Copperheads

[riverbabe]

I'm up to 904 pounds copper cents, that is 132,000 pennies at 146 per pound. At current copper price of 3.45/lb the bank is giving me $3.28 in copper for each $1.46 I give them in junk coin. Figuring a 30% rate of copper cents in the general circulation, I've looked at about 440,000 coins.

The 132,000 total doesn't count the hundreds, maybe thousands of wheat ear cents (pre-1959) I've squirreled away. They currently sell in bulk for .04 each. Next report at 1000 pounds copper.

------------billy

billy, I actually dreamed of you and all your coppers last night! I'm thinking that the high copper coins might be heavier(?) than the later coins. It occurred to me that there has to be a way of dividing the coins into piles and, with a sensitive scale, you might detect the presence of high copper coins because of a weight difference between piles. Am I still dreaming? egads

[billyjoe]

billy, I actually dreamed of you and all your coppers last night! I'm thinking that the high copper coins might be heavier(?) than the later coins. It occurred to me that there has to be a way of dividing the coins into piles and, with a sensitive scale, you might detect the presence of high copper coins because of a weight difference between piles. Am I still dreaming? egads

River,
I rolled my 910th pound of copper today. The copper cents usually weigh 3.1 grams and the non-copper 2.6 grams on my trusty scale. Only the 1982 cents or those too dark or mutilated to read have to be weighed. Setting a pile of them aside I can weigh them really fast, having had plenty of practice.

-------------billy

[jiesen]

River,
I rolled my 910th pound of copper today. The copper cents usually weigh 3.1 grams and the non-copper 2.6 grams on my trusty scale. Only the 1982 cents or those too dark or mutilated to read have to be weighed. Setting a pile of them aside I can weigh them really fast, having had plenty of practice.

-------------billy

the 0.5g difference per coin is big enough that with a decent scale, you should be able to tell exactly how much copper you have in each 50 cent roll, just by weighing it. it'd also be simple enough to build a sorting machine that rolls the coins down one side if it's heavier than 2.8g and the other if it's lighter, which would make sorting them quick and easy.

John Henry, are you looking for a science project for your device physics class yet? ya never know, there may be a market for penny sorters in the near future...

[jiesen]

penny sorting

just be careful when you're sorting them out though:

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/f7112b01fb/ass-pennies-from-greatest-comedy-sketches

you never know where those pennies have been!

[billyjoe]

Jiesen,
Thanks, now I'll have to wash my hands after each penny.

-------------billy

[riverbabe]

the 0.5g difference per coin is big enough that with a decent scale, you should be able to tell exactly how much copper you have in each 50 cent roll, just by weighing it. it'd also be simple enough to build a sorting machine that rolls the coins down one side if it's heavier than 2.8g and the other if it's lighter, which would make sorting them quick and easy.

John Henry, are you looking for a science project for your device physics class yet? ya never know, there may be a market for penny sorters in the near future...

Actually, I think it's old technology -- the scale or balance idea. But it might be fun to research it (for somebody with time on their hands). And the sorting machine would be super. Just can't imagine all the time billy has spent on this. Billy, have you figured out how much you are getting paid per hour? yikes.

[billyjoe]

Actually, I think it's old technology -- the scale or balance idea. But it might be fun to research it (for somebody with time on their hands). And the sorting machine would be super. Just can't imagine all the time billy has spent on this. Billy, have you figured out how much you are getting paid per hour? yikes.

River,
I just did a mini time study. I can unwrap, separate copper from non, and re-wrap about 330 cents per hour. At current melt value with a profit of 1.1 cent each it works out to 3.96/hour. But on top of that, I find it relaxing sorting thru the pennies while watching CNBC, Bonanza, or Gunsmoke. Haven't calculated time spent going to the bank but that is on the way to or from the gym.

--------------billy

[billyjoe]

Copper up 9% in September. I've got 936 pounds of it now.

------------billy

[microchips]

Copper up 9% in September. I've got 936 pounds of it now.

------------billy

Billyjoe, i realy do think you need to get out more lol

[billyjoe]

Billyjoe, i realy do think you need to get out more lol

Micro,
I would but people make fun of my orange/ coppery skin tone.

---------billy

[microchips]

Micro,
I would but people make fun of my orange/ coppery skin tone.

---------billy

Ya got to stop sleeping with em Billyjoelol

[billyjoe]

Fellow Copperheads,
Today I reached my goal of 1000 pounds of copper cents. After searching through about 482,000 I've gleaned out 150,000 more or less that are 95% copper. They have a face value of around $1500 but at todays melt value of .0256248 per cent that's $3875.20 worth of pennies. Copper is $3.8745/pound as of today's close.

I've found about 100 dimes mixed in with foreign coins from several countries along with several euro cents.

The oldest was an 1896 Indian cent , a 1902 Indian cent, and a 1909 Lincoln cent.

And it only took a couple years!

--------------billy

[billyjoe]

Today's copperhead trivia question. An old timer from West Virginia told me about making apple butter 2 weeks ago. A lot of apple butter! They cooked down 2 pickup truck loads of apples spending most of a day to get the finished product. Each year they place 21 pennies in the bottom of the kettle. After finishing they fish them out , put them in a bag, and save them for next years batch. Why do they do this?

-------------billy

[Deaddog]

I found this on google

Google
From Some old-timers will tell you that adding a copper penny to the bottom of the kettle will let you know if the butter is burning. Others claim the penny scratches the kettle finish and should be avoided altogether.

[billyjoe]

Deaddog,
Good job, proper kettles for making apple butter are made of copper, therefore, copper pennies are used since they don't react with the copper of the kettle, to keep the mixture from sticking to the bottom and burning. The apple butter is constantly stirred for about 16 hours.

------------billy