So I guess the world is getting the memo....

[John_doe]

I was just making my way around youtube when I noticed the videos for copper cents were getting 300k-400k views.

just wondering what the percentages were like in circulation now that there are so many people involved in the game now? no wonder it is such a pain to get coins at the banks, I have completely stopped sorting over the past 2 years.

[TwoAndAHalfCents]

The copper percentages are definitely dropping. I recently sorted a few boxes I had put away a few years ago and got three percentage points higher on the copper yield compared to the boxes I picked up last month. I am not sure about the issue of availability. Last month I had no problem getting boxes of pennies to sort. I was planning to pick up more yesterday but went for rolls of halves instead. I'm still a sucker for silver over copper.

[coppernickel]

My percentage is good when I am getting 10%. I call that a good box.

[Computer Jones]

Boxes are getting really bad for me right now.
10% would be a good box, it's usually full of dirty 2014 rolls with degrading zinkers.

I'm running 30% or better on most CWR, which I'm now asking for at banks and credit unions.

[John_doe]

My percentage is good when I am getting 10%. I call that a good box.

I was at or above 20% 2 years ago. It wont be long I have a feeling.

[John_doe]

I also saw some lots on ebay for 2x face. I bet when the supply dwindles down there will be a premium. I am still picking my pocket change, but I think my sorting days are over. 10% isn't enough for me. I am stacking nickels now.

[68Camaro]

Three years ago when I joined RC I did a quick calculation and suggested there would only be a handful of years until the yields dropped to the single digits. I was roundly booed and told by several people in no uncertain terms that I didn't know what I was talking about.

But ... maybe even a blind squirrel gets a nut every once in awhile?

[John_doe]

Three years ago when I joined RC I did a quick calculation and suggested there would only be a handful of years until the yields dropped to the single digits. I was roundly booed and told by several people in no uncertain terms that I didn't know what I was talking about.

But ... maybe even a blind squirrel gets a nut every once in awhile?

Good forward thinking! Im glad I got a good hoard going a few years back.....

[silverflake]

Funny you should ask. I am and always have been a hand sorter. Every few months when I get the urge I go to the bank(s) and get $10 worth of pennies to sort. I will do this weekly for a month or two until the itch passes. Then I go a couple of month without sorting. Well it had been a little while so at the beginning of June went out with $10 for some pennies. Had to go to 3 banks before I found some pennies. Got $10 worth of straight 2014!!!! So I dump them at my usual dump bank and go out to some other banks of mine. First bank only had $5. I took 'em. Second bank had another $5 - ALL 2014!!! What gives? The following week I drove a ways and went to a Suntrust I seldom go to. They had $10. Would you believe $5 worth were 2014??? What is going on? Last week my wife surprised me with $10 in pennies. Again. half of them were 2014 but they were mixed in with the usual mix of zincs and coppers. I am getting nowhere fast. Anybody seeing the amount of bright shiny 2014 pennies I am seeing here in the Roanoke valley portion of Virginia?

Keep stacking...as fast as you can.

[68Camaro]

Maybe brinks pulled the copper lever on the supersorter again?

[John_doe]

Funny you should ask. I am and always have been a hand sorter. Every few months when I get the urge I go to the bank(s) and get $10 worth of pennies to sort. I will do this weekly for a month or two until the itch passes. Then I go a couple of month without sorting. Well it had been a little while so at the beginning of June went out with $10 for some pennies. Had to go to 3 banks before I found some pennies. Got $10 worth of straight 2014!!!! So I dump them at my usual dump bank and go out to some other banks of mine. First bank only had $5. I took 'em. Second bank had another $5 - ALL 2014!!! What gives? The following week I drove a ways and went to a Suntrust I seldom go to. They had $10. Would you believe $5 worth were 2014??? What is going on? Last week my wife surprised me with $10 in pennies. Again. half of them were 2014 but they were mixed in with the usual mix of zincs and coppers. I am getting nowhere fast. Anybody seeing the amount of bright shiny 2014 pennies I am seeing here in the Roanoke valley portion of Virginia?

Keep stacking...as fast as you can.

I have been out of sorting for 1-2 years now, I was just curious. I still pick my change like I said and buy bricks of nickels. The game seems to have a fire lit under it now, I think everything will go quick from here.

I am waiting on some premiums to liquidate!

[RichardPenny43]

Down to 24% this week.
A wise man once said, "just sort more!".

[wagsthadog]

Hi all!

Ive been handsorting on and off for several years- just getting back into it recently, and I'm still at about 25% in Illinois, but From what I see on the forum, the market for coppers looks kinda depressed right now- but then again, I'm sure most of the guys on this forum sort anyway, so there's not much impetus

I keep telling myself that I want to get a nice stockpile of cents for SHTF, but something always comes up and I want to sell to get it, lol-

I do agree that it's definitely getting around about cents. Certainly about halves. Every bank I visit has 'a guy' who comes in, and it's not me!

wags

[TwoAndAHalfCents]

I didn't mention in my earlier post from yesterday that I picked up $5 in CWRs of pennies along with all of the halves I got. It was from a branch where I've been able to get $25 worth at a time in the past. This time they only had $5 available. I thought it was just bad luck or bad timing but after reading Silverake's post about having trouble finding available pennies I'm starting to think the supply could be getting tighter here too. That $5 batch only gave me 79 copper memorial cents and one wheat. Counting the wheat that comes in right at 16% which is below average for me. There were a lot of 2014's mixed in but not as overwhelming as what Silveflake ran into.

[Zincanator]

I need to come up with a new strategy. All my local bank branches just quit giving me pennies. They'd say the manager with keys to the safe was at lunch, or somebody came in earlier and got them all, or they simply didn't have any in their drawer... but almost always they had some reason to say no. These were the same branches where I am an account holder and had no problem getting $10-25 at a time previously.

[John_doe]

I need to come up with a new strategy. All my local bank branches just quit giving me pennies. They'd say the manager with keys to the safe was at lunch, or somebody came in earlier and got them all, or they simply didn't have any in their drawer... but almost always they had some reason to say no. These were the same branches where I am an account holder and had no problem getting $10-25 at a time previously.

same here. I got to a point where I would switch banks or branches but I eventually ran into the same problem. You would think they would want to keep your reserves.

[Gobirds66]

I do not believe that the world is actually catching on to the world of Copper Hoarding. I think that there are some new folks who get it decide to try it but for one reason or another (lack of supply, lack of time to handsort, lack of equipment, lack of motivation, or lack of determination to stay the course to name a few) most of the new folks will either wash out or decide to sell copper. If they wash out, they will dump their copper for face and go buy something with their new found cash. If they try to sell, they may find that their profits do not match their expectations, which will lead them to get out of the accruing copper phase and that results in a combination final sell/dump to get rid of the last remnants of their experiments. I could also get into the Widow factor as well, but that is a completely unknown variable and a small percentage in the big picture.

My point is this....The real enemy we all have is time. With every passing year, the Mint does much more damage to our operations from a percentages standpoint. Since 2011, when I started, how many more billions of zincs are now in circulation? As the overall numbers go up, the percentage of copper will fall just based on percentages. I also have to believe that the Government has a mathematical equation they use to determine how much coin will be needed based on population statistics, tax records, census, etc., so the more kids we have in a given year will in some way equal more coins in circulation. Yes, there will be anomalies like the 2009 but overall I think you get the point.

I have secured local banks to source, I have made friends, brought them chocolate, and made my tellers happy so even if there is competition, I still get my regular pickups and it will be the new guy that suffers. It is work to keep the tellers and bank managers on your good side, but it pays in the end.

And one last thing, you have to establish an exit strategy when you start. This way when the good thing does end (cause it always does and I can see it is getting close for many in this thread) you know how to move on to the next thing.

[SilverDragon72]

I haven't hand sorted a box in nearly 2 years. I always check with my LCS to see if I can get any Canadian Cu or .999 Ni. Sometimes I'm able to get some at FACE value, which always makes me happy.

I had to liquidate my mini hoard a while back to meet some expenses, and so now I'm slowly building up the US copper stash again. My Canadians, however, are still here!

[hobo finds]

People are just using less change, that is it! But yes, still more and more zincs are made, even though less people are using them! I don't think the US will ever remove the coppers from circulation just go on and on....

[mlpfan]

well not only that but even if no one pulls copper pennies they will still get dilluted with the billions of new cents the government pumps out and make fewer and fewer per box

[uthminsta]

well not only that but even if no one pulls copper pennies they will still get dilluted with the billions of new cents the government pumps out and make fewer and fewer per box

Exactly. Some quick recent figures:
2.4 billion in 2009
4.4 billion in 2010
5 billion in 2011
6 billion in 2012
7 billion in 2013
3.4 billion so far in 2014...

Or how about looking at those current figures laid against some other figures:
50 years of wheats: 25.8 billion.
50 years of memorials: 427.5 billion.
5 and a half years since: over 28 billion.
That means we've got more "post-memorial" cents in half a decade than all the wheat cents ever minted.

By the way, 7 billion in a year - the figure from 2013 and the pace we're on for 2014 - comes to over 19 million a day.

Or think of it this way. There were about 180 billion copper Lincolns from 1909-82. Add in just over 300 billion zincs. Yeah, that's dilution.

Sort faster.

[LooseChange]

Exactly. Some quick recent figures:
2.4 billion in 2009
4.4 billion in 2010
5 billion in 2011
6 billion in 2012
7 billion in 2013
3.4 billion so far in 2014...

Or how about looking at those current figures laid against some other figures:
50 years of wheats: 25.8 billion.
50 years of memorials: 427.5 billion.
5 and a half years since: over 28 billion.
That means we've got more "post-memorial" cents in half a decade than all the wheat cents ever minted.

By the way, 7 billion in a year - the figure from 2013 and the pace we're on for 2014 - comes to over 19 million a day.

Or think of it this way. There were about 180 billion copper Lincolns from 1909-82. Add in just over 300 billion zincs. Yeah, that's dilution.

Sort faster.

+100

One day we will all look back and say coulda woulda shoulda, how often does it happen. Lets not let that be the case!

[Shazbot57]

Exactly. Some quick recent figures:
2.4 billion in 2009
4.4 billion in 2010
5 billion in 2011
6 billion in 2012
7 billion in 2013
3.4 billion so far in 2014...

Or how about looking at those current figures laid against some other figures:
50 years of wheats: 25.8 billion.
50 years of memorials: 427.5 billion.
5 and a half years since: over 28 billion.
That means we've got more "post-memorial" cents in half a decade than all the wheat cents ever minted.

By the way, 7 billion in a year - the figure from 2013 and the pace we're on for 2014 - comes to over 19 million a day.

Or think of it this way. There were about 180 billion copper Lincolns from 1909-82. Add in just over 300 billion zincs. Yeah, that's dilution.

Sort faster.

+100

One day we will all look back and say coulda woulda shoulda, how often does it happen. Lets not let that be the case!

Ditto!

[Robarons]

Kinda shocking to say the least- back in 2007 it was about 33% for me, but I havent sorted in a decent amount of time. Kinda have me curious what the percents are now

[hobo finds]

What about the numbers if you include all small cents mintages from flying eagles to copper memorials and proofs. Are there still more zinc cents made than copper ones