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I was just wondering what is the best shipping method to send $100 FV of pre-1982 copper? I have looked on the USPS site and that seems to be the best method, but it has a 70lb. weight limit. Is this what everyone uses? Seems to me that copper at that FV will be about 68-70 lbs.....

please let me know what you all do.

Thanks!

Priority Mail Large Flat Rate Box.

Some members here have more knowledge and experience than I do about this. I have received those packages that weigh 70 lbs. and have $100 FV. 68.5-69 lbs. is probably the average for $100 FV copper pennies.

i think they will fit in a medium flat rate box

daviscfad wrote:i think they will fit in a medium flat rate box

they will....use the reinforced tape on all corners and edges...lots of cushioning material inside...the bot has a link on RC somewhere.

"Shipping Pennies the Proper Way" - viewtopic.php?f=18&t=201

My bad...

I have shipped many boxes of $100.00 face copper. The two biggest things to remember is put your pennies in a bag that will not break like a plastic coin bag from the bank or I use canvas bags and seal them. That way if a corner of the box does open up the person you are shipping the pennies to will still get all their pennies. And cover the box with good reinforced strapping tape.

Oh and please signify that the box is HEAVY by either using a heavy marker or a "HEAVY" sticker. Not all postal workers can pick up 70 lb box.

fasteddy wrote: Not all postal workers can pick up 70 lb box.

Ain't that the truth! Excellent advice by NDFarmer by the way.

They are all required to be able to life 70lbs to keep their jobs.

Snake42 wrote:They are all required to be able to life 70lbs to keep their jobs.

Yesterday I took two 40# medium flat rate boxes to the post office and the petite oriental woman could barely lift the box to put it on the scale. After weighing it she almost dropped the box trying to slide it off the scale and it fell about 8 inches onto the counter below.

Some of these older, petite female postal workers really do have difficulty handling some of these heavier flat rate boxes.

Snake42 wrote:They are all required to be able to life 70lbs to keep their jobs.

Yeah they're "required" to, but I've had similar experiences as pennypicker where postal workers have had difficulty lifting heavy boxes. It's similar to how police officers are "required" to be able to run one and a half miles within a certain time limit, but we all know that that Sergeant with the pot belly getting his morning doughnut isn't doing a whole lot of running.

Great. Thanks everyone for the advice. I guess I can kill two birds with one stone. Ship my pennies and provide a new job as it sounds like some older postal workers will be looking for permanent disability after a few trips to the Post Office, thus providing job opportunities in a bad economy?

Hey Gobirds...good luck on the shipping...remember to use the reinforced strapping tape on all corners and edges Have you checked out Hoards post on shipping...EDIT from He does it alot...to Hoard ships tons

Snake42 wrote:They are all required to be able to life 70lbs to keep their jobs.

...They are not ALL required to lift 70 lbs "to keep their jobs"

You may have a clerk or carrier coming back from surgery or some other health related issue and they might be on "LIGHT DUTY STATUS" if so they are not required to pick up 70 lbs.

fasteddy wrote:Hey Gobirds...good luck on the shipping...remember to use the reinforced strapping tape on all corners and edges Have you checked out Hoards post on shipping...he does it alot...

Snake42 wrote:They are all required to be able to life 70lbs to keep their jobs.

...They are not ALL required to lift 70 lbs "to keep their jobs"

You may have a clerk or carrier coming back from surgery or some other health related issue and they might be on "LIGHT DUTY STATUS" if so they are not required to pick up 70 lbs.

And the injury was caused by lifting 69.8 lb boxes of pennies.

Ask for a cart when you go in.You'll save yourself and the staff some work.Tell them you have some heavy packages.They should be able to spare one.Wheel it out to your boxes and load up(4 boxes per day is my limit).Use the click and ship labels too.After a few visits it will be SOP.

i found the boxes you get from banks while getting pennies fit perfectly in Flat rate boxes, you can get 3 in a medium box, then you can put 1 or 2 small flat rate boxes on top and it fits perfectly. I filled only 2 of those penny boxes with $35 face. You tape the penny boxes, then the medium box and your golden

I have "tons" of experience shipping this way. A couple of standard coin shipment bags work just in one of those medium flat rate boxes. Reinforced and properly taped it should tip the scales at 68 lbs 14.4 ounces.. well below the max weight.

No need to ask for a cart when you take it in. You just toss it up on your shoulder. Heck, you can put one on each shoulder if you can get somebody to open the doors for you. What, do we got a bunch of "girlie men" here?

HoardCopperByTheTon wrote:No need to ask for a cart when you take it in. You just toss it up on your shoulder. Heck, you can put one on each shoulder if you can get somebody to open the doors for you. What, do we got a bunch of "girlie men" here?

Sure,machines can carry more than us humans,thanks for rubbing it in.

I don't even break the cart out unless the amount of pennies is over $200.

The only time I use the cart is when I'm up at the bar ordering my beer!

HoardCopperByTheTon wrote:I don't even break the cart out unless the amount of pennies is over $200.

You have a cart?


I guess it's far better than my future back problems.

Hey Gobirds...good luck on the shipping...remember to use the reinforced strapping tape on all corners and edges Have you checked out Hoards post on shipping...he does it alot...

All you guys have been great. I could not have asked for more from any of you. I read the post and it is awesome. I generally do not re-invent the wheel, so I will be following many of these suggestions especially since they are at no cost (with exception of the actual shipment) and it allows me to recycle some stuff I otherwise would have been throwing away, such as spent wrappers! I never think of this stuff. Thanks again all!!!!!!!

Glad we were able to help. This site is all about the sharing of ideas and experiences.. and nobody wants a leaky box of pennies. That post is so old that it only talks about shipping 7500 coins at a time. This was long before $100 shipments became the standard. Now just dropping in 2 coin shipment bags works fine. Though I have been known to ship $100 face in rolled cents as well. The first $100 shipment was actually done on a dare from member Tmaring a couple of years ago who said he didn't think I could do it. I love a challenge!

John_doe.. Yes, I have a cart.. one of the best investments besides a Ryedale that any sorter can make. I actually have a few carts. The one I use the most has a 660 lb. capacity and a fold down handle. The 1000 lb. capacity wagon is too big to fit in the car.. so I just use it for moving small quantities of pennies around the penny processing center.