How much room does $1,000 in rolled nickels take up ?

Discussion in 'US Coins Forum' started by Doug21, Feb 13, 2011.

  1. Doug21

    Doug21 Coin Hoarder

    Or perhaps put it this way.....What would be the approximate face value be of a cubic foot of rolled nickels ? Or maybe how much would a milk crate ( 4 gallon size) hold ? I'm sure the thing would be too heavy to lift. It would be over 30 lbs with milk in it, has to be several hundred lbs easily with nickels in it.

    It's a theoretical question, I'm not hoarding nickels for a future melt. I know some of you guys search boxes ( 50 rolls right ? ) The dimensions of that box would help figure this out. I'm guessing a box would be 5 rolls by 10 rolls for $100 face value. From there I can figure out how much room $1,000 or $10,000 takes up.

    TY
     
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  3. Merc Crazy

    Merc Crazy Bumbling numismatic fool

    I happen to have an empty box right here... It's about 10 inches long, 4.5 inches high, and about 4.25 inches wide.
     
  4. EyeEatWheaties

    EyeEatWheaties Cent Hoarder

    google is your friend you should get introduced..



    The dimensions of a nickel, dime and quarter are approximately the
    following:

    nickel 21.2 mm diameter, 1.95 mm thickness
    dime 17.9 mm diameter, 1.35 mm thickness
    quarter 24.3 mm diameter, 1.75 mm thickness

    The formula for volume of a cylinder is V = (PI)r^2h. That makes the
    volume of the coins the following:

    nickel 688.3 cubic mm
    dime 339.7 cubic mm
    quarter 811.6 cubic mm

    If we take the average of the three coins (by summing the volumes and
    dividing by the number of coins) we get an average volume of 613.2
    cubic mm.

    If we divide the volume of the container (3785411.784 cubic mm) by the
    average volume of a coin (613.2 cubic mm) we get 6173 coins. Saying
    that there is an equal number of each denomination, we divide by three
    which gives us 2057 coins of each type. If we multiply by the value of
    each coin we get:

    nickel 2057 * .05 = 102.85
    dime 2057 * .10 = 205.70
    quarter 2057 * .25 = 514.25

    Summed together, this gives us a grand total of $822.80.

    CoinStar estimates that a 1 gallon container holds about $160.95 of
    mixed coins, so this is probably a pretty close approximation. In
    practical application, you always have some airspace between the coins
    so a real container, again, most likely holds slightly less than this
    much.
     
  5. Merc Crazy

    Merc Crazy Bumbling numismatic fool

    EEW, he said rolled. If they're rolled, they're best left in boxes for easy storage and moving. So the dimensions of a box of nickels sufficed.
     
  6. EyeEatWheaties

    EyeEatWheaties Cent Hoarder


    Yeah I know, he asked what color my dog was and I told him I have German Shepard :)

    the answer is buried in all that..


    The formula for volume of a cylinder is V = (PI)r^2h. That makes the
    volume of the coins the following:

    nickel 688.3 cubic mm
    dime 339.7 cubic mm
    quarter 811.6 cubic mm

    Read more: http://www.cointalk.com/showthread.php?t=156372&pagenumber=#ixzz1Dv82i4ny
     
  7. Hobo

    Hobo Squirrel Hater

    Merc,

    Are you sure that is a $1,000 box? That sounds WAY too small for 500 rolls of nickels.

    I took out several rolls of nickels and did some measuring. Below are my findings. (All measurements are approximate):

    A roll is approximately 7/8" in diameter and is approximately 3-1/16" long.

    12 rolls placed side-by-side are about 10-1/4" in length.

    The height of two rolls is about 1-9/16", three rolls is about 2-5/16", four rolls is about 3-1/16", five rolls is about 3-13/16", six rolls is about 4-9/16" and eight rolls is about 6-1/16".

    A box 10-1/4" long X 4-9/16" high X 3-1/8" wide will hold 69 rolls of nickels. That is $138 face value of nickels in a box with a volume of 146.14 cubic inches. A box capable of holding 500 rolls of nickels must be much larger.

    Playing around with various combinations (number of rolls wide, number of rolls deep, number of rolls long) by my calculations the most efficient use of a box to hold 500 rolls of nickels ($1,000 face) is to have two rolls across and eight rolls deep by 32 rolls long. (With 32 rolls on odd layers and 31 rolls on even layers the box has a total capacity of 504 rolls so space for only four rolls goes unused.) The inside dimensions of this box would measure 6-1/8" wide X 6-1/16" high X 27-1/4" long (for a volume of approximately 1,012 cubic inches).

    I hope this answers the OP's question.

    PS - Others feel free to check my work.
     
  8. Hobo

    Hobo Squirrel Hater

    EEW,

    Are you trying to calculate the volume of water the nickels would displace or the volume of a box large enough to hold them?
     
  9. Merc Crazy

    Merc Crazy Bumbling numismatic fool

    He asked for the dimensions of a box of nickels, I gave him the dimensions. You guys are making this WAY more complicated than it ever needed to be.
     
  10. Doug21

    Doug21 Coin Hoarder

    Thanks, that helps ! With those dimensions it seems that 10 boxes would about fit pretty decently into a 4 gallon milk crate ( I don't have one to measure).

    I get ( stacking boxes 5 high and 2 wide)....

    10" long, 8.5 " wide, and 20.5 " high, maybe a bit high but the top two boxes could probably be turned sideways or take the rolls out. I think it's reasonably accurate to say a milk crate ( 4 gallon , not 6 gallon type) would hold $1,000 face value in boxed/ rolled nickels and weigh around 240 lbs with the packaging, and have a metal value near $1450.....that you theoretically can't melt.

    Does this seem correct, milk crate holds $1,000 face ?

    How hard is it to get boxes of nickels from a bank....if you don't own a business ? I'm guessing you could say my son collects coins and likes to search rolls of them ?

    Storing ( hoarding) the nickels seems feasible enough when you consider a milk crate holds $1,000.

    I see the nickel having to be changed in composition ( to Canadian standards, soon).
     
  11. Merc Crazy

    Merc Crazy Bumbling numismatic fool

    Easy enough to get rolls, but if you want that much, give them some advance notice so they can order the boxes for you. They'll really appreciate it. Also, the dimensions I mentioned came off a Brinks box. Different suppliers use different boxes sometimes, but that's more for unusual denominations like halves, all of the cent, nickel, dime and quarter boxes I've seen are the same size.

    As for if they ask why, just tell them it's for personal use and don't say anything more. If they press the issue, ask to speak to a manager, and if they press it, just tell 'em the truth. You want to hoard them for their metal content. If they refuse, threaten to withdraw and close your accounts with them.
     
  12. TheNoost

    TheNoost huldufolk

    Pretty sure 1 box is $250 so 4 boxes = $1000. I usually ask if the bank has any extra boxes they could spare and get something most times.
     
  13. Merc Crazy

    Merc Crazy Bumbling numismatic fool

    No, Cents are $25, Nickels are $100, dimes are $250, Quarters and halves are $500.

    Trust me, I probably search more rolls than anybody in the greater Philadelphia area.
     
  14. Hobo

    Hobo Squirrel Hater

    The title of the thread (and the first line of the OP's post) is "How much room does $1,000 in rolled nickels take up ? ".

    That is the question that I answered.
     
  15. Doug21

    Doug21 Coin Hoarder

    I'm not actually doing it ( now). My house is for sale and I desire to move far from snowy New England shortly....not the time to be buying milk crates full of nickels.

    However with interest rates at like 1%, a pallet of nickels in the garage isn't an awful idea ( IMO). No downside potential on the investment, and it could double or more in value in a few short years ?

    The US Mint can't continue making nickels of 75% copper and 25% nickel forever ( unless the metals drop in price). It's like 1964 and silver, something has to give way, or 1982 and copper !

    side note: Why didn't the US go to 40% for quarters and dimes in the late 60's ? 40% silver looks just like 90% silver to me. I can't tell a 1964 half from a 1968 one by the reverse, or edge, or the obverse ( except for the date). I'm sure there is a weight difference, but no visual difference from the reverse ( unless a 64-D)
     
  16. Doug21

    Doug21 Coin Hoarder

    Exactly, it got way to scientific for no reason. The premise is of course how realistic hoarding nickels is, if you can get them in quantity. OK, well if you can ....then you'd want them rolled and boxed ( I guess ?)

    My initial thought was a regular milk crate would hold about about $1,000 face value in rolled/ boxed nickels. I guess my estimate was correct enough....nobody challenges that estimation.

    This reminds me of a situation my father presented to me in the 70's ( as a kid), it's rather obvious, but goes like this....

    You have a container ( like a coffee can or whatever) you can fill it up with any denomination of current coin. What do you choose ? Dime of course, but quarters and halves and ikes would all weigh alike, dimes just "settle in" better.

    Now, I'd pick the mini-dollars.

    all time ( face value only) , I guess gold dollars win ?
     
  17. Merc Crazy

    Merc Crazy Bumbling numismatic fool

    If you're talking about circulation coinage, I'd take double eagles. $20 face value and probably somewhere around 2x the volume of a gold dollar or SBA.
     
  18. Hobo

    Hobo Squirrel Hater

    Please don't ask me how many jelly beans are in the jar.
     
  19. Doug21

    Doug21 Coin Hoarder

    Huh ? A double eagle is twice the volume of a gold dollar ? I don't mean the dead president's dollars ....I mean the The real gold $1 coins from the 19th century if we go all time as to what to fill the bucket up with.

    In say 1975 with current coins, you take dimes.

    I believe a bucket of real gold dollars beats a bucket of double eagles, we are going volume not weight, so the smaller the better....less air space....
     
  20. Doug21

    Doug21 Coin Hoarder

    How many jelly beans are in the jar, Hobo ?

    Hey, I used to live in Colo Springs, BTW ! Nice little city !
     
  21. Merc Crazy

    Merc Crazy Bumbling numismatic fool

    I thought you meant sacs and whatnot. My bad.
     
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