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Got a $25 box of cents from the bank. I weighed it. Weighs 14.8625 pounds ( 14lbs. 13.8 oz) . I am not factoring cardboard and wrapper weights into this calculation. Used this set of simultaneous equations to make a prediction of copper percentage:

X = Zincoln count

Y = non Zincoln ( 95% Cu mostly) count


For a $25 box:

X + Y =2500

Box weighs 237.8 ounces ( 14.8625 lbs * 16 ounces/lb)

Zincoln weighs 0.088 ounces
95% Cu cent weighs 0.109 ounces


(X * 0.088) + ( Y* 0.109) = 237.8

Using this calculator:

https://www.symbolab.com/solver/simulta ... calculator


I will plug in the 2 equations

X + Y = 2500

0.088X + 0.109Y = 237.8


The calculator gives me X = 1652 and Y =17800/21 = 847

This works out to nearly a 33% Cu yield.

I will be going through the box this week. I'll let you all know how it turns out.

Interesting. Occasionally I will weigh rolls. Knowing that zn will be 125 ish.
CU will be 155. Therefore anything over 130 will meet my avg.

cwgii wrote:Interesting. Occasionally I will weigh rolls. Knowing that zn will be 125 ish.
CU will be 155. Therefore anything over 130 will meet my avg.

I'll go through this week casually. Will be neat if the calculation works out. To all you realcenters with kids in elementary school, this would be an excellent introduction to algebra.

Springer, As stated above, your box weighs 238 ounces. A pure zinc box weighs 220 ounces. A pure copper box weighs 272 ounces. Your 33 percent estimate does sound accurate. Are these rolls CWR or bwr?

Good luck in your search and let us know how many wheats you find. Also, maybe you should go back to this bank a month or two later for another box for comparison purposes. One final comment: your 33 percent (if correct) is about double the national average.

How did the count turn out?

shinnosuke wrote:How did the count turn out?

Got a lot less than 30%. LOL

Calculated it at 21.7% copper. Something like 517 Cu Lincolns and 10 wheat and some pre-1982 Canadians added up to the yield. Box weight and paper wrapping threw calculation off. My scale should be accurate. Next time I can get a box, at least I will have some form of metric to go by if the cardboard weight stays the same ( assume Loomis box vs. Brinkers box may vary?). Anything over 14.86 pounds should have over 20% copper. I ended up dumping $19.52 out of that $25 box. So, $5.48 kept with some the low Cu Canadian cents ( I hold on to Canadian cents since they are not making them anymore).

Hey, 21.7% beats the 10-12% I was getting when I finally called it quits a few years ago. Someday...someday...I hope all our work pays off.

shinnosuke wrote:Hey, 21.7% beats the 10-12% I was getting when I finally called it quits a few years ago. Someday...someday...I hope all our work pays off.

Elon says cents are useless and Congress declares a cent has 5cents buying power for a one time gain of hoarders!

JerrySpringer wrote:

shinnosuke wrote:Hey, 21.7% beats the 10-12% I was getting when I finally called it quits a few years ago. Someday...someday...I hope all our work pays off.

Elon says cents are useless and Congress declares a cent has 5cents buying power for a one time gain of hoarders!

@elonmusk, make it happen, sir!

(If Ron Paul truly is engaged in the work of streamlining the federal government, pennies might really be worth something again someday.

Thanks for posting this

Its been years since I sorted, though I have lots of boxes in a safe ready to sort. But if my memory serves me, a 15 lb box should be around 25 percent copper.

willy13 wrote:Thanks for posting this

Its been years since I sorted, though I have lots of boxes in a safe ready to sort. But if my memory serves me, a 15 lb box should be around 25 percent copper.

Have any RC'ers here ever brought a scale into a bank and ask to weigh the penny boxes? Lol, back in the day you could probably find cooperating tellers after multiple bags of chocolate gifts.