Copper mining (57 miners and 80,600lbs)

[silverhedgehog]

1. $25.00 a week
2. 30%
3. Hand Sort

$1.00 in copper per day is my goal

[drummermatt]

1. 2500 lbs / year
2. 25%
3. Ryedale

[cuppoor]

$350/week
28%
Ryedale

[mtalbot_ca]

4 million pennies, 43 miners and over 64,000lbs.

[henrysmedford]

Looks like your group is at 29 metric tons a year . So if last year in the US 12M tons were mined we are doing 0,000002%. percent of that.

[avidbrandy]

I'm flabbergasted by mtalbot's 47% ratio. JUST SORT MORE!

Canada made coppers up through 1996, lots more copper in circulation up there.

Then I'm definitely living on the wrong side of the continent.

I second this.

1. $100.00 a month
2. 14%
3. Ryedale

[henrysmedford]

I'm flabbergasted by mtalbot's 47% ratio. JUST SORT MORE!

Canada made coppers up through 1996, lots more copper in circulation up there.

Then I'm definitely living on the wrong side of the continent.

You might hold off packing---

How long will pennies stay in circulation? Ask McArdle
October 31, 2012
How long will it take to get all the pennies out of circulation?
Canada’s final penny will leave the Royal Canadian Mint on Feb. 4, 2013. After that, citizens will need to find new ballast to weight our pockets during windstorms, and I will be forced to more than double the littlest McArdle’s allowance to a nickel. But be heartened penny enthusiasts—the end of the copper age will come slowly. Mint officials predict it will take five years for the majority to exit circulation. Even then, precedent indicates the coins could linger indefinitely. The Bank of Canada discontinued the two-dollar bill in 1996. A decade later, there were still more than 109 million of them still stuffed in the night tables, piggy banks and bustiers of the nation. Change is going to come, indeed. But it is going to leave far more slowly.

[scyther]

You might hold off packing---

How long will pennies stay in circulation? Ask McArdle
October 31, 2012
How long will it take to get all the pennies out of circulation?
Canada’s final penny will leave the Royal Canadian Mint on Feb. 4, 2013. After that, citizens will need to find new ballast to weight our pockets during windstorms, and I will be forced to more than double the littlest McArdle’s allowance to a nickel. But be heartened penny enthusiasts—the end of the copper age will come slowly. Mint officials predict it will take five years for the majority to exit circulation. Even then, precedent indicates the coins could linger indefinitely. The Bank of Canada discontinued the two-dollar bill in 1996. A decade later, there were still more than 109 million of them still stuffed in the night tables, piggy banks and bustiers of the nation. Change is going to come, indeed. But it is going to leave far more slowly.

...So the mint isn't going to destroy the pennies itself? That changes a lot...

[mtalbot_ca]

The las penny was minted in April 2012 I believe. Starting in February 2013, shops and individual that will deposit pennies will never see them again, as all banks will return them to the Mint for alloy recovery. Buckets load of pennies will exist long after the penny disappears from circulation, however these lasts pockets will be all that is lfet for collectors, and copper-bullion secondary market.

Cheers,

Mario

[chris6084]

Canada made coppers up through 1996, lots more copper in circulation up there.

Then I'm definitely living on the wrong side of the continent.

I second this.

1. $100.00 a month
2. 14%
3. Ryedale

What banks are you using? I have the same 12% as shinnosuke. Tell me what San Antonio bank gives you that extra 2%.

[TheJonasCollegeFund]

I think the total sold to TXBullion this year...18.75 CTU's ($1875.00 face)


All mined this year!

[theo]

I've cut back some as I've met my primary goal and I'm having some storage issues. However, I'd say that I'm generating about 5 pounds a week (250 pounds per year).

[mtalbot_ca]

And now the grand total stands at 46 miners grinding away to the tune of 41,753,800 pennies each year in order to harvest a grand total of 65,754 pounds or if you like a monstrous total of 9,598,869 pennies.

[SilverDragon72]

I haven't added any new significant copper to the pile lately ....other than getting some nickels and pennies back in change here and there.

[uthminsta]

And now the grand total stands at 46 miners grinding away to the tune of 41,753,800 pennies each year in order to harvest a grand total of 65,754 pounds or if you like a monstrous total of 9,598,869 pennies.

- A measly 46 guys are pulling 10 million coppers from circulation each year. Almost 33 tons annually.
- Imagine what it would come to, if just the rest of RealCent stepped up and reported their "extraction rates."
- Then try to wrap your mind around it that there are certainly many times more people than what our group contains, who are doing exactly the same extraction work "out there."
- Keep in mind, also: Andy - prince Ryedale as he is known by his loyal subjects - surpassed 1000 units sold quite a while ago. How do you like THEM apples?

[68Camaro]

If we were to round a bit and extrapolate the above average to the Ryedale sales (and that's a debatable thing to do) and call it say 1,000,000 cents per user per year times 1,000 Ryedales yields a billion cents per year.

That's still a relative drop in the bucket vs the 50 to 150 billion (it's a wide and unknown range) copper cents in circulation.

How many others are hand sorting outside of RC or using other machines? Some. 50% more? 2x? 10x? I just don't know. If it was 10x and they were all pulling at that same rate we would see a major drop in copper numbers year over year. I don't think we're seeing that. But it does suggest that we should be seeing a slow drop in % copper, which I think we are seeing.

[highroller4321]

The number is actually larger then one would think.

In the NC area over the last year and a half there was $2 million face value of copper pennies pulled out of circulation. (Not by me)

I am not going to post my numbers but they are much greater then the current running total.

I also know of another guy who does this as a part time businses and he pulls at least 36 tons a year out of circulation by himself.

[scyther]

But it does suggest that we should be seeing a slow drop in % copper, which I think we are seeing.

True. But that would happen due to natural attrition even if no one were pulling them out. The percent of zinc memorials is also constantly dropping, just because shields are being added to the mix.

[68Camaro]

But it does suggest that we should be seeing a slow drop in % copper, which I think we are seeing.

True. But that would happen due to natural attrition even if no one were pulling them out. The percent of zinc memorials is also constantly dropping, just because shields are being added to the mix.

The crux is "slow" vs "fast". If we're seeing a fast drop, then they are being mined at a high rate.

[Hawkeye]

Not sure how I missed this thread. My totals won't add much, but here you go:

1. $25 a week
2. 27%
3. Handsorter

Interesting topic.

[wolfeeee]

I use a Rydale with a 1983 reference cent. All copper young and old goes into the copper side.
Oldest so far is 1858 Flying Eagle in bad shape. Mutilated zinc also hits the copper pot and as many as 6 to 10 good zinc?? per $100.
After the Ryedale I sort through the copper by hand for Wheats, Canadian and zinc, weigh every '82 to make sure.
I run the bagged pennys through a 1600 Cummins Jetsort to weed out the nickles, dimes and quarters that were miss sorted.
Nickles jam the Ryedale.
I get/buy cloth bags from 4 banks once a week and that varies. The banks with sorters, like TD, that use plastic bags won't sell.
Every a week I buy 4 boxes from a fifth bank.
Take the zinc to a sixth bank that has a Cummins Jetsort, way more accurate than Penny Arcade at TD.
The tellers change bags as soon as the machine starts beeping and wait if I say there'll be 2 more.
Go there about twice a week. Teller came racing out one day to say the machine was down "Don't bother bringing in the buckets."
Started a year ago with Ryedale and so far I've done $16,000 worth 25 to 28 % copper not counting Wheats.
I use sewing machine oil (about every $200) on the small bearing and it doesn't clog up like the stuff Andy recommends.
The high points of the wheel (top and bottom) get a very small dab of silicone jel used for O rings at the same time.

[Engineer]

I use sewing machine oil (about every $200) on the small bearing and it doesn't clog up like the stuff Andy recommends.
The high points of the wheel (top and bottom) get a very small dab of silicone jel used for O rings at the same time.

Awesome information! Thanks.

[jacks2start]

I will continue to stock penny boxes until i get a ryedale. Maybe by then i'll have 100 boxes ready to go. so hoping the new phingy andy is adding is near to being done.

[jacks2start]

guess this is the fun part, hoarding before the storm begins,lol

[68Camaro]

I use sewing machine oil (about every $200) on the small bearing and it doesn't clog up like the stuff Andy recommends.
The high points of the wheel (top and bottom) get a very small dab of silicone jel used for O rings at the same time.

Awesome information! Thanks.

FWIW I've been using garage door track lube spray on the SnP, and the conventional white lithium grease on the lower bearing (the latter as Andy recommends).

The garage door lube gets sprayed onto a q-tip and I then swab it into the SnP. I then use the q-tip to clean the surrounding area. I also spray the lube onto a paper towel for cleaning the chute (and other parts when I do a deep clean). It's been working great for over a year now.