I am not so sure about this.

[capthowdymp]

Howdy y'all,

So I remember seeing people were buying copper cents for 1.5 face. I thought to myself wow that is a beautiful thing.So I waited and saved up and bought a ryedale. My homemade coin sorter ended up being a dud.I have been buying around 200 dollars a week in pennies, and dumping the zincs at 2 different banks. Now I am getting a coin counter it cost me over 100 bucks. I am into this thing pretty deep between all the coins and the equipment.Everything would be fine ,except I told my wife "its ok hunny I will be able to sell these and pay off all of this expensive equip. It has been 3 months and I have not sold a thing. I am starting to realize how much coin I am going to have to sell in order to pay this stuff off. She is on me now wanting to see these coins sell. Does anyone have any advice on how to sell some of this stuff effectively. Is ebay my best bet? what amounts should I sell these babies in? what about the wheats and Canaidians. I am starting to see that owning and feeding a Ryedale is not as easy as I thought it was going to be, It is too late so I guess I am now a hoarder I just wish I didn't jump into this feet first. I do love this hobby it is more like an addiction though.

I gonna go get me some french fried potaters.

[dakota1955]

Right now the price is about 1.4 times face a bit more if you trade for silver etc. After shipping you will about $25 per ctu which is $100 face. E-bay may get you a bit more but fee will eat up the difference. Local is best if you can find the buyers. I just trade 40 ctu and I know that NDFarmer has just sold 1/2 ton. The market is there but maybe you need to just slow down a bit until you sell what you have. Hope that this will help. Others here will also give you ideas. You are going through what many do looking for the fast money.

[duane1966]

If you do decide to get out, your ryedale will bring almost as much as you paid for it.

[fasteddy]

Education is the key, get out there and educate people that they need your product. SImple dude, it is Sales101.

[HoardCopperByTheTon]

What.. you thought this was easy?

I have a lot more equipment than that.. Ryedales, Counters, Rolling machines.. all of it paid for already from selling off some of the copper. I actually bought my first Ryedale with the proceeds from hand-sorting copper cents.

The key is to "just sort more!"

She needs to see you shipping off some CTU's even if the price is not what you envisioned. You can sell as much as you want if you are willing to sell for current market price.

If you see an auction go high on eBay, be assured that it will not repeat itself immediately and the market will be flooded to bring the price down. Once you subtract eBay and PayPal fees you are usually better off just selling for a lower price and netting more. If you go the eBay route, best bet is to do a normal auction (free insertion) and start the price at the minimum amount you will accept after taking all the fees into account. Auctions that start really low sometimes go higher, but the also sometimes go cheaply. I have won lots of copper cents for less than face value including shipping.

[LooseChange]

What.. you thought this was easy?

I have a lot more equipment than that.. Ryedales, Counters, Rolling machines.. all of it paid for already from selling off some of the copper. I actually bought my first Ryedale with the proceeds from hand-sorting copper cents.

The key is to "just sort more!"

That's been my thinking...if it was easy, everyone would be doing it.

I wanted to buy a Ryedale at first, but handsorting works for me now. I had $500 in early JAN that I wanted to dedicate to alternate investments/hobbies...Other than my Vintage Pachinko Collection. The money was doing nothing sitting at the house. I had been a board lurker for about 2 months and then decided to join RC. I could have spent that $500 on a Ryedale, but instead chose to buy coin first, hand sort, and see where it takes me.

Since then, I have searched over $750 in pennies, and netted 200+ Wheats, 150+ Foreign, 4+ rolls of 2009s, about $175 FV in copper, and almost filled Whitmann Books 2 and 3 (3 is filled minus 1982-D Zn Small Date, and 2 is almost there…..lets not discuss Book 1).

It has been lots of fun, but so far I have sold nothing…I’ve kept it all (who didn't see that coming). If I can get faster and sell some, I will then use the proceeds to begin to purchase equipment or more coins, but for now I still have that initial $500. Its not in the form of 5 FRNs anymore, but pennies, nickels, and some Nice 90% Halves. I’m moving kind of slow now and easing into it so this hobby doesn't create any drag on my initial investment or deter me at all from the hobby.

Hobbies are supposed to be FUN , once it becomes work, or there are large amounts of money involved…you have an internal, psycological obligation to succeed, we all have it at varying levels.

In your shoes if it was me, I would set a spending limit now and a personal goal of a dollar value profit for you to make. Don't purchase any more equipment until you reach that mark by selling what you currently have sorted. For example, lets say that profit goal is $500…you may have to run pennies and sell copper at $140/CTU ($40 Profit per $100 FV) until that goal is reached. That would be selling about 13 CTUs just to get to your Profit Point or your own personal Breakeven point. It would take time yes, but from that point forward, your Rydale is Paid for, Your counter is paid for, the only external expenses would be the cost of obtaining more coin (Driving to the bank) and Time (I do hobbies for free ). At your breakeven point, now that the equipment is paid for, you could do whatever you (your wife) wants, keep selling CTUs or start your own hoard, its up to you. These are just some of my ideas/suggestions, but I’ve got a feeling that as soon as the first CTU is out of the house, things will begin to turn around for you…Good luck

[Zincanator]

All I have to do is compare this hobby with my three years of trying out metal detecting. Now THAT was a lot of work. I bought a $500 detector, poured over old USGS survey maps to find where old parks, drive-in theaters, churches etc once stood. I searched every local playground, campground, sports complex, etc. in the area. Dug up countless beer can pull tabs, pop tops, and tin foil. I found a few interesting relics, two silver mens rings, and one gold womens wedding band (no diamond). As for coins I ended up with a tupperware container full of dirty, corroded clad coinage. I never unearthed one wheat penny, indian head or silver coin of any kind... in three years of hunting.

I compare that experience to a quick sort of a $25 box last night -- found 21 clean wheats and about $4 in copper cents... in one night... while relaxing at home. No shovel, no sunburn, no rusty nails. Much better !

[capthowdymp]

I really do like collecting copper pennies. I am going to have to sell off a few ctu's to keep out of trouble with the wife. I guess you are right after about 15 ctu's It is all paid for. What is the deal with keeping the 2009 s? Are they copper? I kind of feel like my favorite sesame street character searching for all those wheats..


We are all slaves 14th amendment.

[Zincanator]

2009s featured 4 new reverse-side designs in celebration of Lincoln's birthday. The circulation issues are zinc. Because the year's production was divided by 4 types, mintage numbers for each were unusually low. Further, coin dealers and collectors snatched up a bunch of them in uncirculated rolls as they were released. And as time goes on people continue to pull the curioius coins out of their pocket change etc. So they're getting harder and harder to find as time goes by. There is a copper version I believe you can get with the 2009 proof set.

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[capthowdymp]

I am guessing it is going to take me over a year to actually break even. I am happy with that,

[NHsorter]

It only takes one coin. You could break even tomorrow and pay for that Ryedale if you find the right one.

[thedrifter]

There are worse things you could be doing with your money. Explain that to your wife. You may have to explain what those worse things are.

I am guessing it is going to take me over a year to actually break even. I am happy with that,

[capthowdymp]

putting a ryedale to use and actually obtaining enough coin to make it pay off is way more work than i thought it was going to be. there are way worse things I could be doing with the money though.

[Zincanator]

There are worse things you could be doing with your money. Explain that to your wife. You may have to explain what those worse things are.

I am guessing it is going to take me over a year to actually break even. I am happy with that,

I tell my gal it's better than spending money on gin and hookers .

I too assumed it was a lot easier to get coin to sort. Some banks act like you're asking them to build an ark when you try to buy a box or two from them. I'm getting lazy about sending back the zincs lately too. Have a bag the size of a large bed pillow full sitting on the floor of the garage.

[stlouiscoin]

2009s featured 4 new reverse-side designs in celebration of Lincoln's birthday. The circulation issues are zinc. Because the year's production was divided by 4 types, mintage numbers for each were unusually low. Further, coin dealers and collectors snatched up a bunch of them in uncirculated rolls as they were released. And as time goes on people continue to pull the curioius coins out of their pocket change etc. So they're getting harder and harder to find as time goes by. There is a copper version I believe you can get with the 2009 proof set.

snap4.jpg

That sounds like it will make them go up in value, but it will do just the opposite. since everybody has some, the supply>demand, thus cheap prices for years to come, in all grades most likely. simple economics.

[capthowdymp]

Do you have any idea how much mustache wax I could have bought with that money?

[tuleja]

1) Always remember that no business is easy. If there is a business that is easy, everyone would do it and it would no longer be easy.

2) Copper is a commodity. Right now it is in the lower part of it's range, as such you will sell less or lower your pricing to sell more. When copper prices rise to the top of the range you tend to sell more, and get better pricing for it.

3) READ, LEARN, and READ some more. Running a successful business (and yes if you are selling your copper, it is a business) requires knowledge. You will be amazed at how much knowledge is out there to help you do what your trying to do. This forum, and others have a vast amount of information given freely to help make you successful at your business venture.

[johnbrickner]

1) Always remember that no business is easy. If there is a business that is easy, everyone would do it and it would no longer be easy.

2) Copper is a commodity. Right now it is in the lower part of it's range, as such you will sell less or lower your pricing to sell more. When copper prices rise to the top of the range you tend to sell more, and get better pricing for it.

3) READ, LEARN, and READ some more. Running a successful business (and yes if you are selling your copper, it is a business) requires knowledge. You will be amazed at how much knowledge is out there to help you do what your trying to do. This forum, and others have a vast amount of information given freely to help make you successful at your business venture.

Well said, tule.