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Future Value of Copper Pennies if they are melted?

Hello. I was wondering the future value of pennies 1864 to mid 1982 that contain 95% copper. Congress currently has a ban on Scrap Dealers melting pennies and nickels. My question is if they lift the ban on melting 95% copper pennies. What would the impact be from a numismatic prospective? Of course most pennies that would be melted would be from 1960 to 1982 but could the outcome of millions being melted affect value to collectors?
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At a few cents each it's not worth the effort to most people to gather
them up and turn them in so many will survive. Of course as they turn
up for the next couple decades people will simply dispose of many of them
so the attrition will remain very high even after most of the melting is done.
The most easily obtained are often among the first to go and ironically this
means BU rolls from the late-'70's and early-'60's. It also means lots of the
old wheat cents in low grade.
Melting can turn common coins into scarce coins but this won't happen with
extremely low denominations like the penny. It's just not worth the effort.
But when these start going people will pay more attention to the coin as a
collectible and will discover for the first time how tough many of these are
in nice condition. This will apply to the zincs as well.
The cents will probably be melted without being separated to save costs.
It's easy enough to just skim the zinc off the copper and this is a safe means
to dispose of all that toxic metal. The zinc pennies are worth nearly a cent
anyway.
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
I have seen rolls at shows for sale at spot for that reason.
The government keeps record of coinage they destroy so there is probably some pretty solid numbers out there.
<< <i>There is 32.5 pounds of pure copper per $50 bag of pre-1982 cents. The current spot price for copper is $3.52, making the melt value $114.40 per bag, or 2.3 cents per coin. Has anybody located a coin or metals dealer that buys them?
==Looking for pre WW2 Commems in PCGS Rattler holders, 1851-O Three Cent Silvers in all grades
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Not much impact, if past experience is any guide. In the late 1960's there was a temporary melt ban on U.S. silver coins. When it was lifted lots of melting went on, and even more during the 1979-80 price spike. There has also been periodic melting since then, but there are still millions of silver coins available, and most don't carry a premium.
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Using the latest metal prices and the specifications above, these are the numbers required to calculate melt value:
$3.4973 = copper price / pound on Sep 17, 2010.
.95 = copper %
$0.9670 = zinc price / pound on Sep 17, 2010.
.05 = zinc %
3.11 = total weight in grams
.00220462262 = pound/gram conversion factor (see note directly below)
The NYMEX uses pounds to price these metals, that means we need to multiply the metal price by .00220462262 to make the conversion to grams.
1. Calculate 95% copper value :
(3.4973 × .00220462262 × 3.11 × .95) = $0.0227794
2. Calculate 5% zinc value :
(0.9670 × .00220462262 × 3.11 × .05) = $0.0003313
3. Add the two together :
$0.0227794 + $0.0003313 = $0.0231107
Thus, $0.0231107 is the melt value for the 1909-1982 copper cent on September 17, 2010.
"...Congress currently has a ban on Scrap Dealers melting pennies and nickels...
No wonder. The melt of each is over face. I say SCREW THEM! Why shouldn't the common man be able to make a buck this way?
Guess I better add that all I have ever done is look at some ingots. I do not have a smelter.
<< <i>I find it hard to tell what went in the pot when looking at a poured ingot.
It can be analyzed.
If you're making a really big ingot you'd best toss in something to throw it off.
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