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The great MELTDOWN...
joefro
Posts: 1,872 ✭✭
Surely in the coming years (actually already according to coppercoins.com) the value of the copper in a penny will surpass 1 cent. Once it reaches a level that makes it profitable to meltdown pennies on a large scale basis, do you think millions or even billions of pennies could be melted down if this resource ever becomes more valuable? It seems this would violate US currency defemation laws, but I know I've read about this inevitable "meltdown". What do you all think about this? Maybe if they discontinue them in 2009 and we have a great meltdown sometime later, pennies could actually be worth something. Maybe Im just a Lincoln Lover dreaming...
Lincoln Cent & Libertad Collector
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roadrunner
The wheats would probably be exempt as they already have a collector value of .03-.05.
jim
<< <i>I think the difficulty in sorting pre-1982 pennies (unless it can be automated somehow by weight or something) would make large scale melting operations unprofitable. >>
I definitely think so too. You'd need a machine to do it.
It seems unlikely that cents will survive until 2009 unless current trends reverse soon. It already
costs much more than a cent to make these and these costs are escalating rapidly. Even if the
government were willing to incur this loss, as old cents are removed for their copper new produc-
tion will have to increase to replace them.
We can hope the cents will survive in mint and proof sets a little longer.
Right now according to coppercoins.com, the value of copper in a copper penny is 1.01 cents last time I checked. I would think once it got around 1.50 some people would start looking into the great meltdown. It would be interesting how quickly the populations of some of these pennies could drop in a year or two if something like this were to occur!
Joe
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USAF veteran, 1986-1996 :: support our troops - the American way.
<< <i>Even though the copper in a cent is worth over a cent you still have to consider the smelting process and the cost of doing so. It still isn't profitable to melt copper cents and may never be profitable. >>
Well coppercoins, coppercoins.com disagrees. Here is their paragraph at the bottom of their page currently:
"Metal More Valuable than the Coin
Copper metal prices are at unprecedented levels. The spot metal price for copper hit $1.50 per pound for the first time in December, 2004. This brings the value of the copper in a single cent coin to 1.01 cents. Although this price does not warrant melting cents for their metal content, trends show the possibility that smelting cents could be in our near future. Copper would likely have to rise to over $1.70 per pound before smelting cents would be economically feasable, and with trends over the past year, that price could be reached during 2005. All the more reason to collect the coins!
"
<< <i>I think that pre 1982 pennies could be separated fairly easily from post 1982 pennies. Not only by weight, but also composition. Just as vending machines can tell the difference between coins by composition, a machine could easily be designed to tell the difference between these pennies. Passing an electrical signal through the penny and measuring its electrical conductivity can me another way to separate them using a machine.
Right now according to coppercoins.com, the value of copper in a copper penny is 1.01 cents last time I checked. I would think once it got around 1.50 some people would start looking into the great meltdown. It would be interesting how quickly the populations of some of these pennies could drop in a year or two if something like this were to occur!
Joe >>
The fed separated silver coins from clad in '68/ '69 by merely rolling them down an inclined plane.
Denser coins accelerate more quickly so are thrown farther. They missed a few because of imper-
fections on the rims but it was extemely easy to build this machine and operate it. They stopped
when there were so few silver coins that it wasn't worth the effort.
<< <i>I don't think its practical. It is one thing to pull a silver dime out of change when it is worth 50c. To pull a cent out of circulation when the payback is 0.1c or 0.2c isn't really worth anyone's time. If you see a penny on the street do you even bother to pick it up? A lot of people don't. And how many folks are going to pull a cent out of circulation for a 0.1c payback? Very, very few. Probably the same kind of people who are too stingy to put their odd cents into the ubiquitous "penny jar". >>
I'm definitely not saying that individuals will be melting down copper from their change jar and trying to trade it in for metal value. I'm talking about wealthy entrepreneurs setting up temporary factories for the purpose of melting down millions and millions of pennies. If the value of copper in a penny reached even 1.5 cents, a substantial profit could be made on the large scale. The amount of copper in circulation in US coins must be a mind-boggling amount.
Joe
<< <i>I don't think its practical. It is one thing to pull a silver dime out of change when it is worth 50c. To pull a cent out of circulation when the payback is 0.1c or 0.2c isn't really worth anyone's time. If you see a penny on the street do you even bother to pick it up? A lot of people don't. And how many folks are going to pull a cent out of circulation for a 0.1c payback? Very, very few. Probably the same kind of people who are too stingy to put their odd cents into the ubiquitous "penny jar". >>
Nearly 100,000,000,000 of these exist. People mine ore with very little payback and then leech
metal out of the talings with acid to get a little more. Some of these cents will be melted as the
price increases.
I remember Safeway paying $1.10 for 100 pennies. Late 1970's?
IIRC, that was related to a localized circulation shortage and not to the price of copper.
Regarding the other comments, the point is that during the silver melt, almost all of this was pulled out by individuals. Sure, there were companies involved at the wholesale level, but it was the public picking all the pieces of out circulation that got the job done. I don't think that happens with cheap copper pennies. Not enough incentive at $2 copper. Maybe $5 or $10.
<< <i><< Even though the copper in a cent is worth over a cent you still have to consider the smelting process and the cost of doing so. It still isn't profitable to melt copper cents and may never be profitable. >>
Well coppercoins, coppercoins.com disagrees. >>
Russ, NCNE