How much longer can the copper search go on?

[RD5]

With thousands of people doing this around the world how much longer will this copper penny searching last?

[John_doe]

With thousands of people doing this around the world how much longer will this copper penny searching last?

it all depends on several factors. if they decide to strip them from circulation it could all be over in months. the rate we are going it could be several more years.

I have been searching for a few years now and the copper supply has only declined by a few percent.

the rc members have put a pretty substantial dent in the population.

[RD5]

Cool, it's nice to hear from an experienced sorter, I hope it stays around long enough for me to get my fair share

[SilverDragon72]

My 2 gallon cents stash has taken a TINY bite out of the penny supply!

My nickel hoard....amounts to a small CHOMP!

May the sickness continue! The pile grows weekly.....

[RD5]

I can't imagine how small of a bite my copper takes out

[ZenOps]

If its by government mandate like Canada, I can imagine it would be nearly instantaneous.

There will be a set date, where all banks are ordered to no longer give pennies out and only allow deposits. From then on, it might be a matter of a year or so where the majority of circulation denomination will disappear. Anything that was hoarded will stay hoarded, and anything that circulated will no longer circulate.

[RD5]

I better do as much as I can while it's still around

[lance]

I think in less than 2 years most peoples average will be between 5-10%...

[John_doe]

I think in less than 2 years most peoples average will be between 5-10%...

I would agree with the 10% with the amount of new sorters flowing in. It is certainly possible to see the supply have an exponential drop relative to previous years. If the government throws their hat in the ring I could see less than 5% becoming a reality very quickly. I am honestly surprised they have not already started.

[reddirtcoins]

Hmm.. in 65 people were asking that.. and again in 70... You still find silver coins so, as long as people want to look. If they pull them and melt them you'll just have to look elsewhere. After all, people will have them laying around for decades to come. "There just pennies".. lol.. Thats what I'm banking on.

[John_doe]

the price goes up....more sorters and dwindling supply.
the price goes down...less sorters more people throwing them back into the wild.

[RD5]

John has the right idea!

[tuleja]

Unless the government starts sucking them up and melting them, they will be around a long time. Look how much silver is still out there.

Like John stated with pricing going up and down.
Also remember, as hoarders pass away, family members who care less about copper cash in those pennies.
Recessions are also great for coins finding their way back into the wild. The mintages for 2009 are very low due to so much change being cashed in during the last recession.

[penny pretty]

In another post I stated I had a vacation this week, and was using to make the rounds of all my branches to stock up. I now have close to $500 to sort that will last me for a few months( I handsort on weekends) Statistically, yields should go down over time, so become you own "time bank" and get your future supply now. Basically Im starting a new hoard... unsorted pennies.

[jldco]

Hmm.. in 65 people were asking that.. and again in 70... You still find silver coins so, as long as people want to look. If they pull them and melt them you'll just have to look elsewhere. After all, people will have them laying around for decades to come. "There just pennies".. lol.. Thats what I'm banking on.

Hear Hear! I agree with the Okie!

[fasteddy]

my percents are up....was 18% in '09 now i am commonly doing 20 to 21%. My guess is a long time.

[everything]

We worry about this to much, but it's fun to speculate. I made it through the 2012 cent coming aboard, and found 1.23 oz. in silver Kennedy's tonight roll searching, which is a pretty good haul, more often than not I find nothing, or a .1479 oz. which is barely worth it. The number of ryedales sold keeps going up.