Realcent.org

This is my second move since becoming a member of hoardingcopper (aka realcent.org).
The first time was in 2007. I moved from a second story apartment to a ranch house. That was when I learned filling those 5 gallon water jugs with cents was a mistake. After the drawn out process of switching them to canvas bags they all eventually made it to the new house. I continued saving and hoarding the pile in the basement of the new house. Now fast forward 17 years……. I bought another house. This one is more rural and might be my last house purchase, (who knows). I moved in on Boxing Day, and have been here since. I procrastinated on moving the cents because who wants to carry out of a basement 10,000 pounds of cents one bag at a time. I decided I was going to just sell the cents at double face and move on with my life. After having several dealers come by the consensus was one guy said cents were NEVER copper, one guy said he thought I meant scrap copper pipe, the other guy said he’d take them for free but wouldn’t pay. Another guy said he thought he was buying all wheat cents at $0.02 each. So I ended up saying screw it, and started hauling it out one bag at a time. I hauled most of it out when one of those guys (who is a friend) called me back and said he’d be interested but was for his family member and that the family member would haul all the cents out by himself. Well I agreed. Before we could make it happen my friend seemed to suggest that I was going to GIVE his brother the remaining cents for FREE for carrying them out of the basement. LOL. Well, that never materialized. The last 1000 lbs of copper cents is still sitting in my basement at the old house. I’m hoping to have the energy to get fully moved out and get that house sold before the end of the year. I guess I’ve been saving these things going on 20 years now. Tempus Fugit.

Great post!

Glad to know I wasn't the only one who moved their cents from apartments to basements to other houses. BTW my apartment was the 4th floor no stairs in a city. In hind sight not the best move bringing in all those boxes of halfs and even just pennies.

I know Adam said he is 'out' of the market. But he's a stand up person. And I think if you asked he'd probably buy them. Not likely for 2x. But It's a way to get out of the copper hoarding side hustle once and for all.

Also not sure if you have already done this. But I found a transitional error in my hoard. Hope you search the pile for the 1983 copper and the 1982 small D copper cents. I didn't look for other possible years other than 1983.

Good luck!
~JobIII

Basements are the best to store the hoard because the concrete slab can support all the weight. I'm probably going to be moving in about 5 years. Going to be some fun. I'll be in my 60's then. My back hurts just thinking about it.

I would estimate that 1,000 lbs to be about $1450 FV. I just moved a similar amount of pennies.

I found that when dumping a 2 gallon bucket filled 75% of the way is about $75 FV and is about the max I can carry comfortably from the parking lot to the bank. At that weight, the tellers are struggling to lift it.

I don't think I will ever have the number of coins you guys have.

I’ve got coffee cans full of pennies. Although they’re not as heavy, if I dropped one on my toe, I imagine it could potentially chop a toe off. I just need to remember to wear strong shoes whenever moving them.

Also, I find myself frequently thinking about the day the mint stops making pennies. Would copper pennies suddenly be in demand? I wonder what happened in Canada when they discontinued pennies. I wonder if there is much of a market right now for copper pennies in Canada…

P.S. I also find copper in wire and pipe disposed of in various places including construction dumpsters and business trash dumpsters (especially plumbers and electricians). The neat thing about this type of copper is that you can keep it outdoors in a backyard (unless you are in a high crime area) and not be concerned about someone stealing it. When you can use an extra $100-200 (which should easily fit in an SUV), just fill up your vehicle and go to the nearest scrap yard. IMHO it is MUCH EASIER to sell this type of copper and get a decent price. After all, copper is copper.

The day the mint stops making pennies, and maybe nickels, is around the corner. Banks are going to stop accepting them, and the melt ban may or may not get lifted.

Lemon Thrower wrote:The day the mint stops making pennies, and maybe nickels, is around the corner. Banks are going to stop accepting them, and the melt ban may or may not get lifted.

I'm really surprised the mint is still making pennies. I thought the US should've stopped years ago like Canada did. It just makes sense, but then again we're talking about the US government here.

to stop making pennies is an admission that the dollar has declined due to government spending. But maintaining that illusion these days is a joke now.

I would eliminate the penny, the nickel, the half and the paper dollar. Maybe introduce a 20c piece in lieu of the quarter.

I'd also reintroduce the $500 and $1000 bill.

I dont agree that the bank will stop accepting them. I dont think that anything has ever been demonitized. Fractional currency can still be spent. You cant get pennies at the bank in Canada but I believe you can still take them to the bank and deposit them. Someone from Canada correct me if I am wrong.

A lot of banks in the US don't accept coin anymore. Most will insist that they be rolled.

Try walking into your bank with a bucket of pennies.

This is a great post. I know I'm one of the people who's building up a big copper penny hoard. We all like to think that the only time we'll ever have to move our hoard is when the melt ban is lifted and we cart them off to collect a big payday at the scrapyard, but there's a strong chance that won't be reality.

The penny melt ban went into effect 17 years ago (!), and no one should be shocked if it's another 17 years or more before it gets lifted.

Who does lifting the melt ban benefit? If the most logical answer is not 'politicians and banksters,' then they will be in no rush to lift it. More likely than a melt ban elimination is scrapyards deciding it's worth the risk to buy our pennies and allow us to walk off not knowing what will happen to them.

I think if/when the US discontinues the penny,
it is more likely that the government will do a buyback of copper cents at a rate discounted from melt value. Most people will go for it.