[MOC] Copper Penny Sorter

[landoandrews]

Lately I've been in the mood to make MOCs that haven't ever been done before, or improve upon unique ones. I haven't seen any descent penny sorters,so if any of you guys know of any please let me know.

Copper Pennies are worth 230% of their face value just because of the metal contained in them. Some people hoard the pennies so that if they're ever taken out of circulation they could melt them down and sell the metal. I'm not one of these people, but I this would be a fun and challenging moc.

There's two ways to sort copper pennies from the zinc ones without any special equipment:

1)Date: Copper pennies were made from 1909 to 1982.

2)Weight: Copper pennies weigh 3.11 grams, while zinc ones weigh just 2.5 grams.

Naturally I used the weight to determine what kind of penny it is. There are two scales in the machine, each one being identical. When the penny is dispensed onto the scale if it is copper it will fall off, if it is zinc it will stay on top of the scale and will be pushed off by a fork into a different direction than the copper pennies. The entire thing is mechanical, all driven by a single NXT motor.

[Saberwing40k]

Excellent, now make a penny counter, or something.

[dr_spock]

Nice. Is it for U.S. pennies only?

[unimog123]

That's awesome! It's amazing that you made the whole thing without sensors, only a motor.

[DrJB]

Nice ... but I'm usually very protective of my legos and I worry that, after a while, the metal will cause severe damage to the plastic

[Doc_Brown]

Really fascinating machine! Great job with the scales.

I too wonder over time would the Lego get scratched?

What other machines are you planning on making?

[landoandrews]

Nice. Is it for U.S. pennies only?

This would only be able to work with the US pennies, but that's because I ballanced the scales, and built it to work with them. I think the pennies from other countries are all a little different, but I'm sure the concept would work with any coin that has two different weights.

[matthewclso]

In its 2006 Press Release http://www.usmint.gov/pressroom/?action=press_release&ID=771 , the "United States Mint Limits Exportation & Melting of Coins" -- "The new regulation authorizes a fine of not more than $10,000, or imprisonment of not more than five years, or both, against a person who knowingly violates the regulation. In addition, by law, any coins exported, melted, or treated in violation of the regulation shall be forfeited to the United States Government."

[landoandrews]

In its 2006 Press Release http://www.usmint.go..._release&ID=771 , the "United States Mint Limits Exportation & Melting of Coins" -- "The new regulation authorizes a fine of not more than $10,000, or imprisonment of not more than five years, or both, against a person who knowingly violates the regulation. In addition, by law, any coins exported, melted, or treated in violation of the regulation shall be forfeited to the United States Government."

I'm not actually sorting pennies and trying to make money off them, I simply made this as a proof of concept. Just a challenge. If I was going to sort hundreds of dollars worth of pennies anyway, the idea would be to just sell them on ebay. (As far as I know theres nothing wrong with that)

Good Point though. Thanks.