If Laws Change, 'Penny Hoarders' Could Cash in on Thousands of Dollars

date 12 -3 - 2011



Joe Henry is on a first name basis with bank tellers across his hometown of Medford, Ore., scouring 15 banks a week with one thing on his mind: pennies.

Henry is often seen toting around bags of pennies, some he buys, others he changes back in for cash, which seems a little strange at first. He's not a collector, he is what's known as a "penny hoarder" and he is not alone.

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http://abcn.ws/vDTEAZ

 

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thats very interesting.

 

Just read this on Yahoo this morning.

 

I read that on coinflation last night. I really hope they wait a couple months so I can get a bigger hoard. My hoard is about $15.

 

for the past 2 years i have been doing the same. the banks no longer pay interest. why not keep your savings in pennies i had so much weight in pennies that one door would not close right in the house so i cashed them in on ebay. i hate to watch tv . every night i check for errors.then pitch the coin to a bucket on for copper one for zinc.it's a great deal how else can you cash in your unsold product

 

I had a small hoard of these cents a year or so ago but then realized that unless you have LOTS of room to store these, don't mind waiting years to be able to finally cash in on the metal content, and when finally able to do so to transport them to a place to do so, it just wasn't cost effective in my time or money. IF the gov't gets that law off the books, then someone will be richer for it, but not me.

 

I just sold $50 face! UGHH! Why do they advertise this for others to see? Now my hobby is going to be ruined!

 

Turning them in will be the biggist problem. The banks will only give you face, the coin shops are not set up to handle the space, time, effort and transpotation to the smelters, and the smelters themselves don't usually deal directly with the public. So how do you cash them in? Perhaps like the "Cash for Gold" operators, you will take them to a motel room somewhere? And you know what a rip-off those places are. I have one gold coin that has increased in value, greater than many of the "hoarders" stash. Much easier to retrieve my investment. I suppose its wishful thinking, as an inexpensive way, a hobbiest can feel they are creating some kind of value. But will it be realized? Nothing wrong with that, just not my way of doing it.

 

It's going to be many years before you are able to melt them... Do you really want to store these coins for 5 years... 10 years????

 

why store them sell them on ebay 68 lbs. is $100 face that sold on ebay $180.+ shipping you may net $65.00 from the sale. i store no more then 5 gallons at a time now. sometimes i get a good error coin well maybe good $ 3-12.00. i get 18 copper pennies out of a 50 cent roll. yes it takes time and the rewards are not bank busters.but it pays for my antique motorcycle parts i buy on ebay

 

I think that's great! Hope you find lots of the old coppers to sell. I just figured where I live, I could make more money from going to get a part time job, than to go through and hoard cents for their copper. But if that works for you, I 'm all for it.


Plus I roll-search for errors.

 

I enjoyed the article. I have a little bin of the pre-zinc pennies. Less than a gallon.

 

NEWS UPDATE: Oregon man robbed of $2000 in Pennies

Joe Henry of Medford, OR who we previously reported about his hoard of copper pennies, came home from church on sunday to find his stash of $2000 in pennies, missing from his shed. Neighbors reprt seeing gardeners come and loading buckets from his backyard into their truck. If you have any further information please contact Medford PD Detective Lance Braveman...

 

Link or it didn't happen.

 

I would agree with you, but what if you can't find work. I wouldn't search through pennies at all if I could get a job but as a teenager no one wants you, thus I found a new job. That's why I do it

 

if you have a part time job some sob will tell you when to come and go. if you do this at home you'r the sob and you'r at HOME

 

I didn't say this to upset you or anyone. I just mentioned in my case, as a person who is now in the unenviable position of trying to get a job at over 50, to continue to be able to pay my bills. There is not enough time for me to collect and sell copper cents based on their metal content in order to continue living as someone who has a home to go to.

I know teens have it especially hard these days as jobs are scarce to non-existent. I have also had a hard time finding a job, as my marketable skills aren't quite sufficient for jobs that require a college degree, and few people like to hire people who are "over-qualified" (a fun term that says, yes you can do the job, and your previous experience is ok, we could hire you based on that, but you have that college education, so we don't want you because you will be "unsatisfied" with this measly position, and leave quickly). You don't know how many times I've had to simply put down on an application my HS info and leave all my college off it. Sometimes that was the only way I could find a job. I was recently "unemployed" (though the government had me in the "not-counted" portion, so I didn't contribute to the unemployment level) for nearly a year and a half. I have a part-time jobnow, which I hope to have last for a while, but who knows?

You, at least, are being creative in trying to make a go at the coin searching. And if you can make a go at it, that's fine. I didn't realize at the time I made the choice to stop hoarding copper cents (of which I only had about 30.00 worth) that I could also sell it on line for a bit more, but even so, it wasn't going to pay my bills.

 

200,000 pennies has a face value of $2,000. However altogether worth $4,700 in copper if it were 100% pure. You would have to pay at least $1,000 in fees to melt it down and separate the Zinc from the alloy add another $200 to transport. The buyer would take a cut of at least $500. Your take would be $1,000. For visiting 15 banks every week this sounds like a dumb idea. Not to include the $400 sorting machine he purchased, the amount of gas used, and the time spent.

 

bought a roll of indians for 7.00 unsearched old roll too