What Would You Do With 2.5 tons of Dimes? 1 1

[Fenntucky Mike]

Estimated $100,000 in dimes stolen from trailer outside Walmart in Northeast Philly, police say | PhillyVoice

Reports seem to vary between 100k and 200k worth of dimes being taken but even being on the low end at 2.5 tons or 1MM dimes what would you do with them all? I guess you could make about 40 trips to Coinstar machines. 

Will there be 2023 "Dime Heist Hoard" labels?

[JT2]

Awesome!! just try to show up at the teller window with a few rolls and see what happens  

[Jason Abshier]

This is one of the craziest stories I’ve heard of in long while … 

Edited April 14, 2023 by Jason Abshier

[EarlyUS.com]

I guess if you were the thief and decided to spend some, it'd be tough to trace them back to you!

[Jason Abshier]

I calculated 2,000,000 dimes to make $200,000 … I’m curious of weight in pounds … so a dime weigh 2.268 grams 2,000,000/2.268 = 881,834 grams (rough estimate) that’s near 1944Lbs !!! No way one person loaded that up themselves they had to have help … I suspect a group crooks was in on this probably split up in different states taking these coins around to money exchange machines it would be hard to trace unless one of them are very stupid which (I hope they are) they walk in bank with a huge load of dimes that sets off all kinds of alarms with the bank teller 

[World Colonial]

On 4/14/2023 at 9:26 AM, EarlyUS.com said:

I guess if you were the thief and decided to spend some, it'd be tough to trace them back to you!

My thoughts too.  That and a crime of opportunity, maybe a partial inside job.

[Jason Abshier]

@Fenntucky Mike one thing that occurred to me while reading the article I’m kinda puzzled … what was that much US mint coins doing in back of a semi truck ? Doesn’t the US mint transport money and coins in armor vehicle or a armored truck ? I don’t know I just don’t get it … Someone had to known there were coins and or “money” in this case that was easy to grab like @World Colonial said “a partial inside job” yep is sure sounds like that maybe the truck driver is in on it who knows 

[Fenntucky Mike]

$100K = 1MM Dimes, 2.268g x 1MM = 2,268,000g/453.592 (g:lb) = 5,000.0881lbs (2.5 tons). Coinstar accepts transactions up to 2500, I think, which would be roughly 40 trips with 125lbs  of dimes. Yowzah! 

On 4/14/2023 at 1:28 PM, Jason Abshier said:

@Fenntucky Mike one thing that occurred to me while reading the article I’m kinda puzzled … what was that much US mint coins doing in back of a semi truck ? Doesn’t the US mint transport money and coins in armor vehicle or a armored truck ? I don’t know I just don’t get it … Someone had to known there were coins and or “money” in this case that was easy to grab like @World Colonial said “a partial inside job” yep is sure sounds like that maybe the truck driver is in on it who knows 

I'm assuming that it is SOP to ship large quantities via dedicated truck (tractor-trailer) to FRB's and their branches for distribution.  Very possible that it was an inside job, but equally as possible that if the same driver and method were used continuously over an extended period that it wouldn't take much for someone to figure out a pattern, or for a friend, relative, etc.. to blab to the wrong person. Maybe the thieves just got lucky and hit the jackpot? You would think that there would be some level of protection and security involved in transporting these, I'm a little surprised that they don't go straight to the airport, but I guess not.

Laundering/spending 1MM dimes seems like it would take awhile to do, but if the thieves take there time it would be near impossible to trace back to them. As long as they don't get ID'd on the surveillance videos. 

[Jason Abshier]

On 4/14/2023 at 1:49 PM, Fenntucky Mike said:

453.592

@Fenntucky Mike I’m curious where you got 453.592 ? My math was different than your I went my engineer book at work … I included a picture of what it told me to multiply to get 1,944 lbs rough estimate I felt it was wrong somewhere on my part then again 2 million dimes are a small coin would’t feel like it’s 2.5 tons (1 US ton is 2,000 lbs) 

[Fenntucky Mike]

On 4/14/2023 at 2:00 PM, Jason Abshier said:

@Fenntucky Mike I’m curious where you got 453.592 ? My math was different than your I went my engineer book at work … I included a picture of what it told me to multiply to get 1,944 lbs rough estimate I felt it was wrong somewhere on my part then again 2 million dimes are a small coin would’t feel like it’s 2.5 tons (1 US ton is 2,000 lbs) 

Google. 

It does seem high.  

 

 

[Coinbuf]

Just think of all the amazing parking lot errors that were also created by this theft, shouldn't be long before people show up here wanting to know how much their "Walmart heist" errors are worth.  

 

[Jason Abshier]

On 4/14/2023 at 2:09 PM, Fenntucky Mike said:

Google. 

It does seem high.  

 

 

453.592 grams equal 1 pound … I see it this way to determine how many dimes are just in (1 pound) I take 453.592 (1 lbs in grams) / by 2.268 (weight of a dime in grams) equal out to 199.99 (dimes make 1 lbs) let just round it up say 200 dimes equals 1 LB 

 

… does it sound right now I hope I got that part right I use math everyday in the machining world … but I don’t know all the math equations to convert certain stuff over to another conversion 

[Fenntucky Mike]

On 4/14/2023 at 2:37 PM, Jason Abshier said:

453.592 grams equal 1 pound … I see it this way to determine how many dimes are just in (1 pound) I take 453.592 (1 lbs in grams) / by 2.268 (weight of a dime in grams) equal out to 199.99 (dimes make 1 lbs) let just round it up say 200 dimes equals 1 LB 

 

… does it sound right now I hope I got that part right I use math everyday in the machining world … but I don’t know all the math equations to convert certain stuff over to another conversion 

I think you've got it now.  

The book is correct as well, g x .002205 = lbs. 1 million dimes would weigh 2,268,000g x .002205 = 5,000.94lbs

[Jason Abshier]

On 4/14/2023 at 3:07 PM, Fenntucky Mike said:

I think you've got it now.  

The book is correct as well, g x .002205 = lbs. 1 million dimes would weigh 2,268,000g x .002205 = 5,000.94lbs

Thanks for the math lesson I learn something new sometimes  @Fenntucky Mike My mind was somewhere else today I felt like my math was off when I got 1,944 lbs that’s why I asked where you got 453.592 I mixed up a number somewhere where I should not have … it’s the way I calculated it was wrong …. I stand corrected …

5,000.94lbs is indeed 2.5 TONS !!!! that’s just crazy someone hauling that kind of weight around in dimes ! 

[Fenntucky Mike]

On 4/14/2023 at 3:32 PM, Jason Abshier said:

that’s just crazy someone hauling that kind of weight around in dimes ! 

Heck yeah, that's a lot of weight! 

So probably multiple vehicles were used and/or multiple trips back and forth from the hideout.  The way some of the news stories read they make it sound like the thieves had all night to take their time and grab what they could, maybe. There was probably a line of cars waiting to pull up to the trailer like a fast food restaurant. 

I wonder if they had an empty kiddy pool they wanted fill up with dimes and swim in it like McDuck. 

Edited April 14, 2023 by Fenntucky Mike

[The Neophyte Numismatist]

I hope they at least build a set! 

[Sandon]

    Maybe the thieves will think that they're all mint errors or superb gems and submit them for grading!  

[Dave1384]

This is a few miles from me. The area has become crime infested. I doubt it was an inside job. There were multiple cars loading up . They are looking for 6 suspects. What I don’t understand is why the driver parked there , since that location is 20 miles north of the Mint and he was headed for Florida the next morning, Unless he had a delivery around here. The Captain of the precinct says what the driver did is common for long haulers. 

Edited April 15, 2023 by Dave1384

[Henri Charriere]

Every heist of this magnitude, with or without inside help, is inevitably doomed to failure.

Anyone remember that man of small stature (I am guessing that describing him as an Ecuadorian would not be p.c.) who saw an opportunity in NYC's Diamond District, and casually walked up to the back of a truck and seized a sealed can containing two solid bricks of gold (reported incorrectly as gold flakes) weighing roughly 80 lbs.?  He simply walked off, but had no place to go, no fence, nothing.  And the surveillance camera footage, crystal clear and taken from many angles, caught the whole incident on tape. They knew exactly who they were looking for: a man who had done this many times before. [He fled to Ecuador but is penniless.  His ex-wife, to whom he had entrusted everything back in the States, kept it all. He is an illegal; she is inaccessible.]

Anyone involved in this caper, crime partners,  fences, associates, etc., are soon-to-be defendants... full-time.  It takes only one person who gets into a jam in the future to break down and trade his freedom for everyone else involved.  The dimes are insured; a reward may be unnecessary.

 

[davidturner]

On 4/14/2023 at 5:43 PM, Jason Abshier said:

I calculated 2,000,000 dimes to make $200,000 … I’m curious of weight in pounds … so a dime weigh 2.268 grams 2,000,000/2.268 = 881,834 grams (rough estimate) that’s near 1944Lbs !!! No way one person loaded that up themselves they had to have help … I suspect a group crooks was in on this probably split up in different states taking these coins around to money exchange machines it would be hard to trace unless one of them are very stupid which (I hope they are) they walk in bank with a huge load of dimes that sets off all kinds of alarms with the bank teller 

I had to think for a long time to understand what was what. I've always been bad at math. I asked my friends to do my math homework, later I asked professionals to do my math homework for me and did not regret it. Overall, with 2.5 tons of dimes, I would probably consider exchanging them for a more convenient currency. This will likely take some time and effort, perhaps with the help of local banks or other financial institutions. The task is not easy, so to speak.

Edited November 27, 2023 by davidturner

[Henri Charriere]

Welcome to the Forum!

I see you've been mulling this over for awhile.  I do not know if this crime was cleared with a series of arrests, but it has all the hallmarks of having been pulled off by amateurs. You don't do this in broad daylight in full view of motorists and quite frankly the entire incident was too risky, labor-intensive and time-consuming. There are too many things that could have gone wrong and did go wrong only the participants do not know that yet.  This incident, repeated many times since, presumably by copy-cats who simply see an opportunity, and seize it, brings to mind., Locard's Principle of Exchange, which states that "with contact between two items there will be an exchange."  In forensic science, Locard's principle holds that the perpetrator of a crime will bring something into the crime scene and leave with something from it, and that both can be used as forensic evidence.  The value of trace (or contact) forensic evidence was recognized by Edmund Locard in 1910.  He was the director of the very first crime laboratory in existence, located in Lyon, France

[thebeav]

That's a lot of dimes....

Reminds me of the heaviest coin deal I had ever done. It was just about a half ton of wheat cents, 26 bags. I sold them to a well known Philadelphia numismatist who came to get them in a Ford Escort. "Oh yea, we'll put some in the trunk, on the seats, on the floor......" I was laughing as his sparking car was going down the street..... 

Edited November 29, 2023 by thebeav