1st Box Searched

[ethan]

I just started searching penny and nickel rolls. Just finished my first box of pennies (nickel results are on the nickel board). Here are my results:

Coins searched: 2500
U.S. copper found: 478 (19.1%)
of those, # of wheaties: 10 (0.4%)
Indian Head: 0
1945 Canada: 1

Question: I got two more boxes from the bank. These are the boxes with 50 holes on top so you can see the coins. With one of the boxes I can see that all 50 visible coins are very shiny. Every single one. The years I could see are all 2011. All the wrappers are red and white paper. Should I just return those?

One more question: I look to separate out wheat pennies and earlier (Indian heads, etc.). I'll keep the rest of the coppers and re-deposit the zincs. Are there any other Lincoln's I should separate out? I noticed some people talking about S mint marks. Thanks. I'm enjoying this.

[HoardCopperByTheTon]

Hi ethan,

Welcome to the forum. No, you shouldn't return those shiny ones to the bank for a couple of reasons. First.. when you start returning boxes of pennies to the bank it makes it much more difficult to get new boxes. Second.. the 2011 cents currently have a premium since they are not widely distributed yet. Either sell them on eBay or trade them to me for copper.

[shinnosuke]

[quote="ethan"]
Question: I got two more boxes from the bank. These are the boxes with 50 holes on top so you can see the coins. With one of the boxes I can see that all 50 visible coins are very shiny. Every single one. The years I could see are all 2011. All the wrappers are red and white paper. Should I just return those?

One guy on this website recently sold a box of all 2011 rolls on feebay for about $82. A few days have passed so you may not get the same premium, but I say go for it...if you don't take HCBTT on his offer to trade.

[TheJonasCollegeFund]

New guys get all the luck!

Welcome to the fun...but don't rub it in!

[TheJonasCollegeFund]

Oh yeah...get back to the bank tomorrow and BUY all they got....HELLO!

[ethan]

... Either sell them on eBay or trade them to me for copper.

Good call! Feebay it is. Looks like they're still fetching about $87/box shipped.

More questions. Are they from the U.S. Mint or something? The other box I got from the bank is the same (that is the box itself), but contains a mix of old and new. Looks like the boxes are sealed pretty much the same. Who stuffs these boxes?

[HoardCopperByTheTon]

They are packaged by the coin processor that supplies your bank. Since they are red and white rolls it is very likely Loomis. Go back and buy as many boxes as you can. You might get lucky while the market is hot. You can take all your profits after ebay fees and buy copper with them. Good luck on the auction.

[ethan]

You all: thanks for the replies! As usual, I have more questions:

1) What do I do with all the rolls of zincs I have after pulling coppers?
2) Just for safety do I need to open any of those 2011s just to make sure they're all 2011s? Every single one in the visible holes is shiny and all dates are 2011, but how can I be sure? I see people on eBay selling the same exact thing I have. Do you thing they opened them, or just went with the fact that all the visible ones are the same?

Thank you!

[HoardCopperByTheTon]

Another thought.. hit other branches of your bank that are close by. Most likely they will be serviced by the same coin processor.. increasing your odds of getting more BU boxes. Also hit branches of other banks in your area.. chances are they are also serviced by the same coin processor.. or the coins being delivered from the Fed to all coin processors in your area are the new ones.

[HoardCopperByTheTon]

You deposit your circulated zinc in the bank.. hopefully one other than your source bank.. so you can cycle that capital through several more times quickly and add more coppers to your hoard.

The downside of not opening the boxes is that a dirty penny or several can be in the rolls. Many ebay buyers are aware of this.. but some will get all kinds of upset if even 1 penny does not match the selling description. If you have a really good scale you can check the weight of the box and verify that at least they are all zinc. If you are going to get dirty rolls, chances are some of the pennies will be copper and the weight will be higher. Since most eBay buyers prefer "unopened" boxes, it is kind of difficult to guarantee purity. Some sellers put language in the ad to cover themselves.

Once you get a hoard of boxes, you can select a few boxes of cents as a sample and crack all the rolls to verity that you are getting pure boxes. Then you just put a couple of boxes in a bag and ship them to me.. where I reroll them with my machines.. good as new!