Big Boys Hobbies

CHRing nickles with a machine?

S

STAG15

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 28, 2010
Messages
422
Location
Fort Collins, CO
Hey all!
I was thinking about expanding my CRHing into nickles.
Problem is that, it seems to me (and please correct me if I am wrong about this) that nickles are really hard to CRH.
It's not possible to identify the 35% sivler nickles visually from a simple edge inspection right?
You really have to look at the dates, and even then you can't be 100% certian because some years of nickles had multiple compositions.

Does anyone here CRH nickles that could perhapes give me some insight on best practices for sifting nickles?

I also saw this contraption on ebay...it claims to be able to sort silver nickles from normal nickles and copper pennies from zinc. Has anyone ever tried such a contraption before?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Silver-coin-Cop...712?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20b54f8bd8

Any insight is appreciated. :-)
Thanks for looking, and good hunting!
 
It is just a coin comparator in a box. I got one for $20 shipped on ebay. They are found in every slot or vending machine around. You calibrate it (easily done by putting your target coin in a slot) to accept an alloy based on its conductive signature. Then it rejects everything else. Ryedale makes them for penny sorters. I have the magnetic hand feed model. But lots of people make similar contraptions.
 
I am sure it has the potential to do just that. Here is a more refined version for pennies. It uses the same device.

 
Pardon my "dig", but that seems like a lot of money/effort for probably a small gain. But I wish you the best in your work!!!

Dusty
 
Coin roll hunting nickels is a process where you look at each coin individually. All silver nickels have the large mint mark on the reverse. Easy to spot and easier on the eyes than reading each date. You still can find the Buffalo Nickels as well. I don't know it the coin separator can distinguish between Jefferson and buffalo.
 
reddbludd said:
Coin roll hunting nickels is a process where you look at each coin individually. All silver nickels have the large mint mark on the reverse. Easy to spot and easier on the eyes than reading each date. You still can find the Buffalo Nickels as well. I don't know it the coin separator can distinguish between Jefferson and buffalo.
Click to expand...

I second this statement. In mid-1942, the US put capitol P, D, and S over the building on the reverse...very easy to spot...and with time you will be able to spot silver in the bunch...:)

William
 
Dustyloins said:
Pardon my "dig", but that seems like a lot of money/effort for probably a small gain. But I wish you the best in your work!!!

Dusty
Click to expand...

Tell that to these guys: http://realcent.forumco.com/default.asp

I am one of "those guys" on a much smaller scale by average member comparison. But what other investment is there that INSTANTLY goes up 244% (as of today)?

http://www.coinflation.com/coins/1909-1982-Lincoln-Cent-Penny-Value.html

That is melt value of course, but the guys with multi-TON stashes are are banking on that ban being lifted (as it was with silver) and the price going even higher (5-600%).

And if you don't want to wait for the ban to be lifted or the price to go higher, lots of people will give you 200% right now on fleebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/1000-Lincoln-Me...76?pt=Coins_US_Individual&hash=item35ae18503c
 
The only nickels with silver are 1942-1945. Very easy to go through but yes, there is no way to identify unless you are looking at dates that I know of.
 
Diggler said:
Tell that to these guys: http://realcent.forumco.com/default.asp

I am one of "those guys" on a much smaller scale by average member comparison. But what other investment is there that INSTANTLY goes up 244% (as of today)?

http://www.coinflation.com/coins/1909-1982-Lincoln-Cent-Penny-Value.html

That is melt value of course, but the guys with multi-TON stashes are are banking on that ban being lifted (as it was with silver) and the price going even higher (5-600%).

And if you don't want to wait for the ban to be lifted or the price to go higher, lots of people will give you 200% right now on fleebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/1000-Lincoln-Me...76?pt=Coins_US_Individual&hash=item35ae18503c
Click to expand...

I'm also one of "those guys" and do quite well at it.
 
wild extrapulation on penny sorting

This all took me about a half hour to write......
Problem would be keeping the machine well fed, 18,000 pennies an hour! So, 180 bucks an hour sorted, 8 hours per day sound good, figure it would be nice to only hit the banks every two days, you'd need $2880 for the pennies (288,000 of them!) alone, plus the machine (500 bucks for a Ryedal apprentice) for a nice startup operation: total investment $3380 to do it right let's say.
I've seen figures of 20% of pennies circulating are pre 1982, in other words, copper. Theoretically after sorting your 288,000 pennies you'd end up with 57,600 coppers. Based on completed ebay listings a fair price looks like around $70 per 5000 pennies, which comes to only 1.4 cents per coin....You're 57,600 coppers could theoretically be sold for $806.40, they cost you $576.00, profit of about $230 for two days work, minus gas for the car for bank trips and electricity....
The return on investment could be good, you could pay off the machine in one week if you went nuts, and you just MIGHT after listening to that machine for that many hours!:lol::lol::lol:
This is NOT counting any values other than copper value, ie not saving wheaties....
 
However.....I'm in Mexico, copper coins, US included are sold as scrap everyday. Currently the scrappers are paying 95 pesos ( U$7.91) per kilo of copper. That comes out to 2.4 cents per copper penny.........HMMMMMM
 
CRH nickels would be vast waste of time for potential gain. The silver "war" nickels arent readily found. Only the 39s and 39d and 50d have any value above premium. Nickels, themselves are worth roughly 6 cents melt value, however. If you have ready cash, better to hoard rolls and boxes of jeffersons. As copper coins tho, still can,t melt. But 20% mark-up on each nickel is not too bad. Just need patience and be young, I suppose............
 
beerdoodle said:
CRH nickels would be vast waste of time for potential gain. The silver "war" nickels arent readily found. Only the 39s and 39d and 50d have any value above premium. Nickels, themselves are worth roughly 6 cents melt value, however. If you have ready cash, better to hoard rolls and boxes of jeffersons. As copper coins tho, still can,t melt. But 20% mark-up on each nickel is not too bad. Just need patience and be young, I suppose............
Click to expand...


Well I have both. So, should I start hoarding?
 
I dunno about it being a waste of time--the way I do it anyway...
I mostly crh halves, but there's wasted time in my night while I am peeling and sorting...
Why not bring home a box of pennies and a box of nickles as well and dump a load into the machine between rolls of halves.
Would make the down time of searching the rolls a little more efficient. Definitely need one with an auto-feeder though.
 
beerdoodle said:
CRH nickels would be vast waste of time for potential gain. The silver "war" nickels arent readily found. Only the 39s and 39d and 50d have any value above premium. Nickels, themselves are worth roughly 6 cents melt value, however. If you have ready cash, better to hoard rolls and boxes of jeffersons. As copper coins tho, still can,t melt. But 20% mark-up on each nickel is not too bad. Just need patience and be young, I suppose............
Click to expand...

You said it! I think CRH is doomed to a slow death, the fewer old coins in circulation plus the apparent increase in people trying this is a no-win situation. I'll stick to digging nuggets and coins while getting a good suntan and enjoying the mountain views.

This is my PERSONAL opinion. Sorry if I made some of you "coin scanners" mad with my last post on this topic, but, like I said it's an opinion, not gospel!! I make $2,400 a year mowing lawns (part time) within a 2 block area of my house ( and there are some PRETTY Morman ladies in the neighborhood!!!!:D) This is addition to my military retirement.

Bottom line: I'd rather be out and about than sitting at home with a very small chance of finding anything of great value. But if that is your piece of cake, I wish you the best of luck!!!! We all have our different ideas of hitting the "mother lode", be it Las Vegas, the Lottery, MD, or whatever. Good luck to you all and God Bless!!!!

Dusty
 
You will make more money picking up the beer cans I tossed last year looking for places to MD. I did 50,000 cents last 2 winters CRH. Did pick up more than 400 wheats, but no IH,s. It is a great hobby, but as Dusty said, too time consuming.Ryedale,s are 2 expensive. NP, if a casual pastime. But don,t get so consumed in the endeavour, you pass up MD opportunities. Nickels, again are a waste of time. Dimes, quarters, and halfs are a crapshoot. But when the grounds frozen, go for it.
 
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