How tempting is it to advise people to hoard copper?

[JerrySpringer]

I read other forums, mostly financial ones, and I see people post about gold and silver and whether it is a good time to start collecting it as a hedge or form of money insurance, etc. Most replies tell them to avoid gold/silver as it produces no dividends, may be in bubble territory, has a terrible track record, etc. After reading the replies, I start typing a reply that says the original poster should consider copper. Then I back off and cancel my reply. Perhaps ridicule is what I am afraid of but honestly, I am thinking that if no one is talking about copper in general money forums, then it is better just to keep collecting the copper and let people figure it out themselves. That is how I did it. Sad to say, but I mostly looked at paper assets for metals as the way to hold them. Never occurred to me that physical metal was not so difficult to get and was not unusual to own. A google search on copper one day revealed the realcent site and the rest was non-stop fun after that.

[shinnosuke]

A lot of us here think that is generally good advice to NOT broadcast too widely the idea of what we're doing, although we certainly welcome each and every new member to Realcent. In the real world, I don't feel comfortable telling people I have some precious metals/copper because I don't want them to tell a friend who tells a friend who tells someone who knocks me in the head.

[JerrySpringer]

A lot of us here think that is generally good advice to NOT broadcast too widely the idea of what we're doing, although we certainly welcome each and every new member to Realcent. In the real world, I don't feel comfortable telling people I have some precious metals/copper because I don't want them to tell a friend who tells a friend who tells someone who knocks me in the head.

OK, but anonymous-like in message forums is a bit less hazardous. I just give up trying to let others know on other forums because most people can not understand the simplicity of it and will argue against the viability and worthiness of it. What I read is that people want to start buying gold or silver all of a sudden in their investment portfolio and the replies that follow tell them not to do it but no one offers the other metal routes with copper, nickel, silver halves rolls -ie- coin roll collecting/searching. People just do not think about copper as a serious way to own physical metal with some important advantages over precious metals.

[68Camaro]

Like shinnosuke, I've been circumspect, but I've felt obligated to tell the general message of the economy to close friends, and suggest methods to deal with it, else I couldn't call them true friends. Generally those I've told either react like I'm a mad scientist, or (ironically, given that they are putting their faith in FRNs) that this is some sort of risky ponzi-scheme like investment that might pay off but they don't want to get involved in. The reactions are a bit strange, to me. But hey, I did my duty, and my conscience is clear. And I do stock up for others as well as my family, that we can care for neighbors, friends, and family should this reach the level of emergency.

[Copper Catcher]

I think many on this forum share their knowledge with family and friends i.e. the ones that know we are all crazy to begin with! Most so called "advisors" don't understand the preservation of assets hence having precious metals. They are happy as a clam thinking if they can get you 3%, 4% or more on your money they are doing a good job for you. They say stupid things like gold and silver don't earn interest and you need your money working for you. All the time the value of the dollar is going down the toilet.

My guess is even if everyone in the US were given the knowledge of the real value of the penny, less than 1/10 would respond and try to save anything.

My reasoning is simple: This figure is a bit dated but I think overall Americans save an average of $392 per year. That is it.....

So much for Sally Struthers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePENcrE_xcQ
Let's see the 1987 pitch for .70 cent a day for those poor children i.e. $255.50 annually.
Ironic wouldn't you say? I think someone should spoof this video using Americans savings.

Any hoo, The Employee Benefits Research Institute’s 2009 Retirement Confidence Survey showed 53% of workers in the U.S. have less than $25,000 in total savings and investments. The typical American household (headed by a 43 year old) has just over $18,000 in savings!

The facts speak for themselves....they are what they are, butt ugly!

[goldteam]

I kind of take the opposite approach. I understand how my family and friends feel as I was them for years. They are brainwashed by the media and even guys like Dave Ramsey. Ramsey is sound in his principles of getting out of debt, but even he laughs at gold.

So I take the opposite approach. I love my family and friends. I see hoarding pennies and collecting silver and gold as my duty, because I firmly believe that they will need help in the future. Sure they maybe could have figured it out for themselves, but again, I was them a while back.

I will sometimes drive by dairy queen and want that $5 blizzard and then I think to myself that is 500 coppers which I may need for my family and friends someday. I stay thinner and it gives real motivation and meaning in my sorting when I am tempted to waste my money.

I FEEL IT"S MY DUTY, BECAUSE I TRULY BELIEVE GOD HAS BLESSED EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU WITH THE KNOWLEDGE YOU HAVE OF TRUE MONEY.

[NHsorter]

Outside of realcent, I don't mention penny hoarding anywhere else on the web. I want to keep the percentages in the wild up for as long as possible. The more this gets out, not only will percentages decrease, but it will also get much harder to buy & dump pennies. Guess I'm greedy, sorry.

I have displayed my ryedale to some close friends and family and explained the reasoning behind it. They get a good laugh. Must be fun to have your head in the sand.

[psi]

I was talking to a lady in maybe her 40s or early 50s who was waiting for me to finish at the coin counter the other day (usually I let people go ahead of me but I was almost finished) and surprisingly enough she seemed to be seriously considering coin sorting when I told her a bit about it. She said she was expecting to get laid off in a little while so she was looking for a way to make some extra money. In retrospect I probably should have offered to write down addresses for realcent and coinflation but I didn't think of it until later. The info is easy enough to find on google but it makes me think it might be worth making up some business cards or something. In one sense it's competition if more people are doing it (particularly for coin counter availability in my case) but it also develops the market if more people have a stake. Better that the coins get 'rescued' and traded by hobbyists than melted down by government I think.

[Copper Catcher]

There is a plenty of copper pennies in the wild to satify everyone that would like to save them. The same I don't think can be said about silver in general. Eventually some folks will learn this the hard way.

In 2013, if we make it until then, silver will be well over a hundred dollars an ounce in my opinion.

[shinnosuke]

I kind of take the opposite approach. I understand how my family and friends feel as I was them for years. They are brainwashed by the media and even guys like Dave Ramsey. Ramsey is sound in his principles of getting out of debt, but even he laughs at gold.

So I take the opposite approach. I love my family and friends. I see hoarding pennies and collecting silver and gold as my duty, because I firmly believe that they will need help in the future. Sure they maybe could have figured it out for themselves, but again, I was them a while back.

I will sometimes drive by dairy queen and want that $5 blizzard and then I think to myself that is 500 coppers which I may need for my family and friends someday. I stay thinner and it gives real motivation and meaning in my sorting when I am tempted to waste my money.

I FEEL IT"S MY DUTY, BECAUSE I TRULY BELIEVE GOD HAS BLESSED EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU WITH THE KNOWLEDGE YOU HAVE OF TRUE MONEY.

Beautiful post and I agree with your sentiments completely. However, I will bet my entire (tiny) hoard that Dave Ramsey is not following his own advice. The man knows that the dollar is losing purchasing power and is bound to have his own stash of PMs.

[goldteam]

I kind of take the opposite approach. I understand how my family and friends feel as I was them for years. They are brainwashed by the media and even guys like Dave Ramsey. Ramsey is sound in his principles of getting out of debt, but even he laughs at gold.

So I take the opposite approach. I love my family and friends. I see hoarding pennies and collecting silver and gold as my duty, because I firmly believe that they will need help in the future. Sure they maybe could have figured it out for themselves, but again, I was them a while back.

I will sometimes drive by dairy queen and want that $5 blizzard and then I think to myself that is 500 coppers which I may need for my family and friends someday. I stay thinner and it gives real motivation and meaning in my sorting when I am tempted to waste my money.

I FEEL IT"S MY DUTY, BECAUSE I TRULY BELIEVE GOD HAS BLESSED EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU WITH THE KNOWLEDGE YOU HAVE OF TRUE MONEY.

Beautiful post and I agree with your sentiments completely. However, I will bet my entire (tiny) hoard that Dave Ramsey is not following his own advice. The man knows that the dollar is losing purchasing power and is bound to have his own stash of PMs.

I don't think Ramsey collects it. You should have heard him talking about it. No dividends, just a piece of shiny metal, etc. He was just ripping it and that's when I gave up on Ramsey. I don't think there is any way he collects it.

[goldteam]

I kind of take the opposite approach. I understand how my family and friends feel as I was them for years. They are brainwashed by the media and even guys like Dave Ramsey. Ramsey is sound in his principles of getting out of debt, but even he laughs at gold.

So I take the opposite approach. I love my family and friends. I see hoarding pennies and collecting silver and gold as my duty, because I firmly believe that they will need help in the future. Sure they maybe could have figured it out for themselves, but again, I was them a while back.

I will sometimes drive by dairy queen and want that $5 blizzard and then I think to myself that is 500 coppers which I may need for my family and friends someday. I stay thinner and it gives real motivation and meaning in my sorting when I am tempted to waste my money.

I FEEL IT"S MY DUTY, BECAUSE I TRULY BELIEVE GOD HAS BLESSED EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU WITH THE KNOWLEDGE YOU HAVE OF TRUE MONEY.

Beautiful post and I agree with your sentiments completely. However, I will bet my entire (tiny) hoard that Dave Ramsey is not following his own advice. The man knows that the dollar is losing purchasing power and is bound to have his own stash of PMs.

I think Ramsey may fall just like everyone else in the future because he absolutely loves the dollar.

[shinnosuke]

I kind of take the opposite approach. I understand how my family and friends feel as I was them for years. They are brainwashed by the media and even guys like Dave Ramsey. Ramsey is sound in his principles of getting out of debt, but even he laughs at gold.

So I take the opposite approach. I love my family and friends. I see hoarding pennies and collecting silver and gold as my duty, because I firmly believe that they will need help in the future. Sure they maybe could have figured it out for themselves, but again, I was them a while back.

I will sometimes drive by dairy queen and want that $5 blizzard and then I think to myself that is 500 coppers which I may need for my family and friends someday. I stay thinner and it gives real motivation and meaning in my sorting when I am tempted to waste my money.

I FEEL IT"S MY DUTY, BECAUSE I TRULY BELIEVE GOD HAS BLESSED EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU WITH THE KNOWLEDGE YOU HAVE OF TRUE MONEY.

Beautiful post and I agree with your sentiments completely. However, I will bet my entire (tiny) hoard that Dave Ramsey is not following his own advice. The man knows that the dollar is losing purchasing power and is bound to have his own stash of PMs.

I don't think Ramsey collects it. You should have heard him talking about it. No dividends, just a piece of shiny metal, etc. He was just ripping it and that's when I gave up on Ramsey. I don't think there is any way he collects it.

Yeah, I obviously don't know for certain. However, the guy is very highly considered by many so if he were to ever mention that he had some for insurance, lots of people would stop their debt reduction program to follow Dave. Also, he has been publicly bashing gold for so long that it would mean some serious egg on his face if he were to recommend it to even just his debt-free folks.

[JerrySpringer]

I think Ramsey may fall just like everyone else in the future because he absolutely loves the dollar.

I'd love someone to call into his show and tell Dave they don't own gold but they hoard copper pennies. Of course, that would be the kiss-of-death for us, not unlike Oprah saying she bought a Ryedale, lol. What could Dave say other than to poke fun at a person for taking up a "child's" hobby? Does Dave acknowledge that copper is a crucial metal and not just a shiny one?

[Sheikh_yer_Bu'Tay]

I don't tell anyone anymore. In fact, it almost makes me uncomfortable sharing here at realcent with a fake name. People in my town have been killed over coins. If someone can get your e-address, they can find you.

[Know Common Cents]

I have a little different approach. I don't broadcast to everyone about the hoarding of copper and nickel. I do, however, seek out allies for my cause. By "allies" I mean those people who are not now or even going to be my competition. These individuals can actually help me in having access to more Cu and Ni (plus an occasional dollop of Ag now and then).

These recruits are family members, close friends and trusted business associates who save on my behalf. I have several already trained and they pre-sort their accumulations and daily change to cull out the zincs. One sent me an e-mail last week saying he's got another 37 copper cents for me. He was actually excited about being able to help me.

Of course, I may buy him an extra cerveza now and then, but it works out very well. People really do look for a low-tech outlet now and then. Sorting pennies into a yay or nay pile is just about as low stress as they come.

Go for it and recruit as many as possible.

[VWBEAMER]

Agree,

A lot of us here think that is generally good advice to NOT broadcast too widely the idea of what we're doing, although we certainly welcome each and every new member to Realcent. In the real world, I don't feel comfortable telling people I have some precious metals/copper because I don't want them to tell a friend who tells a friend who tells someone who knocks me in the head.

[Gamecock]

i have some ladies that i work with trained to bring me coppers and any other old or unusual coins they run across and i give them chocolate candy

[John_doe]

I read other forums, mostly financial ones, and I see people post about gold and silver and whether it is a good time to start collecting it as a hedge or form of money insurance, etc. Most replies tell them to avoid gold/silver as it produces no dividends, may be in bubble territory, has a terrible track record, etc. After reading the replies, I start typing a reply that says the original poster should consider copper. Then I back off and cancel my reply. Perhaps ridicule is what I am afraid of but honestly, I am thinking that if no one is talking about copper in general money forums, then it is better just to keep collecting the copper and let people figure it out themselves. That is how I did it. Sad to say, but I mostly looked at paper assets for metals as the way to hold them. Never occurred to me that physical metal was not so difficult to get and was not unusual to own. A google search on copper one day revealed the realcent site and the rest was non-stop fun after that.

I've told a few people about it as an investment. Most people are too lazy to go through the actual work that is associated with copper penny sorting. They see it as smart, but don't want to "waste" their time. They will kick themselves in 10-20 for not putting in a little effort into their investments.

[John_doe]

I was talking to a lady in maybe her 40s or early 50s who was waiting for me to finish at the coin counter the other day (usually I let people go ahead of me but I was almost finished) and surprisingly enough she seemed to be seriously considering coin sorting when I told her a bit about it. She said she was expecting to get laid off in a little while so she was looking for a way to make some extra money. In retrospect I probably should have offered to write down addresses for realcent and coinflation but I didn't think of it until later. The info is easy enough to find on google but it makes me think it might be worth making up some business cards or something. In one sense it's competition if more people are doing it (particularly for coin counter availability in my case) but it also develops the market if more people have a stake. Better that the coins get 'rescued' and traded by hobbyists than melted down by government I think.

Agree. It will also create a demand, driving prices up. Which is when us rc members start to see all of our hard work pay off!

[NHsorter]

i have some ladies that i work with trained to bring me coppers and any other old or unusual coins they run across and i give them chocolate candy

I have tried telling my co-workers about this quite a bit and they just think I am crazy. Can you give step-by-step training instructionson how you pulled this off?

[JerrySpringer]

I've told a few people about it as an investment. Most people are too lazy to go through the actual work that is associated with copper penny sorting. They see it as smart, but don't want to "waste" their time. They will kick themselves in 10-20 for not putting in a little effort into their investments.

They don't think it could be a cheap form of fun. Thank goodness it is fun. Too bad this kind of fun was too nerdy when I was growing up.

[rickygee]

Now c'mon. There's some reprobates down the road from me that would steal the coppers from a dead blokes eyes or break in to your home/garage to steal anything/everything. So, when I met the two young men panhandling at the conveniece store I told them about the true value of copper.

"Boys, just run on down to the substation on the west side of town and snip y'all some pure copper lines, .999 heavy metal, good stuff, big bucks at the scrap yard."

Hmm. Wonder who was doing the late night barbeque last night?