounces per hour. When the dollar fails in the zombie apocalypse the time I put into CRH may very well save my family.

By eating your silver? In a total collapse I doubt silver will be traded as some suggest. Read what a person who has been through it says about using PMs for trade: http://shtfschool.com/trading/on-buying-gold-silver-for-survival-preparedness/

How many times do I have to tell you people...like vampires, Zombies are vulnerable to silver bullets.

 

[madwest]

Civil society's not collapsing in our lifetimes, despite what all those goofy web sites and conspiracy nuts say (not to mention all the people that have a vested interest in selling gullible people all kinds of armageddon supplies).

It won't take a collapse of civil society to effect a SHTF scenario. The collapse of civil society that many speak of is bigger than a SHTF scenario. I agree that it is so unlikely that it is essentially out of the question that ppl will have to be armed and fortified to protect their cache of food and fuel to survive (at least anytime soon).

However, don't think that is inconceivable that the US dollar could collapse. It happened in Russia and in Mexico in the '90s. It happened in Germany post WWI. It would have happened in the US in the '30s had we not sold out every last bit of our county's wealth to avoid it (we have never rebuilt that wealth). Let's call this a Spit-Rubs-The-Fan (SRTF) scenario.

When the promise of monetary value dissolves, only tangible items retain their value. Heavy Equipment depreciates with age, Real estate can be taken away from you with a mouse click - particularly if it is mortgaged (401k, IRA, etc dissolve with the fiat). PMs are durable tangible items and, in moderation, are a good hedge against a SRTF scenario.

 

[mts]

Civil society's not collapsing in our lifetimes, despite what all those goofy web sites and conspiracy nuts say (not to mention all the people that have a vested interest in selling gullible people all kinds of armageddon supplies).

So have fun, CRH, enjoy your friends and family, then pass your coin collection onto your children when you die.

People like you only see the world in black and white. In your world, there is only either complete breakdown or dancing unicorns. But in the real world there are an infinite number of possibilities.... Dollar loses 25% of its value over a year? Possible. Bad storm knocks out power in your area for two months or more? Possible. Political upheaval causes people to lose faith in their government? Possible. Economy recovers and happy days are here again? Possbile. And I could go on and on.

By the way... you don't own car and house insurance right? WHHAAATTTT? You are soooooooooo gullible!

 

[jlr1076]

You keep wearing that tin foil hat. What you don't realize is the armageddon industry has you up against the wall. I swear it's as if people are hoping for the end of the world these days. Is your life really that sad that you have to spend your limited time on this planet worrying about its collapse?

Me? I'll be enjoying life. If that makes me gullible, so be it. I have (hopefully) 80 years to enjoy this world. I'm not going to worry about the apocalypse, zombie or otherwise.

And in the meantime, I'll collect some cool coins.

 

[mts]

You keep wearing that tin foil hat. What you don't realize is the armageddon industry has you up against the wall. I swear it's as if people are hoping for the end of the world these days. Is your life really that sad that you have to spend your limited time on this planet worrying about its collapse?

Me? I'll be enjoying life. If that makes me gullible, so be it. I have (hopefully) 80 years to enjoy this world. I'm not going to worry about the apocalypse, zombie or otherwise.

And in the meantime, I'll collect some cool coins.

Why do I even bother? You clearly didn't read my post. Same black and white thinking. Newsflash: I'm not expecting an apocalypse or complete collapse of society. But evidently you missed that point.

If there is anyone wearing a tin foil hat out here it is you. You're just wearing yours upside down. But it is a tin foil hat all the same. Enjoy your next 80 years. Here's to living in a perfect world.

 

[jlr1076]

I will! And you enjoy your ready-to-eat meals in your bunker! Watch out for zombies!

 

[MIhunter]

The Dollar is too big to fail, it can shrink over time but fail no. The examples given above of other currency failing are not relevant. The Chinese wouldn't put so much of their wealth into dollars and dollar securities (T-Notes) if they had a better choice. The entire gold market isn't large enough to handle the wealth of the Chinese. Is the value of the dollar going to continue to drop? Most likely but if the dollar collapses civil disorder and anarchy are just as likely. In that scenario gold and silver will be useless, only guns, ammo, clothing, food and shelter will count. (That reminds me, time to clean my S &W .38)

Copper is a poor long term investment compared to gold or silver because it like other base metals tend to fall in reccession as industrial demand falls.

Hunting pennies like any other coins is about the fun of maybe finding a Indian Head or maybe a low mintage wheat from the teens or twenties. Harvesting the copper and selling on eBay/craigslist/local is just a by product the helps fuel the hobby.

Myself, I harvest 1940s and 1950s nickels and sell them on eBay to raise a little money to buy some extra silver (90% dimes/quarters from a local pawn shop at .9 x spot)

 

[madwest]

The Dollar is too big to fail. . .

The whole idea that something is too big to fail can only apply when there is something much bigger with a compelling reason to orchestrate the soft landing. What is bigger than the US economy? The Chinese economy/influence will be bigger someday if it is manged properly, but that's a ways off.

The US housing market was too big to fail only because the US economy is much bigger.
The US auto industry was too big to fail . . .
The US banking industry was too big to fail . . .

Each of those industries would have collapsed if not for the arguably haphazard intervention of policy makers. The cost of protecting those industries was/is debt that no one has the capacity to appreciate. It is debt far beyond comprehension.

In the 1930's, the US spent all of its wealth to end the depressed economy. That will never be an option again - there is no wealth left. Debt can only take you so far.

 

[MIhunter]

Too big to fail.....and then didn't fail (auto, banks, housing market) Ultimately they were bailed out, sure they took some big hits but they didn't fail.

The something larger that has been supporting the dollar is the WORLD ECOMONY. When the rest of the world buys US dollars or US dollar Gov't Securities they are loaning the US money to support our bloated Gov't. Because the world is so heavily invested in dollars and the large economies so heavily dependent on each other, they simply can't walk away from the dollar.

"It is good to be the king"
Mel Brooks as King Louis XVI in History of the World Part I

 

[Dok Holliday]

Zombies are not too big to fail....

 

[madwest]

. . . The something larger that has been supporting the dollar is the WORLD ECOMONY. When the rest of the world buys US dollars or US dollar Gov't Securities they are loaning the US money to support our bloated Gov't. Because the world is so heavily invested in dollars and the large economies so heavily dependent on each other, they simply can't walk away from the dollar.

Noted.

It is most likely that the big economies all feel pot committed to the Dollar and would/will all ride it out (sink or swim together). However, if those separate, competing economies decided it was a race to get out of the bad investment in the dollar, the fall would be faster and harder than anything ever seen before. It's a lot like the mutually assured destruction that fueled the cold war and yet was the unwavering deterrent.

No one knows for sure how it will play out. Diversification is the key. Physical PMs make sense. Plus, its so much fun to hold something real.