OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD 2012

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Copper Penny Hoarding: Saving For The Future

Do you have a jar full of loose change in the closet?  It might be time to get it out and start sorting through your pennies.  Wheat cents and pre-1982 pennies are 95% copper (approximately) and 5% zinc.  The price of copper today makes these pennies worth twice their value.    Granted, you would have to accumulate a huge amount of copper pennies to have a substantial savings.    I went through my little stash of loose change,   and found a small amount of pre-1982 pennies, plus two "wheaties".




If you check out Ebay, there are sellers who are selling their copper pennies and making a profit.  This just proves that you can sell ANYTHING on Ebay and make a profit. 




Recently with the price of copper, thieves have been breaking into the AC units of businesses and homes to rip out the copper and turn it in for cash.  Does it make sense to " hoard" copper  pennies to save for a rainy day?  Some say that the copper pennies can be use for bartering in the instance the paper money that we use becomes worthless  in some apocalyptic  catastrophe that may or may not occur. 




Before today, I had no idea that there are people out there actively hoarding copper pennies for their future.  I like money just as much as anyone else, but I don't see me gathering up buckets or wheelbarrows of copper pennies to have on hand just in case.




What is your take on this?  Are you a Penny Hoarder?  Or would you just not bother with going through your pennies?

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16 comments:

Newlyweds on a Budget said...

um, no. i do not hoard pennies. we do have a change jar though--i doubt it's worth much since we have to use all the quarters for laundry. but we're saving it for spending money for our honeymoon next year. we will go on a honeymoon dammit! : P

CentsToSave said...

I only had about 37 copper pennies in my change jar. Certainly not enough to do any damage with. Where are you planning to take your honeymoon?

UltimateSmartMoney said...

It's little difficult for me to save pennies because these days I use my credit cards to get the cash back and do not use cash. But, when I did used cash back in the days, I did save all the coins.

maggie said...

I saw a news story on it and went into my various penny jars and found a handful or two. I think they are worth saving just in case.

krantcents said...

When I used to use money more and go out for lunch, I would toss my change in a jar. Every month I would deposit my change in the bank, it averaged $30-40 per month.

PennyPinchingPro said...

I use my piggy banks as my emergency fund, so I'm sure I have some old enough. I wouldn't stock pile pennies for the value of their copper, though. That seems a little silly to me, and I think cashing in on that would be illegal. (That is, it's illegal to melt down or deface currency, so you'd either be breaking the law or selling it to someone who planned to break the law.)

CentsToSave said...

It does seem a little weird doesn't it? I don't think the plans are to melt the pennies down right away.... it seems there is legislation in congress to make melting pennies not illegal.

CentsToSave said...

It is amazing how the change adds up!

CentsToSave said...

It sure couldn't hurt anything!

CentsToSave said...

As you can see, I still save my change :)

Andrea said...

Nah, I would never stockpile pennies, too much effort for too little return. I deposit my changejar in the bank a few times a year, usually get $60 out of it. I'd much rather use that to repay my debt and get ahead NOW so I can be ahead way further later... than pile up pennies. PLus, where would you store them all? Those things get heavy!

CentsToSave said...

I know.... It would be cumbersome to store all those pennies. But some individuals are intent on doing just that. I think it is kinda crazy.

coincollectingenterprises said...

People buy copper pennies by the freight truck load and store them by the ton. Copper pennies are being looked at from the perspective of how silver coins were looked at in the late 1960s-1970s. A lot of people wish they had picked up silver coins cheap back then.

Melanie said...

I think its fun as a hobby, if its something you enjoy; and I do think they will become the new silver someday. Its a cheap way to invest. If you try to buy copper bullion or copper bars they charge you an outrageous amount. Copper today is worth about 3.50 cents a pound and it takes about 153 copper pennies to equal one pound of them. So as you can see at this date you double your money. Not a bad investment when you think about it. The big issue right now is that its not legal to melt down pennies-- but there is legislation in the works as I have heard, to change that soon. I like to sort them -- its relaxing and gives me something I enjoy. Plus any wheatbacks I find in the process are an extra boon to my collection- AND if you're lucky you might even find a valuable wheatie or a double-die cast coin - some of which are worth 1,200 dollars or more. SO, dont throw out those old pennies- never know what you might have!

David Becker said...

Penny searching profits can be quite astonishing. Do NOT let the term
penny scare you. The great thing is its a risk free investment as your
not paying anything extra for a the penny. Once obtained you… at least
presently triple your investment. They are worth almost three cents.

I am just getting into this hobby, and made a video and blog post about penny searching. Its a lot of fun. http://surviveourcollapse.com/saving-pre-1982-copper-pennies-investing-or-staving-an-economic-tumble/ You can view it here.

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