In 2015, an elderly gentleman from Louisiana cashed in a nearby bank for a truckload of 55-gallon plastic water jugs filled with pennies he had collected over the previous 45 years. After the last penny was counted, Otha Anders received more than $5,130 as the full amount of the pennies from her. That’s over 510,000 pence. To the general public, this news probably sounded wonderful, but for all American numismatists who collect and buy coins for fun and profit, Anders lost a lot of money.

According to the Monroe, La. News-Star, Anders referred to his every penny as a “God-given incentive that reminds me to always be grateful.” In Anders’s case, however, a “penny saved” may be more than “a penny earned.” Many of the ones he cashed out for instant money would have been worth more money.

Since Anders began hoarding pennies in 1970, he would have collected many “wheat” pennies that the Mint minted between 1909 and 1958. Even today, there are still plenty of “wheat” pennies in dime rolls and circulating change. When he started saving in 1970, he would have found many wheat pennies in excellent condition. Over the last 45 years, most of each of those pennies would become more valuable than a penny.

According to RS Yeoman’s “2015 Guide to United States Coins”, wheat hundred values ​​ranged from $0.10 in “good” condition to several hundred dollars in “nearly” uncirculated condition. Additionally, the guide records some extremely rare pennies that were worth up to $5,000 uncirculated. However, it would be impossible to estimate how much the numismatic value of the entire collection might be; each coin would have had to be examined by reputable coin dealers who could have helped him sell his collection, but it’s easy to imagine that Anders would have made more than $20,000 if he had had the patience to appraise them.

In addition to the numismatic value, there is a precious metal value for the price of the entire weight of the coin in copper. All US copper coins minted up to 1981 contained 95% copper. According to the “InvestmentMine” website, in 2015 the average value of copper was $2.86 per pound. All of Anders’ pennies together weighed over 2,800 pounds. So if he chose all the coins, we would multiply 2,800 pounds and 2.86, the sum in copper would have totaled approximately $8,000. However, a conservative estimate of the number of pennies made from copper was 75%, we would get about $6,000, which is about $900 more than he received.

Although Anders received more than $5,100 for his massive collection, he could have received much more if he had taken the time to have them all appraised by a trained numismatist. The good news, though, is that if you live in or near Louisiana, you could buy plenty of rolls of pennies at local banks and probably find some of those higher-value wheat pennies.