No copper in change?

[rickygee]

OK, I know we had a thread on here, I think it was by 68 Camaro, about no copper pennies in change in his neck of the woods. Well, it's been almost 3 weeks now and I haven't seen a copper cent in the wild. Plenty of shiny shields, almost uncirculated zincs from the 2000's, but not even a verdigris covered copper from before '82. I'm in the middle of KY. Even the stuff I've picked up from the banks have been new 2011 shields.

I liked that design when it came out, but I'm really getting to dislike it lately...

Gonna pick up some nickels till this blows over. I need to add to the buffalo herd.

[68Camaro]

Yeah - I had a long streak, many months ago. It passed, finally. But I've seen far fewer coppers in the wild again lately, which makes sense, as all the BoAs are supplying Brinks copper-free cents around here. And BofA is one of the larger bank chains here. Not sure what other banks use Brinks here (not Regions or TD) but they would also be adding to the problem.

[TheJonasCollegeFund]

Yeah - I had a long streak, many months ago. It passed, finally. But I've seen far fewer coppers in the wild again lately, which makes sense, as all the BoAs are supplying Brinks copper-free cents around here. And BofA is one of the larger bank chains here. Not sure what other banks use Brinks here (not Regions or TD) but they would also be adding to the problem.

Around here it seems like Brinks does 99% of the coin movement. Only once in awhile I'll see a Guarda (sp) truck. I use 4 different banks as supply banks and 1 bank for dumping and they all use Brinks. It's odd because some get the plastic Brinks rolls while some get the String boxes with the holes in the box. And then one branch gets both kinds of pennies!

[Rubbadubba]

Three weeks without seeing a "copper"? Please tell me you're kidding. I realize that eventually all good things must come to an end but from what your post implies.... it may be sooner than later for all of us. I live in northern New England. Other than one incident about a month ago where I bought an essentially copperless $25 stringer box, for the most part I've enjoyed fairly regular 25 to 30 percent copper yields from several source banks/branches in my area. I wish you well and hope things change for you towards the better in KY soon. P.S. I wonder what the resale value on a flood of Ryedales will be once the "stream of copper" had dried up? *lol*

[HoardCopperByTheTon]

Sort now.. The End is Near!!!

[silverhedgehog]

Don't look now the 2012 zinkers are coming. Happy New Year, more dilution.

[ed_vantage17]

I remember as a kid looking forward to finding the first new penny of the year, now it just means there will be less copper to find. Funny how our views change as we age.

[hirbonzig]

I've been holding back some boxes of cents and putting the dates that I got them from the bank on them. The way things are going, years from now getting a 3-5% CU box will get a bunch of-- . It would be fun to report on opening a long lost 27% CU box.

[penny pretty]

i do OK in pocket change, now I keep about 20 zincs in my left pocket. and when I see a full "take a penny" tray I tell the clerk(if watching) heres a magic trick! scoop the tray and leave the zincs. gives me more to sort...

[s3p2]

One of my gifts from my wife was a $25 box from my usual bank... no coppers in the entire box!

[m21221]

I finding very few coppers in my neck of the woods also.

[maoguinn]

I'm still getting 15-20% in bank boxes, but copper in pocket change is very low.

[Dr. Cadmium]

In southern New England, I haven't found a copper in pocket change in over two weeks, which is unusual. There's also been a sudden influx of 2011's this month.

This is based on a very small sample, though. Also, the banks tend to roll out new coinage and bills for the holidays, and the stores run through a lot more coin for change.

[uthminsta]

Was at the post office today and I noticed all of the tellers had a huge, full leave-a-penny tray... so as the guy processed my package I looked through them. Said "sorry, I'm a coin collector, I couldn't help it." He replied "everyone does that."

But on topic, I did find three free coppers in there...

[Sheikh_yer_Bu'Tay]

I have seen only 2 copper pennies in pocket change in over a month. I have five boxes to sort, we shall see how it goes.

[MUTiger]

Don't look now the 2012 zinkers are coming. Happy New Year, more dilution.

Speaking of zinkers. Does anybody need a few rolls of uncirculated 2011 zincs. Got a Brinks box last week that was all new with a few rolls with a couple of old stripes. I do not want to open them to find out what the few stripes are.
If anyone has any interest I would part with some or all for FV and postage. PM if interested. I am sure many of you have had similar boxes though.

mutiger

[68Camaro]

Stopped by SunTrust yesterday, which I have an account at, but not a normal pickup bank. I had exhausted all my suppliers this week and thought I would take a gamble. They use Brinks, thus the concern, but they had three old boxes: 1 unopened Brinks, one an opened mix of Brinks and CWR, and one all CWR with a high copper percent. No skunks, and the old Brinks were running the usual low 20s yield Downside was these were incedibly dirty and/or corroded cents. I had to pull about 40% of the coppers to the side, but I ended up with enough clean ones to top off my next $50 bag, which was my goal.