Life is not always about the financial return on investment. It is the life lessons passed on to future generations and time spent with family that are priceless.
Due to some technical difficulties I had to rewrite this post. So if you are stopping by for the second time, I apologize that there are some differences between this version and the original one. This is a great reminder that you should always copy and paste your posts in an offline format in addition to posting on the Steem blockchain.
The Penny Treasure Hunt
I am always game for a good treasure hunt, especially one that can be enjoyed by the entire family.
In recent years, I learn that pennies can be hidden treasures found in pocket change - that is if you know what to look for.
In 1982, the United States government changed the composition of the penny from 95% percent copper to 97.5% zinc. This reduced the cost to make pennies, but also reduced the store of value of pennies (at least from a precious metal perspective.)
A 95% copper penny is worth $0.0187531 based on metal value, while the 97.5% zinc penny is worth $0.0069591 based on metal value. Which would you prefer?
Talking At The Table - Last Night
So after looking through my collection of pennies, I was ready to reintroduce this information to my family. I highly encourage my wife and kiddos to look at the change they receive to check for 95% copper pennies or 90% silver coins.
It is important to remember that many life lessons need to be taught multiple times. It is also important to model life lessons to your students.
The Plan - Today
Since it was Saturday, I decided to invite the kiddos to run some errands with me so that my wife could enjoy some alone time. While driving around town, I decided to stop by the bank.
My kids love going to the bank because almost without fail, they are offered a lollipop. This time was no exception. And of course, my kiddos graciously accepted the kind offer.
I had an offer of my own. I had reminded my girls about our conversation last night, and I invited them to join me in a little business adventure.
Anyone who wanted to join could have a 1/5 share in purchasing $25 of pennies (a total of 2,500 pennies). We agreed to share the cost, the work, and the reward.
I had four takers. Our team was complete.
2,500 Pennies Is A Lot Of Pennies
The most important and most time-consuming part of the project was sorting the pennies. Our team members had various levels of skills, so we had to work smart and hard to accomplish this task.
As we sorted, we created several piles.
- foreign coins
- wheat pennies
- pennies from 1981 and earlier
- pennies from 1982
- pennies from 1983 and newer
The Reward
Remember that everyone contributed $5 to buy $25 worth of pennies. When all was said and done each person had about $5.92 worth of "pennies," based on the current average value of wheat pennies and the current price of copper.
We had found ...
- 4 Canadian pennies and 1 Guatemalan penny
- 11 wheat pennies
- 548 pennies that were 95% copper (including 54 pennies was 1982)
- and a whole bunch of pennies that have a face value of 1 cent
An 18% ROI is not bad, but it is probably not worth the number of working hours we invested in the project.
What was priceless was the time spent with family and the lessons we learned together. I was able to teach about intrinsic value, sorting, teamwork, time management, and thinking about the future.
My oldest daughter summarized the day with the following statement - "It is an important day when an 11-year-old works hard for the possibility of a gaining something in the future." Still makes me smile!
Final Thoughts
Will I buy another box of pennies for the financial ROI? Probably not!
Would I buy a box of pennies to spend quality time with my family and invest in my kiddos? Absolutely!
I want to hear from you.
- Did you know about 95% copper pennies before reading this post?
- Do you check your pocket change for hidden treasure?
- What lessons are you teaching your kiddos?
Thanks for stopping by!
@SumatraNate
Image Source - All the photos in this post were taken by me on my iPhone.
Special Bonus
Do you want to know how we determined which 1982 pennies were made from 95% copper?
First, we create a balance from an old gift card, a piece of a straw, and tape. We placed a 97.5% zinc penny on the balance.
Then we tested the balance by placing another 97.5% zinc penny on the balance. No change.
Next, we placed a confirmed 95% copper penny on the balance, which lowered that side of the balance to the table. This was the expected result.
Finally we tested all of the 1982 pennies.