HOARDING pre 1982 cents for copper

how many is too many? or what would you consider a good hoard?
I got a measly 184 so far out of the last 15 rolls I've searched since I started actaully keeping them from 1960-1981 of course I keep wheats and any errors I have found. also I'm keeping any S mint pennies.

any opinions on this or facts too are completely welcomed

 

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I probably have about 3000 pre 1982 lincolns... lots and lots of wheats. I also kept 5 bank wrapped rolls of pristine 2008 pennies if those are the last of the lincoln memorial cents just for the heck of it.

The copper cents are just cool to have since they dont make them anymore (outside of the special proof cents this year).

 

Probably at least 100lbs , I know a GUY i WORKED WITH THAT STARTED COLLECTING THEM IN '82and still has only 300lbs , I myself hahe a few hundred . Then you have to figure if the Gov. will let you melt them .
rzage

 

I have around $1,200 worth and im still adding

 

you definitely picked the right username then!!

 

Do you have the weight on them , must be a lot .
rzage:whistle:

 

I got 12 mint bags of the suckers. That's WAY too many.

I'm just waiting for the penny to go away and I'll sell them into the ensuing frenzy.

 

I'm working on filling a 5 gallon pail, just over half way so far.

 

I refuse to disclose the amount I have due to personal security reasons.

 

Okay, the can of worms has been opened so here they come.
I gather that it is not illegal to destroy U. S. Government property, BUT if you had enough of the copper cents and you knew of someone who could professionally melt them, would you?
How many cents does it take to make one ounce of pure copper? My guess is 5 or 6 cents.
Are there standard size ingots and how would you get them certified as to purity? Would you use a well known TPG i,e. anacs, pcgs, or ngc. A Copper bar is very beautiful when polished and laquered.

 

I separate them out as I get them, but don't go out of my way to find them. I've filled a 1 qt container, which probably weighs about 15 pounds. Soooo, maybe about 2000 to 2200.

 

I'm searching through $25 dollar boxes of pennies and I'm averaging about $1 dollar of copper cents for every $10 of pennies I search.

Each $25 box weighs approximately 17 pounds and takes up little space.

Even if you can't melt them right now, they are still worth twice what you paid for em so why not keep them?

 

The math for US cents is this, each one is supposed to weigh 3.11 grams, of which 95% of that 3.11 grams should be copper, that is theory, in reality each individual coin can be slightly different in weight, and in composition, enough examples in the mix would tend to make the gap close to the ideal.

I am leaning here on the slender reed of memory, so please correct me if my conversions are off.

on average each pre-1982 cent would contain 2.9545 grams of copper, or about 338.4 cents for one kilogram, since there are 2.2 pounds in a kilo divide 338.4 by 2.2 and you have 153.8 cents to make up one pound of copper.

on edit, one of the coin shops I frequent has been displaying one ounce copper bars, no price marked and I have not asked, even at .25 cents apiece they would be about like paying 2400 for an ounce of gold when spot is at 960.

 

have filled up 5 $25 dollar penny boxes

does anyone know approx. dollar amount these boxes hold when they are just loose in the box filled to the top?? planned on stopping here but still find a roll of wheats every$300 or so

 

I never counted. but I do all Bu roll PD&S from 1956-82 & post 1983- 2009 LP-2the S being the Ms 1968-S-1974-S.about 5 milk crates full

 

I hope people do start melting them it will make mine worth more

 

OMG this reminds me about the time I saw on ebay that someone was selling a 55 drum barrel full of old pennies there parents had been building upon for years. The owner said he was selling it for $50, the catch was that you ha to come to his home and pick it up your self. This was many years ago though. But even then I wanted to drive to him and pick it up, but he lived 3 states away.


Wonder what the shipping would have been?

 

I bet he would have tried to get them all into a flat rate box.

 

LOL...I got mine sitting in the garage...I'm hoping someone will steal them! The crooks around here aren't very motivated.

 

T that