Realcent.org

I was on a trip this past week that took me to the Cincinnati, OH area and also several surrounding states (IN, KY, WV, PA).

I peeked into a few dumpsters and piles of trash by the curbs while I was there and was hoping to find something I could take home on the plane with me. No such luck.

I thought about aluminum cans, but liquids could leak out and damage my luggage. Also, the smell from the cans could be a problem when going through the metal detector areas.

I also thought about THHN wire, which doesn't take up too much space and could be valuable enough to transport. Unfortunately, I didn't find any.

Other than cash (too obvious) what kinds of items can you think of that would be valuable enough to stick in your luggage for the long plane ride home?

You search the dumpsters in Cincinnati to find scrap metal...to take on a plane?

I have have sorted over 1000 pounds of copper cents, then sold them all at face or less.

This is the only reason I'm not qualified to call you weird.

The TSA get suspicious when they see solid item in your luggage like tubes of SAE, clumps of change or metals. also being heavy. only because they think its something else , thats dangerous

I would find a local yard and sell there before i got on a plane.

Flying scrap is a bad idea because it looks like dangerous stuff. I've been questioned about bags of coins I was planning to spend at the destination.

xippi wrote:The TSA get suspicious when they see solid item in your luggage like tubes of SAE, clumps of change or metals. also being heavy. only because they think its something else , thats dangerous

I would find a local yard and sell there before i got on a plane.

Good point. Didn't think of that.

You must be a blast to travel with, hehe. Sorry, couldn't resist. Leave the trash/scrap off the plane please, hehe.

Deal

Maybe you should scour some coin/pawn shops for deals. Something you could even keep in your carry on bag. I have not flown in a while but I'm told that airlines are charging by weight for luggage.

Changechecker wrote:Maybe you should scour some coin/pawn shops for deals.

It's funny that you say that. I went to a pawn shop near West Palm Beach, FL right after the Bernie Madoff scandal erupted. They were saying how much stuff had been brought in from Madoff victims. It was January, 2009. I remember buying about 40-50 40% halves for $1 each. The guy in the store was yet another pawn/jeweler guy who didn't know what he was doing. Why do I say that? He had clad halves and silver halves all dumped into the same tub and all for sale for $1 each.

I carefully and quickly pulled out all the silver and put the coins in 3 stacks. Just in case someone else came into the store that knew what they were doing, I purposely placed a single clad half on top of each of the stacks. That was an enjoyable little transaction. So I had one in FL and then (just recently) the one in KY. Both fun transactions.

I've gotten funny looks at the airport one time when I was coming back from Winnipeg with rolls of coins. Come to think of it, I got funny looks from my coworker when I made him stop at the bank on the way to the airport so I could buy them.

knibloe wrote:I've gotten funny looks at the airport one time when I was coming back from Winnipeg with rolls of coins. Come to think of it, I got funny looks from my coworker when I made him stop at the bank on the way to the airport so I could buy them.

Talk about strange reactions, TSA folks really do get nervous about rolled coins.

Take ounce rounds to a concert, that gets sold reactions also.

I have brought $25 boxes of pennies many times through airport security. TSA definitely takes interest in those. When I had it in a checked bag, it was searched every time. When it was in a carry on bag, they would pull me aside to search my bag. I got to where I would pull it out of my carry on luggage and put it in it's own grey bin. I got a lot of weird looks, but it usually prevented me from being pulled aside to have my bag checked.

You know you can buy boxes of pennies at most US banks. No need to fly with them.

JadeDragon wrote:You know you can buy boxes of pennies at most US banks. No need to fly with them.

I know. I did it because I traveled weekly for work, and tried to get boxes of coin from other parts of the country. I always got better copper percentages than the 12% I was getting in my hometown.

chris6084 wrote:

JadeDragon wrote:You know you can buy boxes of pennies at most US banks. No need to fly with them.

I know. I did it because I traveled weekly for work, and tried to get boxes of coin from other parts of the country. I always got better copper percentages than the 12% I was getting in my hometown.

I figured you where sorting on the plane.

xippi wrote:

chris6084 wrote:

JadeDragon wrote:You know you can buy boxes of pennies at most US banks. No need to fly with them.

I know. I did it because I traveled weekly for work, and tried to get boxes of coin from other parts of the country. I always got better copper percentages than the 12% I was getting in my hometown.

I figured you where sorting on the plane.

Can you imagine sorting on a plane and then hitting heavy turbulence? That would be wild!

Every major coin show has dealers flying to it with thousands of coins. Its not that big of a deal. Depending on the agent or airport you are probably going to get asked for them to check it out. Pack expecting this, ie something that isn't going to explode coins everywhere when they inspect it and something that can be repacked. If I have loose coins in a canvas I bring an extra zip tie or two in case they want to open the original, for example.

Too much work for too little return. It may be fun for awhile yet, but wait until you're in your mid-late 60's and get back to me about the thrill of fun and/or excitement with that.

To each his or her own, I believe. Don't even ask me about the crazy things I did from age 20-35 just to make a few bucks to support my then-nasty habits.