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Penny Hoarders Back in the News

On December 4, 2011, in Currencies, Our Culture, by Tim

It’s been a while since I’ve spotted one of those 2006-2007 era stories about someone hoarding pennies or stripping the copper pipes out of a foreclosed houses to cash in on the metal’s value, but, this report about a busy penny collector appeared atop the main page at Yahoo! the other day and, well, it just brought back memories.

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.”

A quick check of the Coinflation website shows that the pre-1982 penny stands alone in having an exceptionally high melt value, but, it was just a few years ago, when the price of nickel was about four times what it is now, that 1946-2011 Jefferson nickels  were worth far more than their face value. Even at today’s price, the nickel has a melt value of 5.15 cents.

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Leaving California

On November 28, 2011, in Our Culture, by Tim

It’s been two-and-a-half years since we left California (though the two years we spent in the Sierra Nevada Mountains felt like we were living in another state, that is, until we drove 90 miles down to the flatlands to go to the Costco only to be reminded that the state has nearly 40 million people) and it looks like the net migration from California to other states that began a half-decade ago is continuing, as detailed in this story at the LA Times.

The demographics of California today more closely resemble those of 1900 than of 1950: It is a mostly home-grown population, whose future depends on the children of immigrants and their children, said William Frey, a demographer and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

“We used to say California, here we come,” said Frey. “That now has flipped.”
…
It was a different world in the 1950s and ’60s, when roughly half of Californians were drawn from other states by jobs and by visions of crystalline blue skies in January and beach parties in September. The state’s shining image was burnished by a public relations machine that pushed attractive suburban real estate and a wide-open field for business.

As domestic immigration slowed between 1970 and 2000, foreign immigration filled in the gap. But since 2000, even the state’s once-growing immigrant population has been frozen at 27% of total residents. Since at least 2005, more residents have left California than arrived here from other states.

What they don’t say here is that, with little net inflows, the state’s demographics continue to be transformed by the relative birthrates of its citizens and one can only imagine what the place will look like when that process goes on for another 10, 20 or 30 years.

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Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

On November 24, 2011, in Our Culture, by Tim

All that Neal Page wants to do is to get home for Thanksgiving. His flight has been canceled due to bad weather so he decides on other means of transport.

As well as bad luck, Neal is blessed with the presence of Del Griffith, “Shower Curtain Ring Salesman” and all-around blabbermouth, who is never short of advice, conversation, or bad jokes.

And when he decides that he is going the same direction as Neal…

This morning, a brief departure from the normal fare is in order to recall the 1987 John Hughes classic Planes, Trains, and Automobiles starring Steve Martin and John Candy. Over the years, the viewing of this film on Thanksgiving eve has become a family tradition – this summary is provided to readers courtesy of IMDb and various fan sites.

Owen: I’m to drive you to Wichita to catch a train?
Del: Yeah, we’d appreciate it.
Owen: Train don’t run out of Wichita… unlessin’ you’re a hog or a cattle.
[Clears his throat]
Owen: People train runs out of Stubbville.

Cue the music – doooo, doooo, doooo.

(more…)

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Congress Set Up for an Even Bigger Failure

On November 22, 2011, in Debt, Economy, Our Culture, by Tim

It’s hard not to think that, with the failure of deficit reduction supercommittee to come up with any deal of any kind over the last few months, elected officials in Washington have set themselves up for an even bigger failure over the next year.

While they may take comfort in the idea that they’ve hardened their positions on spending and taxes in advances of the elections a year from now, they’ve overlooked the possibility that this may be a very different nation next November with the electorate perhaps, finally, ready to “throw all the bums out”.

If you thought that the supercommittee had intractable problems, look what lies dead ahead:

  • The Social Security 2 percent payroll tax cut expires in January 2012
  • Extended unemployment benefits expire on in January 2012
  • Alternative Minimum Tax on the middle class goes up in January 2012
  • Medicare reimbursements to physicians go down in January 2012

Getting Congress and the White House to agree on extending any of these provisions will not only be quite a challenge, but it will affect the overall budget picture and the looming 2013 sequestered cuts. But, letting all of these measures expire will cause the U.S. economy to take a big hit, as much as one full percentage point of GDP growth or more.

And as the 2012 elections heats up, the nation will be dealing with two looming crises:

  • The $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts in January 2013
  • The expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts in January 2013

I think it’s safe to say that, as far as partisan wrangling and the potential for this to create more financial market calamity, “you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet”.

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Ron Paul on Face the Nation

On November 21, 2011, in Our Culture, by Tim

GOP hopeful Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) appeared on Face the Nation yesterday and host Bob Schieffer provided a very compelling display of how, for the most part, the mainstream media works against any fundamental reform for the U.S. government as Schieffer seems to only be interested in putting words in Paul’s mouth that, fortunately, are rejected.

Some media-watchers have called this a hit-job after Paul had risen to a statistical tie for the lead in some Iowa polls and it’s hard not to come away with that impression when you examine Shieffer’s words closely, as was done by Paul Mulshine of the New Jersey Star Ledger in the article No wonder these talking heads don’t like talking to Ron Paul.

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Politicians and Lobbyists: “Ruh Roh”

On November 18, 2011, in Economy, Our Culture, by Tim

Well, it seems that the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street movement might just have discovered some common ground in  Memphis, Tennessee, at least according to this Associated Press report from a few hours ago.

Occupy Memphis member Mallory Pope had just finished telling a group of about 75 tea party followers Thursday night that politicians should not allow themselves to be influenced by lobbyists and unions when she received an unexpected invitation.

“It sounds to me that y’all ought to be joining us,” said Jerry Rains, a 64-year-old computer programmer and tea party member. “You have a lot of the same goals we have, which is to take our country back.”

Pope and fellow Occupy Memphis protester Tristan Tran had a lively, sometimes strained and confrontational, but mostly civil discussion with members of the Mid-South Tea Party at a municipal meeting hall outside Memphis.

The factions saw eye-to-eye on some issues and clashed on others. And, while the young speakers didn’t change many minds, they did earn praise from the tea party members for their passion, honesty and courage.

The 21-year-old University of Memphis students had been invited by the tea party group to talk about the goals of the Occupy movement. The invitation was extended after a discussion between members of both groups on the tea party’s website, meeting organizer Jim Tomasik said.

At least they’re talking and, given the dim prospects for any substantive improvement in the U.S. economy, they’re likely to talk more and more in the years ahead, hopefully culminating in a third political party. No, that’s probably just wishful thinking.

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