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 Replies: 16 / Views: 3,316 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4846 Posts |
Poll Question
after about a month of having 5,000 pennies on my desk, I decided that I want to look through them for the coppers, I spent 2 hrs last night and came up with about 5-10 dollars of copper. I still need to finish, my question is, is it worth my nights to search through every penny looking for the coppers? Results
| yes! pull out ALL the coppers you see!! it will be valuable in the future!! |
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63% |
27 Votes |
| NO! its definently NOT worth your time to search for all those coppers |
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37% |
16 Votes |
Poll Status:
Open
Total Votes: 43 Counted
Last Vote:
04/11/2010 12:11 am Edited by Adam_E
03/17/2010 07:53 am
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Pillar of the Community
Thailand
1509 Posts |
Yes. Ideal opportunity to check for errors as well.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
If you spent one minute on each coin you would have used about 3 to 4 days of your life. When you get really old someday, you'll wish you had those back.
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Valued Member
United States
487 Posts |
I average about $100 worth a week and it is only worth doing if you enjoy it. I tell people its like fishing. If you fish for all the money you are going to save on food you are probably not good at math. That being said the $20 worth I went through last night netted $5 worth of coppers, 12 wheats and an 1899 IHC. |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
4846 Posts |
well I only spend like 1 sec on a coin so....
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Moderator
 United States
187702 Posts |
I am keeping all of my coopers, valuable or not. I would like to see all copper cents pulled from circulation and safely stored away.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1659 Posts |
I don't spend time going through bags or rolls, but I keep all the coppers I find out of my pocket change. Just my 2 cents.
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New Member
United States
34 Posts |
I don't know, but I voted Yes! I'm by no means an expert, but just the sound of looking though coins (for copper) sounds very appealing to me. Isn't that half the reason why we collect coins; to look for them? :)
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2049 Posts |
What harm does it do to look through them for coppers/wheats/Indian Heads/foreign coins/varities? I can go through a box of 2500 cents in 60-90 minutes depending on how tired I am and how often I get distracted. It shouldn't take anyone a minute per coin, but even if it does, there are alot worse things you can do with your life. You could spend it watching Survivor or American Idol, or surfing the internet so I don't see any harm in putting a little bit of time each week into roll searching as part of your overall coin enjoyment and hobby.
Plus, the copper has potential upside if you're keeping them just for the copper, and little to no downside risk. I made a similar statement in another thread along the lines of what people did back in 1965. If they knew back then that silver coins would actively trade at 10-13 times face value, wouldnt they have pulled every single silver coin in circulation? I'm not saying that copper cents will trade at that level or as commonly as junk silver does now, but with the upside being there it would seem silly to me not to sort your pocket change for copper. Just my two copper cents worth... :P
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Valued Member
United States
258 Posts |
While I will concur that spending time playing with coins (in this case copper pennies) can be considered "wasted time" by some I have a different take. First of all there is just something satisfying about playing with money. It can be a stress reliever to look at all of the neat coins. Additionally you get the added benefit of "saving" for whatever you may want in the future by keeping some of what you look at. Even if the copper pennies are never valued at more than a penny (which they are, just look at my ebay completed auctions page) then you still have some savings to fall back on in an emergency. As one poster here has on his signature, "Coin collecting is the only hobby where you can be broke and still have money!" While some here may say "A penny saved is not much" I beg to differ as a "Penny saved can be a penny earned" especially since copper pennies really are worth 2 cents each! Add that up over time we start talking real money. For example let's say you only save $1.00 a day in copper pennies. Multiply that by a year you have $365.00. 10 years you have $3,650.00 (not including for the leap year). Over a 40 year collecting lifetime that is at least $15,000 just in face value of copper pennies. This does not take into consideration whatever bullion or numismatic value they will have by then. For me I think I will continue to look for them, cherry pick them, sell off the remainder for a few dollars profit after expenses and enjoy the experience of pretending to be rich because I am sorounded by PENNIES! Edited by 925dealer
03/18/2010 8:52 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2734 Posts |
There's no downside to saving copper Cents from circulation at face value, except possibly their bulk. And, like lafaa said, it only takes a quick glance at the date to pull a copper Cent (unless it's a 1982, even then you could set aside all of the '82's and weigh them on a gram scale later). Since lafaa123 is young, he could get the most benefit from saving copper Cents. Who's to say that they won't be traded as 'junk copper' in the same way that common silver coins are traded as 'junk silver'? (and trading them as 'junk copper' makes any melting bans irrelevant) IE: If someone born in 1950 started hoarding silver from circulation in 1963 and still had every coin they'd saved....  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1304 Posts |
Quote:
it only takes a quick glance at the date to pull a copper Cent
(unless it's a 1982, even then you could set aside all of the '82's
and weigh them on a gram scale later).
I started setting aside the copper cents last weekend, but I was saving all the 1982's. Is there a differnce in them? Are they copper? |
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Valued Member
United States
424 Posts |
the eastly 82's are copper...the later ones are zinc.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2734 Posts |
When checking 1982's:
3.11 grams for the coppers, 2.5 grams for the zincs...
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7123 Posts |
I voted yes on the coppers, but I also keep other things as well and look for other things when I go through Lincoln cents.
If you want to know what else to look for let us know!
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Valued Member
United States
258 Posts |
Another thing to keep in mind is that a majority of all coins dated 1982 are copper. It is the zinc ones that are rarer. I am currently doing a study to help determine which are the rarest of the 1982 coins. Will get back with everyone on that in a few more weeks. Sincerely, John Leckrone
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Replies: 16 / Views: 3,316 |
Posted 03/17/2010 11:26 am
