1959 to 1982 95% Copper Cents

DiggerJim

I have just north of 65 pounds of these pennies saved in cans from coin roll hunting (digging) boxes and boxes from my neighborhood banks and so on so far. So after I put these on the side what am I gonna do with them? Or what do you guys do with them?
Thanks

DiggerJim

Hemispherical

Find a friendly bank that will take them for currency exchange or deposit. May have to roll them, though.

Or, Coinstar if you are willing to lose a bit in the deposit fee.

Edit to add:

65 lbs = 29,483.5 g
29,483.5 / 3.11 = 9480.23
About $94.80.

ChrisH821

That's only about $95 face value if my math is correct, if there's no need for the money I'd just let them sit.

windwhispersintrees

I spend them.

DiggerJim

Today's spot price for copper is about $2.65 per pound. If you do the math a 95% penny is worth $0.0125. A little over a penny.

JBK

No wonder I've been seeing so many in cent rolls.

I set them aside, but guess it is not really necessary.

Hemispherical

The problem with melting is two-fold. Finding someone to melt them and avoiding a certain law about melting cents.

Title 31 › Subtitle B › Chapter I › Part 82 › Section 82.1

§ 82.1 Prohibitions.
Except as specifically authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury (or designee) or as otherwise provided in this part, no person shall export, melt, or treat:

(a) Any 5-cent coin of the United States; or

(b) Any one-cent coin of the United States.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/31/82.1

Edit to add: Of course there are exceptions to laws and the exceptions to the above is here: https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/31/82.2

291fifth

Cash them in at the bank ... and don't let them pile up again.

DiggerJim

Thanks, all good points. They are starting to take up too much room in my cabinet. So I guess I'm turning them in.

DiggerJim
(with less pennies)

dcarr

According to coinflation.com, the current scrap value of a solid bronze US $0.01 coin is $0.0175.
So $100 face value is theoretically worth $175 in scrap. But with the prohibition on large-scale melting, the actual market value is muted.

Eventually, I expect the prohibition on melting will be lifted (when 1-cent coins are no longer needed in commerce).
I would keep them for now. You could always put them in a safe (if you have the space) to make that safe harder to move.

mannie gray

Sell them on eBay
Folks buy them .

Tibor

Have you checked for varieties? If so then set up at a local coin show and
sell in bags of 250 or 500. A couple of years ago a friend of mine did this
and sold 50 of the 500 ct. bags in less than 4 hours. I like the Memorial
"S" mints, so I would pull those for my self.

privatecoin

Hold them for melting when they eliminate the cent. I think there's a good chance that may happen in the future at the rate they're destroying the dollar.

1630Boston

I had about 40,000 of them, I cashed them in for 1 cent each last year, I was happy with the price and saw absolutely no reason to keep them any longer

RogerB

Have them overstruck with a pipe sticking out of Lincoln's mouth. That will make a special, exciting collectable you can sell by the hundreds to avid tourists and luxury truck stops, fast food and convenience stores. Oh...and be sure to emphasize that they are made of nearly pure, valuable copper....the stuff idiots steal from West Virginia coal mines.

keets

my boss buys them at .012 cents each, 60 cents a roll.

3stars

@RogerB said:
Have them overstruck with a pipe sticking out of Lincoln's mouth. That will make a special, exciting collectable you can sell by the hundreds to avid tourists and luxury truck stops, fast food and convenience stores. Oh...and be sure to emphasize that they are made of nearly pure, valuable copper....the stuff idiots steal from West Virginia coal mines.

Or carve a portrait of JFK in the field. Still have one of those around...

RogerB

RE: "Or carve a portrait of JFK in the field. Still have one of those around..."

Yeah...that works too!

Downtown1974

I put them aside as well. I do roll them as I acquire enough to make a roll.

ricko

I save wheaties... I have jugs of them... and I really have not searched them... put most of them in rolls years (like 20-25 years ) ago...Keep promising myself I will go through them...so far, I have not kept my promise. Cheers, RickO

Hemispherical

https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/819143/my-wheat-cents-hoard/p1

ShadyDave

@keets said:
my boss buys them at .012 cents each, 60 cents a roll.

Do you/your boss check all of them to make sure they're actually coppers? Do you also buy 82's that are copper or only 81 and before? Seems very low margin to me, but to each their own.

DiggerJim

Well it looks like I'll keep saving them and then sell them eventually. I have a good start on some wore out Wheaties bucket also.

And Yes I go through every coin thoroughly, I just don't glance at dates and condition. I have spread sheets I pull up on my computer that I look at when I'm digging made up with documented varieties for each of the coins I dig and update them when I see new varieties pop up