Difficult for me to understand the appeal of physical copper "bullion" when I consider the value of time, space, work, and opportunity cost. Silver is bad enough to store and move in quantity that "matters" financially. It better be damned amusing and a fun novelty to play with. Those barrels of wheat cents look like a nightmare to me.
Copper is an industrial metal, not a precious metal. In my opinion, not worth the space it takes to store it. Cash in those common cents and buy silver.
@MsMorrisine said:
here is someone speculating wheat cents will be worth more in the future, but people buy wheat cents for more than face value. common memorials will have desirability over face in the future? That's speculative. very. Is that your speculation? and what about nickels. those will remain in circulation. who will pay over face for those?
At least he same cent hoarder hoarded MASSIVE amounts cerified $20 libs and saints. I mean MASSIVE amounts.
@MsMorrisine said:
and you could melt some and make art for a profit
those elongated penny machines make a profit
use 100 cents and make a dollar bill art bar.
Can you legally melt USA minted 90% silver coins? If no, why is 90% so popular and being bought and sold. Same thing will happen if all the copper cents and nickels all get removed from circulation.
It's called " GRESHAM'S LAW' "
@TPGS said:
Can you legally melt USA minted 90% silver coins? If no, why is 90% so popular and being bought and sold. Same thing will happen if all the copper cents and nickels all get removed from circulation.
It's called " GRESHAM'S LAW' "
It is legal to melt silver or gold coins in the US. The reason behind this decision is most likely to do with there not being any silver or gold coins in circulation. ... Additionally, it is illegal to carry more than five dollars worth of pennies and nickels outside of the United States when travelling.
How hard is it to sell off several ingots of copper?
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
@TPGS said:
Can you legally melt USA minted 90% silver coins? If no, why is 90% so popular and being bought and sold. Same thing will happen if all the copper cents and nickels all get removed from circulation.
It's called " GRESHAM'S LAW' "
It is legal to melt silver or gold coins in the US. The reason behind this decision is most likely to do with there not being any silver or gold coins in circulation. ... Additionally, it is illegal to carry more than five dollars worth of pennies and nickels outside of the United States when travelling.
China was removing massive ammounts of nickels from the US and exporting them to China. They were melting the USA nickels to make stainless steel for manufacturing car bumpers and lots of other items.
What if Gesham's law kicks in and all the nickels and copper pennies get complelely removed from circulation. The feds would replace them with debased cents and nickels. Maybe with polymer ? And eventually allow the copper 5c and 1c to be legally melted. That exact thing happened with all the 90% coins. History tends to repeat its self.
When Gresham's law kicks it will happen super fast. They will all be quickly sucked out of circulation. Then it will be too late to get them at face value out of circulation. I think the current hoarders are trying to get ahead of the curve and hoard the copper 1c and 5c at face while they still can.
I like the idea of scrapping copper in theory: It's inexpensive or even free, you can enjoy the hunt, you can smelt and learn the process. But it seems like you need a fair amount of storage space for raw materials. And unless or until you turn your scrap microwave or TV coils into a dense product like a bar, the storage would be chaotic. I watched that Australian YouTuber scrapping at the beginning of the pandemic. And while it was interesting and entertaining, his house and grounds were a catastrophe. And then there is the cost of your unwanted materials, the furnace, your fuel, your molds. And the potential health issues of smelting the wrong material like lead or mercury. Some news stories out recently about a guy thinking he was smelting silver dental scrap. Turned out to be mercury, and his house became a toxic waste site. And a microwave's magnetron can contain beryllium oxide--a highly toxic substance that can cause lung cancer and kill you quite dead.
I've posted before that I love 90% silver US coinage for a variety of reasons. Similarly, I think pre-1982 cents is a logical way to accumulate copper at a very low cost. According to our host's sister site Coinflation, a copper cent is "worth" about $.018 today. Double your money at no cost. Not as good as free like scrapped copper pipe, but weigh the plusses and minuses. Cents are dense, so they don't take up much room. And depending on your storage method, they can be very compact. They don't require a shed or a propane tank or a furnace. And if you get bored or things go south, they can always be spent at face value--try that with a yard of copper pipe or a bushel basket of wire.
Like many (c'mon, ALL OF YOU), I take a second to sort out my pre-82 cents at night and toss them in a jar. I've got 30 or 40 pounds of them right now IIRC.
Here's a similar idea that might have some merit:
A few days ago I was in one of my B&Ms, shooting the breeze and sifting through his "3 for a quarter" foreign coin bin. I was absent mindedly putting aside several big discs of bronze before I realized what they were and why I was doing so:
The 1955-1959 Mexico Cincuenta Centavos (50 cents) pieces, KM#450. They're pretty big--larger than a US half dollar and almost twice as thick. They're hefty at just about a half troy ounce each. They had pretty low mintages, a short run of 5 years, and they're about as old as our wheat cents. Best part is that they are a logical copper/bronze companion to my favorite Mexican silver vehicle--the 1947-48 Mexico 5 pesos (KM#465).
I found exactly 30 of them. He made me a deal on them, and threw in a maple leaf tube for storage:
We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last. --Severian the Lame
i like uk pennies/ half pennies and farthings for the same reason as the big centavos . Those 50 centavo coins are a nice high relief design though just like the big 5 peso
how would anyone make money collecting cents and nickels at face even when they are worth 3cents and 9cents apiece?
If crypto fails and the debt market self-destructs, it may be the case that real money revives itself organically. In that case, coinage might still assume a critical role in daily commerce. I think it's a "wait and see" situation. Besides, there is almost no cost to accumulate copper cents or stray nickels.
Q: Are You Printing Money? Bernanke: Not Literally
great video!
Like Weiss, i save my pre 82 cents, I think I have about $50 face - a while back I had a chance to buy a couple 5lb bags of British large cents... mostly red still - I sold one and kept one just for fun. I don't have the room or desire to speculate on any other metals than the silver & gold stuff.
Comments
Difficult for me to understand the appeal of physical copper "bullion" when I consider the value of time, space, work, and opportunity cost. Silver is bad enough to store and move in quantity that "matters" financially. It better be damned amusing and a fun novelty to play with. Those barrels of wheat cents look like a nightmare to me.
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
Copper is an industrial metal, not a precious metal. In my opinion, not worth the space it takes to store it. Cash in those common cents and buy silver.
I think that would be a great idea just shovel them in and cast bars to resell on ebay.
Laws like the one against melting cents are the ones you should go out of your way to break before lunch .
At least he same cent hoarder hoarded MASSIVE amounts cerified $20 libs and saints. I mean MASSIVE amounts.
Can you legally melt USA minted 90% silver coins? If no, why is 90% so popular and being bought and sold. Same thing will happen if all the copper cents and nickels all get removed from circulation.
It's called " GRESHAM'S LAW' "
It is legal to melt silver or gold coins in the US. The reason behind this decision is most likely to do with there not being any silver or gold coins in circulation. ... Additionally, it is illegal to carry more than five dollars worth of pennies and nickels outside of the United States when travelling.
I like copper and I stack it, check out my copper cent hoard.
How hard is it to sell off several ingots of copper?
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
China was removing massive ammounts of nickels from the US and exporting them to China. They were melting the USA nickels to make stainless steel for manufacturing car bumpers and lots of other items.
What if Gesham's law kicks in and all the nickels and copper pennies get complelely removed from circulation. The feds would replace them with debased cents and nickels. Maybe with polymer ? And eventually allow the copper 5c and 1c to be legally melted. That exact thing happened with all the 90% coins. History tends to repeat its self.
When Gresham's law kicks it will happen super fast. They will all be quickly sucked out of circulation. Then it will be too late to get them at face value out of circulation. I think the current hoarders are trying to get ahead of the curve and hoard the copper 1c and 5c at face while they still can.
I don’t need any more nickels than these:
Easy, put 10 ingots on ebay start at 1C with free shipping. The copper rounds I sold, sold for $1.20 to $1.35 each minus shipping.
Now THAT is exactly what i'm talking about. You can easily sell US mint sealed cent bags. Hope it's on the ground floor.
I like the idea of scrapping copper in theory: It's inexpensive or even free, you can enjoy the hunt, you can smelt and learn the process. But it seems like you need a fair amount of storage space for raw materials. And unless or until you turn your scrap microwave or TV coils into a dense product like a bar, the storage would be chaotic. I watched that Australian YouTuber scrapping at the beginning of the pandemic. And while it was interesting and entertaining, his house and grounds were a catastrophe. And then there is the cost of your unwanted materials, the furnace, your fuel, your molds. And the potential health issues of smelting the wrong material like lead or mercury. Some news stories out recently about a guy thinking he was smelting silver dental scrap. Turned out to be mercury, and his house became a toxic waste site. And a microwave's magnetron can contain beryllium oxide--a highly toxic substance that can cause lung cancer and kill you quite dead.
I've posted before that I love 90% silver US coinage for a variety of reasons. Similarly, I think pre-1982 cents is a logical way to accumulate copper at a very low cost. According to our host's sister site Coinflation, a copper cent is "worth" about $.018 today. Double your money at no cost. Not as good as free like scrapped copper pipe, but weigh the plusses and minuses. Cents are dense, so they don't take up much room. And depending on your storage method, they can be very compact. They don't require a shed or a propane tank or a furnace. And if you get bored or things go south, they can always be spent at face value--try that with a yard of copper pipe or a bushel basket of wire.
Like many (c'mon, ALL OF YOU), I take a second to sort out my pre-82 cents at night and toss them in a jar. I've got 30 or 40 pounds of them right now IIRC.
Here's a similar idea that might have some merit:
A few days ago I was in one of my B&Ms, shooting the breeze and sifting through his "3 for a quarter" foreign coin bin. I was absent mindedly putting aside several big discs of bronze before I realized what they were and why I was doing so:
The 1955-1959 Mexico Cincuenta Centavos (50 cents) pieces, KM#450. They're pretty big--larger than a US half dollar and almost twice as thick. They're hefty at just about a half troy ounce each. They had pretty low mintages, a short run of 5 years, and they're about as old as our wheat cents. Best part is that they are a logical copper/bronze companion to my favorite Mexican silver vehicle--the 1947-48 Mexico 5 pesos (KM#465).
I found exactly 30 of them. He made me a deal on them, and threw in a maple leaf tube for storage:
--Severian the Lame
i like uk pennies/ half pennies and farthings for the same reason as the big centavos . Those 50 centavo coins are a nice high relief design though just like the big 5 peso
I make my own bars.
https://youtu.be/5dDaYRWcCUA
how would anyone make money collecting cents and nickels at face even when they are worth 3cents and 9cents apiece?
If crypto fails and the debt market self-destructs, it may be the case that real money revives itself organically. In that case, coinage might still assume a critical role in daily commerce. I think it's a "wait and see" situation. Besides, there is almost no cost to accumulate copper cents or stray nickels.
I knew it would happen.
great video!
Like Weiss, i save my pre 82 cents, I think I have about $50 face - a while back I had a chance to buy a couple 5lb bags of British large cents... mostly red still - I sold one and kept one just for fun. I don't have the room or desire to speculate on any other metals than the silver & gold stuff.
Click on this link to see my ebay listings.
That's really cool!
My YouTube Channel
loving the thread. Keep it up! Only a slight beatdown for mentioning a viable option in metals.
https://www.ebay.com/mys/active
Reply deleted.
Wife likes it. From a 1959 opened mint bag.
I scored more free copper from a demo, over 200 ft. of #2/3 600 volt wire.
https://youtu.be/iKfTBkRiHYg
That's more than I stripped for this video.
i sold some canadian copper cents on ebay they did ok. 30 rolls for about 30 dollars US i can live with that
I like brass also, here's a chandelier I got off the same demo job. It's just over 3 ft tall and weighs over a hundred pounds.
