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How much is to much to buy of pennies?

PostPosted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 11:19 pm
by chris819
Hi i was wondering how much do you try and buy of pennies at each bank? I started going to a new bank and the teller seems very nice and said i could come back each week for coins but please dont bring them back he said and i told him i use coinstar. We talked for a little while and i said i will be back next week for more pennies. I bought $20 this time but my question is how much is to much pennies to buy. Do you think it would be ok to ask him how many pennies he has or should i say 20-50 dollars or more? Also i am going to ask him if he minds me coming in 2 or 3 times a week for different coins so they dont have to ship them. Whats everybodys take on this. Also should i buy CWR or boxes or both? Thanks Chris

Re: How much is to much to buy of pennies?

PostPosted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 11:23 pm
by HoardCopperByTheTon
I always ask for $600 worth.. and then take whatever they are willing to part with.

CWR, Boxes.. it's all good.. just get as much as you can. :mrgreen:

Re: How much is to much to buy of pennies?

PostPosted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 11:29 pm
by Robarons
Hoard is being a bad influence on the new member :lol:

$600 is 24 Boxes! Most vaults dont like to have that much in pennies

I would say per a branch that $200 is the max per week unless you have a good relationship with them. Also that only applies to Fed rolled stuff- things they would have to order. If a customer drops $300 of pennies on them or customers collectively drop $400 worth CWR on a bank you can bet your bottom dollar they would love to get rid of them

The key is smaller amounts across many branches. This allows for variety (imagine all zincs or all 2013's at on branch) and keeps you under the radar

Re: How much is to much to buy of pennies?

PostPosted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 11:31 pm
by Engineer
Ask if you can buy the bags off their counter, and grab all the CWR they have. Both of those save the bank money, so they should be happy to see you coming.

For boxes or commercial rolls, just be nice and ask how many they're willing to supply you with every week. Those cost the bank money, so don't be surprised if they're stingy.

Re: How much is to much to buy of pennies?

PostPosted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 11:38 pm
by chris819
Thanks for the help so far so I will ask him Monday when i go if i can buy their CWR and then see if i can get some boxes and than see if i can buy nickels a different day. Also I will say to him that dont send any pennies back i will buy them so the bank can save money

Re: How much is to much to buy of pennies?

PostPosted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 12:29 am
by weezerfan
I got around $250 pennies from various banks last week. I want to get up to 500 a week from a bunch of different banks. I need to find a way to dump them better though.

Re: How much is to much to buy of pennies?

PostPosted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 12:38 am
by fasteddy
you should only ask for the amount your willing to carry out to your vehicle. And then do as Hoard suggests...take what they offer.

Re: How much is to much to buy of pennies?

PostPosted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 12:43 am
by dannan14
weezerfan wrote:I got around $250 pennies from various banks last week. I want to get up to 500 a week from a bunch of different banks. I need to find a way to dump them better though.


i have a Bank of America account that i use for nothing else but dumping coin. They provide you with bags and don't charge to count the coin. If there are enough BoA branches in your area then dumping 400 or so every week probably won't raise any red flags.

Re: How much is to much to buy of pennies?

PostPosted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 1:13 am
by JerrySpringer
Buy as much as they are willing to sell.

Re: How much is to much to buy of pennies?

PostPosted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 2:41 am
by beauanderos
dannan14 wrote:
weezerfan wrote:I got around $250 pennies from various banks last week. I want to get up to 500 a week from a bunch of different banks. I need to find a way to dump them better though.


i have a Bank of America account that i use for nothing else but dumping coin. They provide you with bags and don't charge to count the coin. If there are enough BoA branches in your area then dumping 400 or so every week probably won't raise any red flags.

it costs them money to return your dumps. They are being being gracious in accepting them. I used to do $500 a week... it lasted fifteen months before they cut me off. They have no obligation to accept your coins without being compensated for their costs. I well imagine the death of copper cent hunting will eventuate... not because copper cents become too scarce to sort for... but because too many customers are incessantly hounding them for orders, and they are eating those charges. I frankly don't know how Hoard gets away with it :? Fees across the board for both pick ups and returns will be the end result because of our hobby. I was doing twenty boxes of halves a week and had to stop when they started charging $5 a box, and then swiftly escalated that to "we can only order you one box." It was obvious they were trying to dissuade me from ordering.

Re: How much is to much to buy of pennies?

PostPosted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 8:20 am
by MrIncredible
Robarons wrote:I would say per a branch that $200 is the max per week unless you have a good relationship with them.

Robarons wrote:The key is smaller amounts across many branches. This allows for variety (imagine all zincs or all 2013's at on branch) and keeps you under the radar

This is exactly what I ended up doing to minimize gas costs. After stopping by at random asking for a box here and there I knew I needed a better method.

I now call and place orders a week ahead of time then head out on Saturday to pick up $200 from each of 10 different locations. I load the 80 boxes in the back of my truck and put a big tarp over them. This greatly reduces the number of trips to pick up pennies so I can focus on sorting and dumping. It takes me about 3 weeks to go through all of them before I need more.

Re: How much is to much to buy of pennies?

PostPosted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 12:55 pm
by dannan14
beauanderos wrote:
dannan14 wrote:
weezerfan wrote:I got around $250 pennies from various banks last week. I want to get up to 500 a week from a bunch of different banks. I need to find a way to dump them better though.


i have a Bank of America account that i use for nothing else but dumping coin. They provide you with bags and don't charge to count the coin. If there are enough BoA branches in your area then dumping 400 or so every week probably won't raise any red flags.

it costs them money to return your dumps. They are being being gracious in accepting them. I used to do $500 a week... it lasted fifteen months before they cut me off. They have no obligation to accept your coins without being compensated for their costs.


Yup, i don't mind costing them money, but i also like to stay under their radar. i don't dump at the same branch more than once per month...and with so many BoA in the Sac area i really don't have to go to the same one more than once per year. i'm pretty sure that will keep any individual branch from noticing. That basically leaves their IT dept as well as whichever dept actually counts the coin. i've been told they ship it all to the Bay Area rather than process it locally. i suspect that means my small dumps will get lost in the noise of all their business customers... at least i hope :)

Re: How much is to much to buy of pennies?

PostPosted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 4:46 pm
by Bucketgirl
my two cents
ALWAYS go for CWR! you never know when a little old lady stops by :D
also in my experience, BofA sucks, stick it to them, Wells is a close second (dump dump dump), I've hit up my USBank quiet a bit and have only just ran into the "dont come back to dump here" experience... the boy and I hit USBanks from CO to OR then turn around a few weeks later and dump at Wells on the way back. Also different states require different things, CO wants your dumps loose and UT wants them wrapped. we spread the wealth around, for those of you in those states :D

Re: How much is to much to buy of pennies?

PostPosted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 12:25 am
by Zincanator
The answer for me is dependent on the attitudes of the tellers I deal with. I have one branch where a very plesant teller knows I come in weekly, and piles up CWRs for me in the safe all week long. When I go in, I take cool finds from the previous week's batch to share with the entire staff (making sure they're not busy and nobody's waiting in line behind me). I explain mint marks, show them error coins, etc. Some of them really get into it, and have started holding back CWRs for me too. I don't ever bring up copper sorting, only cherry picking. It's a young group, many didn't even know about the existance of wheat pennies.

Now the other side of that coin (pun alert) is the grumps (usually male) who sigh sarcastically or give you the "I only have two rolls" answer instead of checking in back. These become my dump banks. Last dump I made (a mere $60), the grumpy guy told me he's "getting sick of looking at my penny rolls" (I roll mine as a courtesy, being a lower volume hand sorter).

Re: How much is to much to buy of pennies?

PostPosted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 5:05 am
by CU Baker
As much as I can get!

Re: How much is to much to buy of pennies?

PostPosted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 8:54 am
by HoardCopperByTheTon
dannan14 wrote:Yup, i don't mind costing them money, but i also like to stay under their radar. i don't dump at the same branch more than once per month...and with so many BoA in the Sac area i really don't have to go to the same one more than once per year. i'm pretty sure that will keep any individual branch from noticing. That basically leaves their IT dept as well as whichever dept actually counts the coin. i've been told they ship it all to the Bay Area (Dang, now I know where all that zinc is coming from) rather than process it locally. i suspect that means my small dumps will get lost in the noise of all their business customers... at least i hope :)


Note to self... Schedule Road trip to Sac to pick them up at the head of the stream before dannan14 does his thing to the source and sends me that diluted stuff downstream. :mrgreen:

Re: How much is to much to buy of pennies?

PostPosted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 2:52 pm
by dannan14
HoardCopperByTheTon wrote:
dannan14 wrote:Yup, i don't mind costing them money, but i also like to stay under their radar. i don't dump at the same branch more than once per month...and with so many BoA in the Sac area i really don't have to go to the same one more than once per year. i'm pretty sure that will keep any individual branch from noticing. That basically leaves their IT dept as well as whichever dept actually counts the coin. i've been told they ship it all to the Bay Area (Dang, now I know where all that zinc is coming from) rather than process it locally. i suspect that means my small dumps will get lost in the noise of all their business customers... at least i hope :)


Note to self... Schedule Road trip to Sac to pick them up at the head of the stream before dannan14 does his thing to the source and sends me that diluted stuff downstream. :mrgreen:


Hehe, the total of all my zincs each year might be just a day's worth to you :D

Re: How much is to much to buy of pennies?

PostPosted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 11:01 pm
by chris819
Thanks for the help

Re: How much is to much to buy of pennies?

PostPosted: Tue Mar 12, 2013 1:22 am
by HoardCopperByTheTon
Years ago.. early in the game.. I got cut off at my local branch of BofA just for dumping 60 bags of zinc there in a week. Dang squeaky wheeled cart. :mrgreen: