Hopefully nobody has brought this subject up yet. Oh and for the Lincoln cent purists, please forgive me but the public still goes with the name "penny." I heard there was something on the radio earlier about this but my wife didn't catch the full story or even a few words of it other than to say she heard something good about pennies. :yes: I guess all us Lincoln cent hoarders are gonna get a bigger return than ever thought possible. Wish I had more, how about you?? http://news.yahoo.com/laws-change-penny-hoarders-could-cash-thousands-dollars-211547264.html
Yes I do. I've only got about 3,000 (rough estimate). I bet in coming years 95% copper cents are going to become scarce from circulation. The guy in the article didn't check his cents, what I would do to check them .
Yeah that's really something!! I wonder how many 1909 VDB S mint he has sold for close to nothing??!! That said, I'm sure he has rec'd plenty of emails offers from coin collectors offering to buy. I wonder if he really doesn't check dates? Seems dumb to me! :yes: Too bad I missed that Nightline report.
Kind of silly that they are reporting this now that copper has been falling and the theoretical metal value of the cent is down to around two times face when awhile back it was hitting four times face. I also like this part "It's illegal to melt pennies an there is an obscure federal law that makes it illegal to transport more than $5 in pennies out of the country. " Obscure? IT"S THE SAME LAW! And of course they aren't actually laws, they are regulations that have the force of laws. But I guess if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck....
Not sure if its the same story, but I read that somebody had a hoard of pennies in their shed. He stored them in buckets and was ready to unload them for cash if needed. But I'm just wondering, if the economy really tanked what would he trade the pennies for, food?
Pretty impressive! I guess you don't have to worry about anyone carrying them off. You say those four (4) buckets represent $5000 in pennies; that would be $1250/bucket. $1250 / $50 = 25 bags 1 bag = 34 lbs 25 bags x 34 lbs = 850 lbs per bucket ...that's a heavy bucket!! How did you get them stacked up like that? :scratch:
This may be it... Dang! I can never figure out how to link videos! Try this... http://abcnews.go.com/Business/laws...usands-dollars/story?id=15076522#.TttkpvKwXBY
I think the only way to do it would be once a bucket is full, put an empty bucket on top of it and start filling it up
I think everyone including collectors are missing the big picture and the real opportunities here. If they eliminate the wasteful cent there's a good chance they'll also eliminate the wasteful rag dollar. We'd have a workable coinage and currency (small purchases only) system again. The big beneficiaries would be big vending outfits like the ARA. When there are no pennies people will scramble to get the copper and they'll turn in most of the zincs for proper disposal. Of course pennies are nearly worthless (even the copper ones) so very large numbers will continue to clutter drawers and everywhere else. As time goes by these will tend to be thrown in the trash. People will immediately decide they want collections of these so prices will escalate especially on the memorials and more especially on the zincs. This will be short lived though as the dearth of cents in circulation will curtail the numbers of new cent collectors. Other denominations will get some benefit as collectors of coins from circulation turn to them. There will be other predictable and unpredictable effects as well. This will result in consolidation of Brinks routes somewhat in larger areas which will be partially off set by increased hauling of dollar coins. Inexpensive items that can be sold by machine will be more readily available. Maybe you'll be able to buy five copper pennies for a dollar. Look for coins like nice attractive near gem '84-D cents to have the largest increases in percentage terms. Watch out for scarcer gem copper memorials like the '79-D! Watch for the effect on business as it becomes easier to get a dollar or two from consumers. Some stores like dollar stores could be hurt by this. Groceries willhave an almost impossible time selling toothpicks for a cent apiece when a machine across the street sells them six for a penny. Since a dollar or two isn't much money this is hardly going to transform the nation but there will be increased efficiency and lower costs across the board and some people will be able to capitalize on this.
Don't look for this change to actually happen though because a workable currency system will hurt credit card companies and credit card companies are well represented in Washington where common sense has no lobby and no place at all.
Speaking of which, the cost of transactions will fall dramatically and their speed increase with fewer credit card transactions. There should be a means to make money on this as well. But as I said. Don't expect the penny to actually go away while the highest bidder runs the country.
