A man received an inheritance from her grandfather in the form of coins (3 photos)

Dave D'Agrella said his relative was an avid coin collector who had been collecting for decades. He said the pennies he left behind could contain rare specimens.





A Texas resident (USA) Dave D'Agrella received an unusual inheritance from his grandfather Donald Dayton, who passed away in 2020. Instead of a traditional cash will, he left his grandson $3,000 in thousands of unsorted pennies, with one important request: to carefully examine each coin for collectible or rare specimens.

Donald Dayton, an avid coin collector, has been collecting pennies for decades. He started the hobby in the 1970s, putting the change into two-liter bottles. Sorting was limited to denominations; the rest was for later. According to D'Agrella, his grandfather passed on his interest in coins and chess to him along with bottles filled to the brim with copper and zinc coins.

Dave decided to turn to Reddit for advice. He posted a photo of his car trunk filled with bottles of pennies and asked whether it was worth sorting the coins, especially those minted before 1982 and containing pure copper.



Users suggested D'Agrella sort through the coins in small batches, use a magnet to separate the steel pieces, and even invite friends to a "coin party" to speed up the process.

D'Agrella said he learned that pre-1982 pennies, which contain 95 percent copper, are worth about 3 cents apiece. Although melting U.S. currency is illegal, collectors are willing to pay for copper coins in anticipation of the eventual lifting of those restrictions.

Dave also discovered sorting machines through the forum that automatically separate copper coins from the rest.

"Now I plan to run all the pennies through the machine and then manually go through the rest," he shared.

Dave also noted that the process of sorting through the coins is not only a way to find valuable pieces, but also a way to preserve the memory of his grandfather.

"These pennies have become part of our family history. Sorting through them is not only fulfilling his last wishes, but also a way to rediscover his hobbies and traditions," he concluded.