How much is a gallon of pennies worth $$$ ?

light_emitting_dude

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 23, 2006
Messages
1,171
Location
Ohio
I have a glass gallon jar that I am using to collect my pennies. It is about 3/4 full and I will cash it in when it gets full. Luckily my credit union offers a free service to do this. Does anyone know approximately how much my gallon of pennies will be worth when it gets full? Hey maybe I can use this to buy a new flashlight!
 

Nitroz

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 29, 2004
Messages
3,258
Location
Monroe
I found this from google.

For pennies (diameter: 0.75", thickness: 1.55 mm) the above computation would give a "V" of about 0.029727 cu in, or about 7771 pennies per gallon.
 

Valpo Hawkeye

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 17, 2006
Messages
1,266
Location
Valparaiso, IN
Nitroz said:
I found this from google.

For pennies (diameter: 0.75", thickness: 1.55 mm) the above computation would give a "V" of about 0.029727 cu in, or about 7771 pennies per gallon.

Yes, but the pennies can't occupy the volume of the gallon perfectly due to their shape and the fact that they aren't hand-packed one at a time into the container. However, your calculation certainly gets us headed the right way. I say approx. $55.
 

Nitroz

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 29, 2004
Messages
3,258
Location
Monroe
Valpo Hawkeye said:
Yes, but the pennies can't occupy the volume of the gallon perfectly due to their shape and the fact that they aren't hand-packed one at a time into the container. However, your calculation certainly gets us headed the right way. I say approx. $55.

Yes, the 7771 pennies would have to be perfectly packed. That was just something I googled and not my calculation.

If we had a contest, someone would need alot of pennies and settle on what to use for a gallon container.
 

Illum

Flashaholic
Joined
Apr 29, 2006
Messages
13,053
Location
Central Florida, USA
weigh a single penny, then weigh an equivalent container, then weigh the container full of pennies:whistle:

this'll give you a generalized idea of worth in cents
 

swampgator

Enlightened
Joined
Aug 29, 2006
Messages
777
Location
Gatorville, Florida
I have a quart jelly jar half full of pennies. Last count was less than $3.

But the quart jar of quarters is one day going to pay for my Corvette!
 

Morelite

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 29, 2005
Messages
2,253
Location
Central PA
I can tell you that a five gallon bucket (drywall joint compound) full will yield almost $400, Can't remember the exact figure but it was in the 390's.

Oh, BTW, I gallon of quarters has yielded me close to $1,000
 

winny

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 14, 2005
Messages
1,067
Location
Gothenburg, Sweden
Illum_the_nation said:
weigh a single penny, then weigh an equivalent container, then weigh the container full of pennies

Good idea!

Better idea: Do the same but weigh ten pennies. That will give you ten times the accuracy.

Even better: Coins are manufactured with very good precision. Your national bank can most likely provide you with a weight-figure for them, or perhaps google. Then do what Illum_the_nation suggested.
 

light_emitting_dude

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 23, 2006
Messages
1,171
Location
Ohio
So about $70-$80 for a gallon of pennies approximately? Sounds about right.
When I cash it in I will dig up this post and give the exact amount!
 

bwaites

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 27, 2003
Messages
5,035
Location
Central Washington State
Pennies aren't all copper, guys!! To use weight, you have to know the right alloy of zinc-copper (I think that is what pennies are now!) If I have it right, they are 97.5% zinc, 2.5% copper.

Bill
 

KC2IXE

Flashaholic*
Joined
Apr 21, 2001
Messages
2,237
Location
New York City
$54 - or at least that is what my gallon of pennies in a Gallo Wine "port" gallon was worth - plus a few cents
 

Trashman

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Mar 15, 2005
Messages
3,544
Location
Covina, California
bwaites said:
To use weight, you have to know the right alloy of zinc-copper

Bill

No you don't! You only need to know the weight of a penny, the weight of the jar, and the weight of the jar with the pennies in it!

Back when I was 17 and had my first job working for Selecta Switch, Inc., I used to have to count their advertisement papers using a scale. I'd weight one single sheet of paper, set that as 1, and then drop any size stack of papers on the scale and it would actually count how many papers were on the scale! If there were a thousand sheets on the scale and I removed 1, it would register!
 
Top