@Weiss said:
Lot of haters for such an innocuous thing.
For those who don't know, our hosts sponsor a handy website that actually shows the melt value of pretty much all US coins and coins from Mexico and Canada:
These figures are all based on melt value as of today, August 19, 2022. Pre-82 copper cents are worth nearly 2.5 times their face value--multiples of the other coins in circulation. You going to get an instant 250% in a CD right now? In the S&P? Imagine if every dollar coin was worth $2.50. How long do you think they'd stay in circulation?
Gresham's Law is real. Don't break it.
Except there's no good way to realize that gain. Even if you could melt them, you'd need thousands of them just to pay for the trip to the refinery.
One of the worst culprits in the whole "melt" panoply are war nickels. Again per PCGS's Coinflation website, a 1942-1945 war nickel is currently worth about $1.08.
War nickels are notorious for their composition (56% copper, 35% silver, and 9% manganese) being difficult and costly to smelt. Yet they sell for a premium. For example, Apmex currently has $200 face bags--4,000 coins total--with a melt value of approximately $4320, for sale at $4916. Why? Because they are worth it. Enough people see the value in them that they're ready to pay a premium for them.
Sure, people smelt them. But mostly they're traded sight unseen for the metal value. Their smelting cost is literally immaterial to their value as weighed, assayed, monetized, units of wealth.
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
@Weiss said:
One of the worst culprits in the whole "melt" panoply are war nickels. Again per PCGS's Coinflation website, a 1942-1945 war nickel is currently worth about $1.08.
War nickels are notorious for their composition (56% copper, 35% silver, and 9% manganese) being difficult and costly to smelt. Yet they sell for a premium. For example, Apmex currently has $200 face bags--4,000 coins total--with a melt value of approximately $4320, for sale at $4916. Why? Because they are worth it. Enough people see the value in them that they're ready to pay a premium for them.
Sure, people smelt them. But mostly they're traded sight unseen for the metal value. Their smelting cost is literally immaterial to their value as weighed, assayed, monetized, units of wealth.
True. But people in the know usually recommend dumping war nickels, and 40% for that matter, due to the alloys involved.
In any case, the fact remains that a single war nickel is worth over a dollar, whereas a single copper (bronze) cent is worth a few cents.
Paper, cardboard, plastic, etc. also have value, but who is going to hoard those materials?
@JBK
But another fact is War Nickels are few and far beyond, copper cents are plentiful and easy to come by
"In any case, the fact remains that a single war nickel is worth over a dollar, whereas a single copper (bronze) cent is worth a few cents"
The Boy Scouts...
"Paper, cardboard, plastic, etc. also have value, but who is going to hoard those materials"?
@AUandAG said:
As probably mentioned above: It cost more than they are worth to melt them into bars of copper. The gas used eats up the value of the copper. I watched a guy on youtube do it just to find out the cost of doing so. In the end he said it was not worth the time or effort. Spend em.
Paper, cardboard, plastic, etc. also have value, but who is going to hoard those materials?
Totally invalid analogy/comparison...as there's no face value/legal tender in those. I mean, pennies will always be worth at least one cent each no matter what.
Paper, cardboard, plastic, etc. also have value, but who is going to hoard those materials?
Totally invalid analogy/comparison...as there's no face value/legal tender in those. I mean, pennies will always be worth at least one cent each no matter what.
I was trying to make the point that cents are high volume and low value items. Yes, they have a face value but it is literally the lowest denomination produced in the US.
The upside potential is very limited for all the reasons previously stated.
The opportinity cost of hoarding copper cents is very high. There are lots of things that are a much better investment.
The fact that cents have a face value is precisely why it makes sense to cash them in if you are looking to invest your money.
If it makes you happy to hoard copper cents then go ahead and do it. I have already stated that I save copper cents myself.
But no one should kid themselves that their children or grandchildren will thank them some day when they inherit bins full of common copper cents. They will curse you.
BTW...I live in a state that has a deposit on cans and bottles. I routinely pull off the tabs on the aluminum cans before returning them. That's free aluminum. I also save the copper wire cords from old electric items that I am discarding. That's free copper. The choices there are keeping the metals or throwing them away.
I wonder how many times folks 50 or a hundred years ago thought saving their common coins would be worth anything now I can buy wheat cents $5 a pound at the local coin store with wide mix of quality.
Just the return on capital suggests only keeping MS grade coins might be worth more in X years to a future collector.
And buy unopened uncirculated bank rolls if you want to collect copper cents.
I still have some rolls I purchased from the bank in the late 60's/early 70's as a kid.
Every now and again I find a few uncirculated bank rolls cheap and add to the lot.
Why?
I'm not sure, but they are relatively cheap to get.
I also understand, that since cents aren't pure copper, it would be cost prohibitive to separate the tin, zinc or other additives from the copper cent during melting.
To me, any return, if any on copper cents, would not be worth the time or effort.
And the additional clutter that it would create would be unacceptable to me!
Copper is plentiful, and it trades by the pound.
Of course, there's no harm, you're just having fun.
At one time, I had amassed 130,000 wheat cents, 26 bags. Believe me, it was a pain in the a**......
I've got a large tin of copper cents. Every time I remember to look at my change I still pull out the copper and put it into the tin. I've got wheaties from 1909-1959 and of course memorials after. Probably a lot of varieties. One day I may get motivated to look at them and see if I can find any varieties.
I have a few jars of wheat cents... and a couple of Ziplocs. I still pull them out of change and save them. Have not searched the bulk of wheaties and have accumulated them for many years. Probably a treasure or two in there. Cheers, RickO
I think you should save them, just in case! I mean, you never know!! If a war breaks out, you could have a gold mine.
You could sell them on eBay and make a profit right now! Instant profit! Don't listen to us old has been's! When you get to 100,000,000 you will be a millionaire!
I started saving copper cents from change/bank rolls for a few years until... I cashed them in.
My mother used to do it... when she passed, I cashed them in.
My father-in-law used to do it... I cashed them in.
These days I only set aside the really nice examples of mint state copper cents from 1959-1982 in some tubes. Even then, they're getting a bit unwieldy to store.
Always looking for attractive rim toned Morgan and Peace dollars in PCGS or (older) ANA/ANACS holders!
"Bongo hurtles along the rain soaked highway of life on underinflated bald retread tires."
@alpha33 said:
40 years from now wheat cents will be as rare in circulation as indian cents are now and pre 1982 Lincolns will be scarce like the wheats are now.
Wheat cent mintages were in the millions, pre 82 Lincolns in the billions. They're not going to be scarce.
@rec78 said:
I think you should save them, just in case! I mean, you never know!! If a war breaks out, you could have a gold mine.
You could sell them on eBay and make a profit right now! Instant profit! Don't listen to us old has been's! When you get to 100,000,000 you will be a millionaire!
Well you old has beens have far more that you can invest with. I'm just trying to make the best with what little I got and can get. Indeed, I just got back my old Hot Wheels cars (mostly 70s) and it would be swell if I could cash in on even just one or two of them but I don't know if I got any like that...
I also have or had a Metroid Prime bobblehead still in the box that I think I could easily sell for a few hundred dollars if I could ever find it...I sure hope God forbid I didn't lose it in a move or something...
@Weiss said:
I guess I'm in the minority here. Every night, every copper cent since the 1990s.
I still get a kick on the days when I get to drop 3 or 4 copper cents in the jar. And believe me, those days are further between.
Zinc cents? I literally say "trash" when I toss them in the recycle jar.
If you've been doing this since the 90s you should have WAY more than that by now!
Well I thought today I'd try something a little different today and do what a lot of the rest of you have done...get a whole CASE ($25) of pennies (seeing as how banks/credit unions close on Labor Day)...sadly the bank couldn't do it on Saturday (as they said something about they can't get into the vault on Saturdays or something) so I guess I'll have to hold off till Tuesday. I am curious as to how many Wheaties I might find in there!
On a related note, I also occasionally find Canadian pennies in the rolls and you bet I hang on to those! After all, they retired the penny ten years ago and IIRC, whatever pennies Canadian banks get they turn them into the mint to be retired/destroyed. So if this goes on long enough then who knows? So for both this and copper pennies (1981 or earlier) as long as I get them for face value in my CRHing I figure, what do I have to lose?
Apart from saving copper cents...You may want to trim your sig line down a bit. On a cellphone it takes up the whole screen, which is an annoyance which may lead to members not opening your threads.
Just a suggestion.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
@DCW said:
Apart from saving copper cents...You may want to trim your sig line down a bit. On a cellphone it takes up the whole screen, which is an annoyance which may lead to members not opening your threads.
Just a suggestion.
Well one way would be for anyone to send things in my wishlist my way; hee hee!
But seriously I think photobucket is about to be discontinued or something so maybe I could trim that down...
Well (for some less than honest people), copper is apparently worth stealing anyway! But please don't do this because apparently you not only risk going to jail if you get caught...you could easily electrocute yourself to death trying this!
When I started CRH I started with cents and like you I pulled the copper and saved it for quite a while. I owned a barn at the time with lots of storage so it really didn't matter much, that is until I sold the place. I quickly concluded like most here to just cash them in rather than lugging them over to my new house. Maybe I'll regret it some day but that was ten years ago and still don't. By the way, with the money I cashed in from the copper I bought a nice Gibson guitar for about $350. The guitar is now worth $1200 and I still get a lot of pleasure out of playing it. I did enjoy pulling the copper cents but it really just turned into an obsession...
@MaineJim said:
By the way, with the money I cashed in from the copper I bought a nice Gibson guitar for about $350. The guitar is now worth $1200 and I still get a lot of pleasure out of playing it.
I believe "opportunity cost" was mentioned above...
But just think of the guitar you could buy if you would hold on to those cents until the govt said it was ok to melt them and the price of copper gets to the point where the cost to smelt them into 99% copper or a common form of brass/bronze is reached.
95%Cu5%Zn is not a common alloy and doesn't have a lot of major uses, so it will have to be Refined or modified.
Extra processing = extra cost = lower value
Unless you plan on trading 100 or 1000 lb barrels.
Of course not, unless your time isn't worth anything.
This was your 10,981 post, how much time did that take? I guess no pennies for your thoughts...
Was I unclear?
Just for fun, I will elaborate. Separating copper cents from zinc cents takes time. Storing them requires space, which also has a monetary value, even if just a little. Since it's illegal to melt them (as if anyone actually cares), they're worth less than their base value, barring the odd cent with a numismatic premium.
If you make the average US wage, you earn a cent every 1.4 seconds. It takes longer than that to acquire them, flip them date-side up, look at the date, and sort them. I suppose you could build a contraption to do that part for you, but now we're really questioning your sanity. The most logical thing an individual can do with cents they get in change is to throw them away. The most logical thing we can do as a nation is to stop making the stupid things.
In 1857 we discontinued the half cent, due it being unnecessary for commerce. A the time, it had the purchasing power of $0.17 today. We collectively realized it was idiotic to keep it. Today, we could very easily get a long with nothing smaller than a quarter. Another few years of 7 or 8 percent inflation and even the quarter will be useless.
Our government is broken, and we are badly overdue for a complete re-vamp of our coins and currency.
@MaineJim said:
When I started CRH I started with cents and like you I pulled the copper and saved it for quite a while. I owned a barn at the time with lots of storage so it really didn't matter much, that is until I sold the place. I quickly concluded like most here to just cash them in rather than lugging them over to my new house. Maybe I'll regret it some day but that was ten years ago and still don't. By the way, with the money I cashed in from the copper I bought a nice Gibson guitar for about $350. The guitar is now worth $1200 and I still get a lot of pleasure out of playing it. I did enjoy pulling the copper cents but it really just turned into an obsession...
Jim
Well odds are you are MUCH better off financially than I am if you can afford to own enough land to have a barn! I don't know why so many people here are so hung up over the idea you have to melt down the pennies...we don't melt down constitutional silver coins right? And they're "only" 90% silver, right? Well what I'm hoping for is that someday 1959-81 will be seen as "constitutional copper" coins. I think I read somewhere that there's about three cents worth of copper in a copper penny...so even a really small multiplier like 3x face value can really add up. Like I said, if folks can do so-called "penny stocks" then why I don't I just do this and see what happens? As long I can continue to get them in rolls at face value, I can't lose.
That reminds me, does any of you remember about the time period that you could still find silver dimes/quarters in rolls or in your change? Back before anyone really cared about saving them for their silver content? I mean up to the early 2000s or so it was "only" $5ish/oz.
Space: Your wife's shoe collection takes up more room, and what about all those old DVD's you have lying around, those bicycles that you don't ride anymore...
Investment: No one would say that copper cent should be your investment, it's a hobby, investments are what 401k's, stocks, and CD's are for - I doubt that your silver hoarding will allow you to retire. Truthfully, those original Matchbox cars and G.I Joe's from the 60's are worth more then most of your silver and take up more room then pennies...
Time: No one says to spend every day collecting copper, CRH, change, Coin Star, you collect over time, it builds. Heck, a round of golf takes a full day, it's a hobby...
Melt: See below, there are other options that seem to work, 105 transactions, and not even all copper...
^this^ but naysayers you keep on spending them. The accumulators of 1982 and before bronze pennies will have the last laugh when they become legal to melt (Why not? Nobody wants to put the beaters and worn ones in an album for future generations of collectors to relish) and fetch a nickel apiece.
Consider this:
Copper is a major component in EVs used in electric motors, batteries, inverters, wiring and in charging stations. The electric vehicle can contain more than a mile of copper wiring in its stator windings.
With all the restrictions in place on mining of metals, including copper, where can we find a rich source of copper for EVs that doesn't have to be dug out of the ground to the dismay of environmentalists?
That's right. Right under our nose. 95% copper pennies made in 1982 and before. When they become legal to melt, and they will become legal to melt someday in the not distant future, your 1981 penny that you spent instead of saving will fetch the savvy saver of the 1981 penny a nickel given that the saver has a little patience and doesn't bail at the first offer of 2 cents for his 1981 penny.
You heard it here first.
Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.-Albert Einstein
That reminds me, does any of you remember about the time period that you could still find silver dimes/quarters in rolls or in your change? Back before anyone really cared about saving them for their silver content? I mean up to the early 2000s or so it was "only" $5ish/oz.
I started collecting as a kid in the early 70s by looking through change and coin roll hunting. Even then, silver was not found very often and finding a silver dime or quarter was a big deal.
I've been checking my change (and families change when i was young) and occasionally search rolls since 1970-71. There was never a time period were finding silver was common.
You seem to think it was common in the pre2000s. Trust me, it was not. About the only way to find any silver back then was to search half dollars from the bank and even that could be frustrating.
Comments
exactly!
Plus it is still illegal to melt them
BHNC #203
One of the worst culprits in the whole "melt" panoply are war nickels. Again per PCGS's Coinflation website, a 1942-1945 war nickel is currently worth about $1.08.
War nickels are notorious for their composition (56% copper, 35% silver, and 9% manganese) being difficult and costly to smelt. Yet they sell for a premium. For example, Apmex currently has $200 face bags--4,000 coins total--with a melt value of approximately $4320, for sale at $4916. Why? Because they are worth it. Enough people see the value in them that they're ready to pay a premium for them.
Sure, people smelt them. But mostly they're traded sight unseen for the metal value. Their smelting cost is literally immaterial to their value as weighed, assayed, monetized, units of wealth.
--Severian the Lame
I saved them for years, and I kind of wish I didn't . What do I do with them now? I hear a Coinstar calling my name...and a chiropractor on standby.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
I am in the save em' camp.
You are having a good time spending time with your loved ones while finding Copper (well bronze) Cents CRH - Great!
You can store about $40 face value or 67.5lbs in a Medium Small flat rate box 8.5x11x6 which surely doesn't take up that much room right?
Disclaimer: I have a few boxes like this in the back of the closet and they aren't hurting anyone (just remember to lift with the legs)
It's all about what the people want...
True. But people in the know usually recommend dumping war nickels, and 40% for that matter, due to the alloys involved.
In any case, the fact remains that a single war nickel is worth over a dollar, whereas a single copper (bronze) cent is worth a few cents.
Paper, cardboard, plastic, etc. also have value, but who is going to hoard those materials?
@JBK
But another fact is War Nickels are few and far beyond, copper cents are plentiful and easy to come by
"In any case, the fact remains that a single war nickel is worth over a dollar, whereas a single copper (bronze) cent is worth a few cents"
The Boy Scouts...
"Paper, cardboard, plastic, etc. also have value, but who is going to hoard those materials"?
They may collect them for recycling, but they don't stockpile them for years.
Totally invalid analogy/comparison...as there's no face value/legal tender in those. I mean, pennies will always be worth at least one cent each no matter what.
D's: 50P,49S,45D+S,43D,41S,40D,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
74T: 241,435,610,654 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
I was trying to make the point that cents are high volume and low value items. Yes, they have a face value but it is literally the lowest denomination produced in the US.
The upside potential is very limited for all the reasons previously stated.
The opportinity cost of hoarding copper cents is very high. There are lots of things that are a much better investment.
The fact that cents have a face value is precisely why it makes sense to cash them in if you are looking to invest your money.
If it makes you happy to hoard copper cents then go ahead and do it. I have already stated that I save copper cents myself.
But no one should kid themselves that their children or grandchildren will thank them some day when they inherit bins full of common copper cents. They will curse you.
BTW...I live in a state that has a deposit on cans and bottles. I routinely pull off the tabs on the aluminum cans before returning them. That's free aluminum. I also save the copper wire cords from old electric items that I am discarding. That's free copper. The choices there are keeping the metals or throwing them away.
I wonder how many times folks 50 or a hundred years ago thought saving their common coins would be worth anything
now I can buy wheat cents $5 a pound at the local coin store with wide mix of quality.
Just the return on capital suggests only keeping MS grade coins might be worth more in X years to a future collector.
And buy unopened uncirculated bank rolls if you want to collect copper cents.
I still have some rolls I purchased from the bank in the late 60's/early 70's as a kid.
Every now and again I find a few uncirculated bank rolls cheap and add to the lot.
Why?
I'm not sure, but they are relatively cheap to get.
You could save them for your next flooring project.
I also understand, that since cents aren't pure copper, it would be cost prohibitive to separate the tin, zinc or other additives from the copper cent during melting.
To me, any return, if any on copper cents, would not be worth the time or effort.
And the additional clutter that it would create would be unacceptable to me!
Nobody is harmed either way. If it makes you happy, do it.
Copper is plentiful, and it trades by the pound.
Of course, there's no harm, you're just having fun.
At one time, I had amassed 130,000 wheat cents, 26 bags. Believe me, it was a pain in the a**......
So are these the 3 stages of cent hoarding?
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
This looks like it could be made into a giant QR Code
I've got a large tin of copper cents. Every time I remember to look at my change I still pull out the copper and put it into the tin. I've got wheaties from 1909-1959 and of course memorials after. Probably a lot of varieties. One day I may get motivated to look at them and see if I can find any varieties.
I have a few jars of wheat cents... and a couple of Ziplocs. I still pull them out of change and save them. Have not searched the bulk of wheaties and have accumulated them for many years. Probably a treasure or two in there. Cheers, RickO
and that's all I have to say about that...
I think you should save them, just in case! I mean, you never know!! If a war breaks out, you could have a gold mine.
You could sell them on eBay and make a profit right now! Instant profit! Don't listen to us old has been's! When you get to 100,000,000 you will be a millionaire!
I started saving copper cents from change/bank rolls for a few years until... I cashed them in.
My mother used to do it... when she passed, I cashed them in.
My father-in-law used to do it... I cashed them in.
These days I only set aside the really nice examples of mint state copper cents from 1959-1982 in some tubes. Even then, they're getting a bit unwieldy to store.
"Bongo hurtles along the rain soaked highway of life on underinflated bald retread tires."
~Wayne
Wheat cent mintages were in the millions, pre 82 Lincolns in the billions. They're not going to be scarce.
Well you old has beens have far more that you can invest with. I'm just trying to make the best with what little I got and can get. Indeed, I just got back my old Hot Wheels cars (mostly 70s) and it would be swell if I could cash in on even just one or two of them but I don't know if I got any like that...
I also have or had a Metroid Prime bobblehead still in the box that I think I could easily sell for a few hundred dollars if I could ever find it...I sure hope God forbid I didn't lose it in a move or something...
D's: 50P,49S,45D+S,43D,41S,40D,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
74T: 241,435,610,654 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
D's: 50P,49S,45D+S,43D,41S,40D,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
74T: 241,435,610,654 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
If you've been doing this since the 90s you should have WAY more than that by now!
D's: 50P,49S,45D+S,43D,41S,40D,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
74T: 241,435,610,654 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
I do.
--Severian the Lame
Well I thought today I'd try something a little different today and do what a lot of the rest of you have done...get a whole CASE ($25) of pennies (seeing as how banks/credit unions close on Labor Day)...sadly the bank couldn't do it on Saturday (as they said something about they can't get into the vault on Saturdays or something) so I guess I'll have to hold off till Tuesday. I am curious as to how many Wheaties I might find in there!
On a related note, I also occasionally find Canadian pennies in the rolls and you bet I hang on to those! After all, they retired the penny ten years ago and IIRC, whatever pennies Canadian banks get they turn them into the mint to be retired/destroyed. So if this goes on long enough then who knows? So for both this and copper pennies (1981 or earlier) as long as I get them for face value in my CRHing I figure, what do I have to lose?
D's: 50P,49S,45D+S,43D,41S,40D,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
74T: 241,435,610,654 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
Apart from saving copper cents...You may want to trim your sig line down a bit. On a cellphone it takes up the whole screen, which is an annoyance which may lead to members not opening your threads.
Just a suggestion.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
Well one way would be for anyone to send things in my wishlist my way; hee hee!
But seriously I think photobucket is about to be discontinued or something so maybe I could trim that down...
D's: 50P,49S,45D+S,43D,41S,40D,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
74T: 241,435,610,654 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
Well (for some less than honest people), copper is apparently worth stealing anyway! But please don't do this because apparently you not only risk going to jail if you get caught...you could easily electrocute yourself to death trying this!
https://www.14news.com/2022/09/01/ky-officials-offering-2500-reward-info-leading-arrest-copper-wire-thieves/
D's: 50P,49S,45D+S,43D,41S,40D,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
74T: 241,435,610,654 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
Heavy is important. I can’t move my yaps.
You know how there's that term called penny stocks? Well here ya go.
D's: 50P,49S,45D+S,43D,41S,40D,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
74T: 241,435,610,654 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
When I started CRH I started with cents and like you I pulled the copper and saved it for quite a while. I owned a barn at the time with lots of storage so it really didn't matter much, that is until I sold the place. I quickly concluded like most here to just cash them in rather than lugging them over to my new house. Maybe I'll regret it some day but that was ten years ago and still don't. By the way, with the money I cashed in from the copper I bought a nice Gibson guitar for about $350. The guitar is now worth $1200 and I still get a lot of pleasure out of playing it. I did enjoy pulling the copper cents but it really just turned into an obsession...
Jim
I believe "opportunity cost" was mentioned above...
But just think of the guitar you could buy if you would hold on to those cents until the govt said it was ok to melt them and the price of copper gets to the point where the cost to smelt them into 99% copper or a common form of brass/bronze is reached.
95%Cu5%Zn is not a common alloy and doesn't have a lot of major uses, so it will have to be Refined or modified.
Extra processing = extra cost = lower value
Unless you plan on trading 100 or 1000 lb barrels.
This is the downside of the Coinflation website. Sure, the pure metal prices are accurate, but the coins you held back out of circulation aren't pure.
Of course not, unless your time isn't worth anything.
This was your 10,981 post, how much time did that take? I guess no pennies for your thoughts...
Probably not much. The OP asked for opinions. Bryce supplied one on the topic, you didn't. How much time did your reply take?
Was I unclear?
Just for fun, I will elaborate. Separating copper cents from zinc cents takes time. Storing them requires space, which also has a monetary value, even if just a little. Since it's illegal to melt them (as if anyone actually cares), they're worth less than their base value, barring the odd cent with a numismatic premium.
If you make the average US wage, you earn a cent every 1.4 seconds. It takes longer than that to acquire them, flip them date-side up, look at the date, and sort them. I suppose you could build a contraption to do that part for you, but now we're really questioning your sanity. The most logical thing an individual can do with cents they get in change is to throw them away. The most logical thing we can do as a nation is to stop making the stupid things.
In 1857 we discontinued the half cent, due it being unnecessary for commerce. A the time, it had the purchasing power of $0.17 today. We collectively realized it was idiotic to keep it. Today, we could very easily get a long with nothing smaller than a quarter. Another few years of 7 or 8 percent inflation and even the quarter will be useless.
Our government is broken, and we are badly overdue for a complete re-vamp of our coins and currency.
I do,my opinion
My mother does.
Well odds are you are MUCH better off financially than I am if you can afford to own enough land to have a barn! I don't know why so many people here are so hung up over the idea you have to melt down the pennies...we don't melt down constitutional silver coins right? And they're "only" 90% silver, right? Well what I'm hoping for is that someday 1959-81 will be seen as "constitutional copper" coins. I think I read somewhere that there's about three cents worth of copper in a copper penny...so even a really small multiplier like 3x face value can really add up. Like I said, if folks can do so-called "penny stocks" then why I don't I just do this and see what happens? As long I can continue to get them in rolls at face value, I can't lose.
That reminds me, does any of you remember about the time period that you could still find silver dimes/quarters in rolls or in your change? Back before anyone really cared about saving them for their silver content? I mean up to the early 2000s or so it was "only" $5ish/oz.
D's: 50P,49S,45D+S,43D,41S,40D,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
74T: 241,435,610,654 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
^this^ but naysayers you keep on spending them. The accumulators of 1982 and before bronze pennies will have the last laugh when they become legal to melt (Why not? Nobody wants to put the beaters and worn ones in an album for future generations of collectors to relish) and fetch a nickel apiece.
Consider this:
Copper is a major component in EVs used in electric motors, batteries, inverters, wiring and in charging stations. The electric vehicle can contain more than a mile of copper wiring in its stator windings.
With all the restrictions in place on mining of metals, including copper, where can we find a rich source of copper for EVs that doesn't have to be dug out of the ground to the dismay of environmentalists?
That's right. Right under our nose. 95% copper pennies made in 1982 and before. When they become legal to melt, and they will become legal to melt someday in the not distant future, your 1981 penny that you spent instead of saving will fetch the savvy saver of the 1981 penny a nickel given that the saver has a little patience and doesn't bail at the first offer of 2 cents for his 1981 penny.
You heard it here first.
Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.-Albert Einstein
You obviously did not read through this
I started collecting as a kid in the early 70s by looking through change and coin roll hunting. Even then, silver was not found very often and finding a silver dime or quarter was a big deal.
I've been checking my change (and families change when i was young) and occasionally search rolls since 1970-71. There was never a time period were finding silver was common.
You seem to think it was common in the pre2000s. Trust me, it was not. About the only way to find any silver back then was to search half dollars from the bank and even that could be frustrating.
I read your post. I guess I probably shouldn't have but it's too late now.