Pennies from heaven... especially if they're copper...

The Kougaress has always had a fondness for carousel animals...

Sunday into Monday mews, my heavenly holiday Kittens... yowls, cold temps are here on the tame prairie, although not that bad... yet... but standbye... another ultra-bright sun as well in the late afternoon... what? Has someone turned ole Sol up on high? ... blessings to all who have suffered from any kind of severe weather.
~~~~~~

Authoress news and mews ~

More grinding of the gray matter as the Kougar continues her valiant effort to format SANTA BABY, SEVERAL STARS AWAY for Indie publishing. Yeah, good luck, and all miracles appreciated.
~~~~~~

Pennies from heaven... especially if they're copper...

Okay, then, there's a scene in the Kougar's futuristic erotic romance, MURDER BY HAIR SPRAY IN GARDENIA, NEW ATLANTIS, where the hero, Zryphus, uses a roll of pennies to pay for a room at a sort of high class bordello that caters only to the elite. The inspiration for use of pennies came from out the proverbial blue as this Big Cat was writing... but what a coinky-dink, huh?

GOT PENNIES? Before 1982? My darlings... well, check this article out.

If Laws Change, 'Penny Hoarders' Could Cash in on Thousands of Dollars

By NEAL KARLINSKY and MARY-ROSE ABRAHAM | ABC News – Fri, Dec 2, 2011

Joe Henry is on a first name basis with bank tellers across his hometown of Medford, Ore., scouring 15 banks a week with one thing on his mind: pennies.

Henry is often seen toting around bags of pennies, some he buys, others he changes back in for cash, which seems a little strange at first. He's not a collector, he is what's known as a "penny hoarder" and he is not alone.

Inside a shed next to his house, Henry has orange tubs filled with 200,000 pennies, and he spends hours sorting through roll after roll of the coins. But it's not just any and all pennies, Henry is only interested in those that are dated from 1982 and earlier because those are the coins made with 95 percent copper. A copper penny is worth more than other pennies -- now mostly made of zinc -- currently priced at $0.024.

"The copper has such a different sound than zinc pennies do," Henry said. "Real money has that definite sound of money and if you listen to a modern zinc penny, they don't sound the same, they sound sort of tinny."

Henry even has a $500 home counting machine to separate out the copper ones.

Much like the resurging obsession with gold, the price of copper has skyrocketed in recent years and the rising price has led to some unusual sprees. Thieves have been exploiting the value hidden in obscure items, stripping copper wiring from phone and utility cables, from construction sites, even from a 122-year-old copper bell that was stolen from a San Francisco cathedral.

In San Diego, so much copper wiring has been stolen from eight different city parks, that soccer teams can't practice because the field lights stopped working.

But penny hoarders aren't thieves, just opportunists. There are a slew of listing for pennies in bulk on eBay, but what's amazing is they include listings for $10 in pennies being sold for $20 dollars. If you think only a sucker would pay two cents for a penny, you're missing out on a business opportunity that Adam Youngs, who runs a massive penny sorting operation in Portland, Ore., has perfected.

He explained how he can sell a $100 worth of pennies for $176, when shipping and packaging are included.

Youngs' operation, the Portland Mint, is locked inside a secure facility that deals with armored cars -- selling and shipping to clients in every state -- and works in pennies by the ton. He said he has clients with deep pockets who are storing huge sacks of pennies and he has inquires from hedge funds.

"Just in face value alone, about $270,000 dollars [in pennies] right now," Youngs said. "That is just the face value, that is not even the copper value. The copper value is about three times that much."

Inside the Portland Mint. Credit: ABC News

Clients use Youngs because he separates copper pennies from the chump change -- the newer pennies that are only worth $0.01.

But in the weird world of penny hoarding, getting to the copper is a very big problem. It's illegal to melt pennies an there is an obscure federal law that makes it illegal to transport more than $5 in pennies out of the country.

Penny hoarders know this of course, but they also know something else. In what could be the biggest legislation to hit the U.S. Mint in 50 years, officials are now looking at the composition of pennies and nickels and considering an overhaul. If the laws change and the mint decides to abolish the penny, people would be free to melt them down for the copper.

A penny saved, many times over, could be a whole lot earned.

~ news.yahoo.com/laws-change-penny-hoarders-could-cash-thousands-dollars-211547264.html ~
~~~~~~

Big Cat by-the-numbers ~

11:22 pm... 11:44 pm... 1:11 am... 3:33 am... 1:11 pm... 10:10 pm... Volcano’s Angelic Forecast for this week ~ sirenbookstrand.blogspot.com ~
~~~~~~

The most powerful weapon is the human soul on fire. ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE! ALL POWER TO THE FREEDOM OCCUPATION!

~ Have a happy and magickal holiday season ~

~ MAY YOU ALWAYS HAVE ENOUGH ~

And, May you live the dreams of your heart, not in interesting times...

Heavenly holiday kisses from the Kougar...