What is the current melt value of pre-1982 cents?

291fifth

?

StrikeOutXXX

About 2 1/ 2cents according to coinflation: coinflation.com

1909-1982 Cent (95% copper) * $0.01 $0.0241308

A nickel is almost worth a dime

1946-2007 Nickel $0.05 $0.0940411

seemyauction

Thank you StrikeOutXXX

coinflation.com is a great link.......

AL

carl

Prices for Copper is great if you can find someone that wants them. Unless you have a real lot of them, not many smelters want just a few. You'll spend more in gas money taking them to places than what you get. Better to use in wishing wells.

oxy8890

<< <i>About 2 1/ 2cents according to coinflation: coinflation.com

1909-1982 Cent (95% copper) * $0.01 $0.0241308

A nickel is almost worth a dime

1946-2007 Nickel $0.05 $0.0940411 >>




Great information! But Cari is correct 291fifth, the question is who is buying at these prices?

LindeDad

With the price of energy how can anybody make money melting them?

StrikeOutXXX

<< <i>Great information! But Cari is correct 291fifth, the question is who is buying at these prices? >>



The mint pretty much put the kabosh on anyone buying and melting these when they made it illegal to melt them.

However, if you look back through the threads from last summer, many people went looking for places and there wasn't very much luck finding buyers. One poster did find a place, but they would only buy in 1-ton quantities or more. I don't think there were many little local places buying them.

As for the energy to melt them, for a normal recycling center that is melting scrap copper (pipes, etc) it would add negligible costs to run a few tons of cents through during normal operations and could probably recover about 2 cents per cent out of them after expenses. It wouldn't be profitable to do just the cents, you're right it would be about a break even venture.

Writersblock

<< <i>One poster did find a place, but they would only buy in 1-ton quantities or more. >>


One ton would be 60 bags or 3000 dollars. There are supposed to be worth close to 2.5 cents each. So if you could get 2 cents each, you profit $3000, and the smelter gets $1500. Sixty bags isn't really that many (haul them in in one pickup truck load), and while a $3000 profit may not be that much to some of you, but to me it is a significant amount. And since it can potentially be done over and over it could be rather lucritive.

People seem to have the attitude "Oh they are only worth a profit of one cent each. That's not worth fooling with." But as I show above, it doesn't really require a huge amount before it does become quite profitable.