I've Gained 100 lbs ...

[hammerrob]

In copper cents! That's a big achievement for this small apples sorter. So if figured I'd make a few posts to share my experiences. Today is about how I got started ..

I’ve pretty much been a lifelong coin collector, so I knew about people searching rolls of coins for silver and rare coins. I always thought about doing it myself but it seemed like too much work for too little reward. Sometime early last year I read somewhere about sorting pennies for copper bullion. It just clicked for me … here was a way to have some fun searching rolls, but still get a return on my time if/when I didn’t find anything. I figured I’d give it a try. I don’t even remember exactly when I started … it was probably either March or April of last year.

I was hand-sorting $1 a day for about 4 or 5 months before I came across this forum. It didn't take long to open my eyes to what was possible. It was time to set some ground rules for myself, because I saw that I could easily let this little hobby suck up a lot of time and expense if I let it.

Rule 1: No sorting machine and mass production. My wife would definitely have a problem if I was investing significant time and money in this little venture! For now it’s just viewed as another one of my hair-brained schemes.

Rule 2: Gas ain’t cheap, and for my little hand-sorting venture I don't want it to be part of my cost structure. No special trips to acquire/dump pennies … have to be driving by a bank for something else to justify a stop in.

Rule 3: Sort only $1 a day … in January I upped that to $1.50 … (told you I was small apples) I set my operation up in the basement so that after my daily 10 minute treasure-hunt I can hit the gym equipment (sometimes that works, sometimes not).

Rule 4: If I ever have to pay a fee to dump/acquire pennies, I’m out of the sorting business.

Next post, acquiring / dumping pennies.

[stlouiscoin]

those are all great rules... except for number 3

[penny pretty]

You will get faster at sorting, as did I.I can only do it weekends,but Im sorting about $40 sat and sun a few hours each day. Spend 50 bucks. buy your wife a $25 giftcard and yourself a box-O-pennies.

[HoardCopperByTheTon]

That is the beauty of this hobby.. we can all sort at whatever level we feel comfortable with.. and what the SO allows us to get away with. Congrats on the first hundred pounds!

[68Camaro]

Congrats. If you keep it in balance with the rest of your life, there is no downside to it.

[SilverDragon72]

I usually do no more than 1 box at a time as a rule (handsorting)....although I did 1.5 boxes of nickels the other day. My budget allows me to invest in this hobby a little at a time.

Plus...with all the other types of shiny out there tempting me...the real question I have is how much of my budget should be allocated to each type? Copper would give me the most amount
per dollar...but I like to mix it up with silver too. Did I mention a sprinkling of Gold also?

I already have close to 200 lbs of nickels...and soon to have at least as much in pennies!

[SilverDragon72]

those are all great rules... except for number 3

Ahhh...you should up that to at least $5 per day

I like to listen to music while I handsort. Makes the time go by pretty quick.

[dannan14]

those are all great rules... except for number 3

Ahhh...you should up that to at least $5 per day

I like to listen to music while I handsort. Makes the time go by pretty quick.

i sometimes turn Netflix on to a documentary, although music is probably just as often. i find that having a movie on while sorting distracts me from sorting, but with a documentary i can pay attention and sort simultaneously.

[hammerrob]

those are all great rules... except for number 3

Ahhh...you should up that to at least $5 per day

I like to listen to music while I handsort. Makes the time go by pretty quick.

i sometimes turn Netflix on to a documentary, although music is probably just as often. i find that having a movie on while sorting distracts me from sorting, but with a documentary i can pay attention and sort simultaneously.

I'd get tired of it really quick I was spending more than 15 minutes a day ... it'd become a chore for me. You guys with the patience/time to do more must be stacking things up pretty quickly!

[uthminsta]

Sort only $1 a day … in January I upped that to $1.50

I bet you could up your sorting to accomodate "one roll of copper per day" without much extra time. If your copper percentages are the same as mine, that would only mean sorting 4-5 rolls to get that copper roll.
And congrats on the first hundred pounds. Notice I said FIRST. Keep on keepin' on.