Banks are Aware

[winchester333]

I'm trying to get to the 100,000 mark and it's getting harder. Casual hand sorting for around 5 years now. Up to 70,000. The bank tellars are scowling at me as they all seem aware what's going on with pennies. I just do my normal banking and then ask for a single box. Huffing and puffing, sighs, whispers about "we have another one", etc. I went to my first local coin show and ther were $50 face bags of pennies being sold. The word is getting out.

[NDFarmer]

I went to my first local coin show and they were $50 face bags of pennies being sold.

How much were they asking for a bag?

[Coppercrazy]

I think it depends where you are,and we are still a minority anywhere.Tellers look at me like im from another planet when I ask for a brick of pennies or a bag off the machine...The branches that sell me bags say no one else has ever asked for them before..

[NotABigDeal]

My tellers are so used to me by now. We are still a small group. There seems to be clumps of sorters here and there.

Deal

[bgretz1989]

my city has two sorters that i know about and the only thing the tellers know anything about is the silver content of older coins. they are always asking about why i want so many pennies but they always get a lie. the truth will never come from me!

[reloader]

My grandfather sorted through thousands of dollars of pennies back in the 50's and 60's, keeping the unc's and any errors. We have all those pennies that he collected and I would say that my grandfather would be proud of me because I have been mining the banks for their metals for the last 25 years. Thanks Grand Pa for the education!

[reloader]

Collectors have been going through change for the last hundred years. Its nothing new. You just have the balls to go in cold and ask for what you want. It helps if your local bank works with you.

[HoardCopperByTheTon]

I went to my first local coin show and they were $50 face bags of pennies being sold.

How much were they asking for a bag?

Were these $50 bags of pennies actually changing hands at some price (a true sale) or just being offered for sale? I am curious about the pricing also.

I will be having several bags of coppers available for sale at a show I am setting up at in 2 weeks. It looks like I already have 8 bags pre-sold at $90 each to a regular customer. At the last show I set up at in November I sold several machine wrapped rolls at $1 each and had interest, but no actual sales of the bags at $85 each. Copper has moved up a bit since then.

[winchester333]

I think he was asking $120 for a plastic bank type coin bag with 5000 coppers. The lable said there were lots of wheats mixed in as well and all were copper. I thought I heard him say that to a guy who asked and then he went into the "copper penny is worth close to 3 cents" sales pitch. The bag was still there when I left.

There must be others sorting near me as I've gotten whole boxes with nothing but zincs and the rolls were marked with a Z. I stopped opening them after about ten rolls.

The yield seems to getting very low also. Huge numbers of shield pennies plus '09s and 08's. My last box was around 17%. I have a longgggg way to go at this pace to get to my 100,000 target.

[AdamsSamoa]

I get the "are you from another planet look here in FL"

[winchester333]

I hear you on the "what planet are you from" stares.

Sort of off topic but I work with an old Polish guy who 'collects' many items. He grew up in Poland during the Kruschev era. His father told him a story about how both the Germans and Russians conficated most of the .75 silver coins that were in circualtion before WWII and replaced them with occupation money made of garbage metals. Anyone who had the old silver coins buried them in the ground to use to buy essentials like food. By the way, he hoards other things like food and espcially Vodka (no shelf life). Says he has 200 plus bottles put away "in a safe place" to use for barter, just in case. This old man has seen it all and he says we are heading towards financial disaster very soon. This guy told me he never tasted orange juice until he was 28 years old!

[beauanderos]

There must be others sorting near me as I've gotten whole boxes with nothing but zincs and the rolls were marked with a Z. I stopped opening them after about ten rolls.

The yield seems to getting very low also. My last box was around 17%.

You're lucky (and must have been spoiled before). 17-18% is standard percentage for California. So yeah, you do have a ways to go to reach your target... but if you wait, the journey will just take longer at lower percentages. Stop keeping statistics and you won't get depressed.

[HoardCopperByTheTon]

The yield seems to getting very low also. Huge numbers of shield pennies plus '09s and 08's. My last box was around 17%. I have a longgggg way to go at this pace to get to my 100,000 target.

Like I always say.. "If your yields are low.. just sort more!"

Of course if it's too much work, you can always just write the check and any of several members here can easily have you at your goal by the end of next week.

[Robarons]

Here in Michigan it was the land of milk and honey for sorters. 33% copper anywhere in the state. Money does not move very much here hence the depressed economy.

But now I can not even get pennies and the ones I do get are awful, 20%! Thats a 13% fall since I got into sorting since 2007.

I see a bad moon rising for getting easy copper.

[TheJonasCollegeFund]

Here in Michigan it was the land of milk and honey for sorters. 33% copper anywhere in the state. Money does not move very much here hence the depressed economy.

But now I can not even get pennies and the ones I do get are awful, 20%! Thats a 13% fall since I got into sorting since 2007.

I see a bad moon rising for getting easy copper.

You need a roadtrip south of your border. Still getting higher percentages in HoosierLand. Anywhere from 25% to 30% and recently had a 40% bag! The wheats are going down but that was to be expected with all of the recent 09's and 10's being dumped. I see alot more 2010's than the 2009's.

[Silver Addict]

I got the "what planet are you from?" stare the other day when I asked for just $20 in pennies. Then it turns out the bank only had $5 worth. Really?

I've been averaging around 30% coppers. Latest batch was a disappointing 24%. Did find a 1902 Indian head, a Spain 2 cent Euro coin, and 2 wheaties in the $10 batch though

[west77]

One of my banks knows exactly what I am doing. I told a teller around 3 years ago (the truth about why I am buying boxes.) She smiled at me as though I were an escapee from a mental ward and passed them over. I almost look forward to the day where 20 or 30 people are asking her for boxes. On that day I will smile at her as though she belongs in an asylum as she will have missed a golden (or alt least copper) opportunity and the ship will have sailed.

[Sheikh_yer_Bu'Tay]

No one bugs me about pennies right now. I don't ask for very many of them. They have cut me off on anything above pennies, though. My averages started out at 33% five yrs. ago, now it can dip as low as 12%.

I had a good conversation with the vault mgr. at my favorite branch. She is now fully aware of my stance on paying for debts, goods and services with lawful money (that would be coins). I have memorized Article One, Section Ten of the Constitution and can recite it to them in "chapter and verse". She now understands why I want them and is trying to get any coin I request for me. Terrific lady!

[cuppoor]

Here in Michigan it was the land of milk and honey for sorters. 33% copper anywhere in the state. Money does not move very much here hence the depressed economy.

But now I can not even get pennies and the ones I do get are awful, 20%! Thats a 13% fall since I got into sorting since 2007.

I see a bad moon rising for getting easy copper.

You need a roadtrip south of your border. Still getting higher percentages in HoosierLand. Anywhere from 25% to 30% and recently had a 40% bag! The wheats are going down but that was to be expected with all of the recent 09's and 10's being dumped. I see alot more 2010's than the 2009's.

I've seen "HoosierLand" percentages go down from around 33% 1.5 years ago to about 30% these days. Yes, wheats have gone down for me too from about 8-10 per box to around 5. I still get a lot of good Canadian too, so I'm not complaining here in Hoosierland. I do see the shield contamination watering down the copper though.

The bank tellers don't look at you like you're from Mars if you bring them some Mars products in shiny wrappers, BTW.

[highroller4321]

I think he was asking $120 for a plastic bank type coin bag with 5000 coppers. The lable said there were lots of wheats mixed in as well and all were copper. I thought I heard him say that to a guy who asked and then he went into the "copper penny is worth close to 3 cents" sales pitch. The bag was still there when I left.

There must be others sorting near me as I've gotten whole boxes with nothing but zincs and the rolls were marked with a Z. I stopped opening them after about ten rolls.

The yield seems to getting very low also. Huge numbers of shield pennies plus '09s and 08's. My last box was around 17%. I have a longgggg way to go at this pace to get to my 100,000 target.

What state was this in? Large coin show?


The more dealers that start offering copper pennies the better! This is a great step in advancement for the copper penny!

[kiwiman]

At one bank I go to the teller knows what I am doing and talked to me about how here Fiancées parents sort copper too.

[cwgii]

at 15+% here in az i am the lowest in the stats...

[Snake42]

I have gotten mixed reactions from the tellers here in GA. There are a few banks that seem put out every time I step in the door. Then there is one bank(Wells Fargo) that goes out of the way to help me with whatever I need. I get about 20-30% round here still.

[tinhorn]

The more dealers that start offering copper pennies the better! This is a great step in advancement for the copper penny!

Yup, I agree, so long as slimeballs stay out of it. An all-copper bank bag with "lots of wheats"?! This falls into the "grandpa's unsearched wheats" category.

[CrazyTom]

The gals at the two Wells Fargo I mine just love me. They love "getting rid of" customer wrapped rolls. One teller will ask up and down the line if the other tellers have any. They'll even give me a bag or a box to carry them all.