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Copper cents: Are these worth squirreling away?
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I've just been throwing them in a coffee can as I get change over the last few years. Is it worth the time?
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No, storage costs aren't worth it.
+1
Save time and space...spend them as fast as you get them.
I've just been throwing them in a coffee can as I get change over the last few years. Is it worth the time?
I like to CRH a box of pennies every once in a while while I watch the sox, bruins or uconn. It's fun, cheap and I find a good amount of copper, wheaties, errors and the occasional indian head.
I have a big basement, so a 5 gallon bucket or two will take up about 3 square feet and I have a local credit union that is happy to give me boxes and use their free coin counter. What is my end game you might be asking, I have no idea but my better half regularly calls me a hoarder...
Each cent weighs 3.11 grams
At 95% copper that equals 2.9545 grams of copper
One bank box has 2500 cents ($25) equal to 7386.25 grams of copper per bank box
At $2.26/lb copper, a $25 bank box is worth $36.84 melt (This is about the price right now)
At $5/lb copper, a $25 bank box is worth $81.42 melt
Depending on how many cents you have, it could be worth it if the ban on melting them went away and the price got high enough I guess. People have saved crazier stuff.
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#1 1951 Bowman Los Angeles Rams Team Set
#2 1980 Topps Los Angeles Rams Team Set
#8 (and climbing) 1972 Topps Los Angeles Rams Team Set
I've done it for several years. Feed my sorting and treasure finding ocd/ergs during the winter months.
I filled several coin albums for a few years.
I still have tons of them, plus the regular pennies. No one wants the copper, even the wheaties, or even the regular ones.
The grand kids don't want anymore. lol Even the nice shinny new ones in rolls. I should give away much much more at
halloween. I brought some to the range and taped them to targets, but mostly I missed at 50 yards.
I had thought that if copper soared I could at least sell the copper ones for something. Someone on a website asked
for donations to help with the cost so I gave him a penny box from the bank full of my loose ones, so must have been closer to $50
and he was insulted. Tried to sell the penny albums, and even offered them for the cost of change. No one took them,
so I sent the albums to a sickly friend. He didn't say thanks. The coin machines at my bank chain are all down because
the machines were keeping some of the money. My work van stops better with some weight in the back, but the boxes
hurt my back carrying them, so they sit in the basement. Hopefully they would distract a thief from seeing my safe. I
see some sales on ebay occasionally, but never seen a sold one. I was thinking about pouring 50lbs around my neighbors
back yard because his dog barks so much, but he would know. My shelf unit is bowing from the weight and if I don't
move some off of it, it will collapse. One of the reasons I converted some of my silver coinage to gold so it would be
easier to manage. It made me realize how many pennies are around right now, and why the government is still
minting them. Now I buy copper 1 oz coins for fun. I just ordered a 50cal bullet in copper.
This too could happen to you. Oh, and wash your hands a lot. You don't know where they've been.
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No, storage costs aren't worth it.
+1
Save time and space...spend them as fast as you get them.
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My head is spinning after reading tneig's post..........
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But, here's the sad truth. They are not pure copper and that's the big problem in the price never going up. Too high a cost to make them into a pure bar sans impurities.
bob
I've just been throwing them in a coffee can as I get change over the last few years. Is it worth the time?
I throw all my change into a coffee can, when the little tray that holds my keys, billfold, and wedding ring starts to overflow
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
Would any recycling business take them? I mean, would they take them in as scrap?
Doubtful as it is illegal to melt them.
I never understood why they just didn't make them 100% copper. All the copper piping I see is really hard. It seems like it would be durable and hard enough as a coin and then it would be easier to melt them
I think it for the corrosion resistance of bronze.
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I have had this for a while now, 5 gallons of copper cents. It was fun at the time. Anyone want it?
What do you think the shipping would cost on that bad boy?