Copper now at $2.36 a pound. Start saying good bye to pre-'82 cents.

291fifth

Anyone know what the actual melt value of a pre-'82 cent is with copper at $2.36 a pound?

mgoodm3

Isn't it 146 cents/lb?

keets

all i know is that while helping the local dealer at the end of February we were buying Wheaties at $1.25/roll. last weekend we were buying at $1.60/roll. it was simple; bust the rolls into the coin-counter and glance to make sure there are no Memorials, then they get a quick spin into the bag.

cladking

I believe they usually figure 151 / lb but this doesn't figure in the alloy materials.

topstuf

What a can of worms to get off the gold standard.

What're we gonna tell our grandkids? "WAIT, don't spend that! That's one of the expensive STYRENE coins! There's a PREMIUM on those. Use the new ricepaper pennies."

kranky

Pre-82 cents weigh 3.11 grams and contain 95% copper. At $2.36 per pound, each one contains 1.5372 cents of copper.

laserart

There were times when I needed a small washer to go on a bolt under the nut I'd drill a 1/4" hole in it , washers cost 5 cents each, so I was getting 4 cents more for each one I drilled a hole in and they don't rust.

cladking

<< <i>There were times when I needed a small washer to go on a bolt under the nut I'd drill a 1/4" hole in it , washers cost 5 cents each, so I was getting 4 cents more for each one I drilled a hole in and they don't rust. >>



This is the fate of many modern issues. They are destoyed for use as washers or are melted enmass.

Before 1950 collectors saved new coin as it was issued. Now when coins are demonetized or their
metallic value gets too high the coins cease to exist and even common coins cans suddenly become
scarce.

Look at the modern US varieties. Many of these are very scarce or very rare. This isn't because these
dies are striking only a few coins probably, it's because they are in circulation. When these pennys get
destroyed there won't be any laft and we'll have more very scarce and are coins.

Baley

Did you ever see that Seinfeld episode in which Kramer and Newman hatch a scheme to collect 5 cent deposit cans and bottles in New York and redeem them in Michigan, where the refund is 10 cents?

mach19

yes i did

Alleyrat

So you go out to your bank, convert your bills into cents and then search. You find some pre-1982 cents throw all of them into a bag and then where do you sell them for $2.36 a pound?

AgMe

<< <i>So you go out to your bank, convert your bills into cents and then search. You find some pre-1982 cents throw all of them into a bag and then where do you sell them for $2.36 a pound? >>



A co-worker's daughter-in law works at a metal recycling place, they will buy anything that has Cu (wires, cables, etc.); I bet if you looked in your area, you would find something similar.

PS A few circulation searchers I know have begun to separate the pre-82 coins... it really doesn't cost them anything (labor) because they were going to search rolls for other varieties anyways.

Weiss

I've been saving pre-82 cents for about 7 years now. The bathroom scale says about 22 lbs worth. That's really not much considering the length of time it's taken to get them. I suspect there are far fewer copper cents in circulation than even we as coin collectors would think. It has been almost 25 years, after all.

If there are ~150 per pound, and I've got 22 lbs of them, then I have roughly $33 face. If they're now worth 1.5x face, then I've got about $49--if I could find somewhere to sell them for that.

I just plugged some figures into an investment calculator. Starting with $5 worth of pennies and adding roughly $5 per year at 6% interest for that same 7 years time that I've been saving pennies, my investment would be worth about $49.

In other words, it's a wash. I did it because I was born after the silver was taken from our circulating coins.

Will I stop doing it soon? No way.

flaminio

In the quantities most of us deal with it's not worth hoarding them (yet), but I'll wager CoinStar is separating out the copper. Great business, CoinStar -- get 9% going in and 50% going out.

08HALA20

FYI


I manage a Sunoco gas station and run the register for about 20 hours per week.
After readinfg these posts on copper pennies I decide to see what percentage of copper coins I can find.

Typically I would start my cash drawer with around 25-50 pennies and open 1 roll per shift. So I began searching for copper cents.

Today was day 2. Both days I opened 1 roll. and found on the first day 20 1981 and older cents and 1 wheatie. The 2nd day I found
32 copper cents and no wheaties.

So I searched through approx. 150-200 cents and found 53 copper cents. That amounts to 25-30 % copper cents.

I guess if you search 1 box per week you would find $6.25 (25%) worth of copper cents (4 lbs.), times 52 weeks (208 lbs) = $325 so at the current rate of 1.5 x ea. you would net $162.50 profit.


If you search 1 box per day, that would make $1137 profit in 1 year. (1456 lbs)


This leaves a few issues to deal with.

Who to sell them to?
Transporting them
What to do with the non copper coins?



Rookie Joe




oh yeah, I have 1 roll of copper cents if anyone is interested. PM me $4.00 shipping

Kip

must be boring at Sunoco

nwcs

Hmm, I may just start separating some out myself.

08HALA20

<< <i>must be boring at Sunoco >>



At times it is.

Took more time to write this post than to search the pennies and I got a Wheatie.

Joe

coinnut86

<< <i>must be boring at Sunoco >>

coynclecter

Wasn't there a guy who had a million cents saved and turned them into the bank. Talk about Bad Timing.

streeter

Copper pennies are not pure copper but if they were.....and were bright copper pennies at that....you might get about $1.85/lb if you had 40,000 lbs.

Smelters have not warmed up to copper pennies yet.

cladking

<< <i>Copper pennies are not pure copper but if they were.....and were bright copper pennies at that....you might get about $1.85/lb if you had 40,000 lbs.

Smelters have not warmed up to copper pennies yet. >>



If you supplied them in sufficient quantities there would be sufficient warming.