Where do all the rusty steel cents go?

claychaser · October 22, 2018 7:38PM

I'm sorting through a quantity of steel cents searching for CPG varieties, with nothing good found so far. I'm then sorting rolling them up by P,D,S and separating out the rusty ones and culls from the OK looking ones.

Silly question, but with decent circulating steel cents selling so cheap, why would anyone buy the rusty and plated ones? Yet I hear of these actually having a value of a few cents each. Where do they go and why are they being bought?

crazyhounddog · October 22, 2018 7:43PM

Just get em copperplated. Then they’re easy to sell

MrSlider · October 22, 2018 8:09PM

Just make sure to throw it on the scale when you sell it

Type2 · October 22, 2018 8:17PM

Haha I just picked up 10 for $1.00 ea with 1- Indian cent for $3.00 and not rusted.

crazyhounddog · October 22, 2018 8:17PM

@MrSlider said:

Just make sure to throw it on the scale when you sell it

Yes! That’s a very good thing to do. Why can’t we weigh things on our smartphones yet? Oh yeah, the crack dealers. Don’t wanna make any easier than it is already. But it would be handy for coin collectors and dealers alike. Did I just give away a good idea? Naw

thefinn · October 22, 2018 8:25PM

@Type2 said:
Haha I just picked up 10 for $1.00 ea with 1- $3-Indian and not rusted.

$3 Indian is a gold piece.

Treashunt · October 23, 2018 4:22AM

@thefinn said:

@Type2 said:
Haha I just picked up 10 for $1.00 ea with 1- $3-Indian and not rusted.

$3 Indian is a gold piece.

You beat me to it, then I realized that he meant that he paid $3 for the Indian cent

Cameonut · October 23, 2018 6:09AM

To answer the original question.
They go two places...
They get replated OR
they go to the big blast furnace in the sky.

ricko · October 23, 2018 6:41AM

The few I find in circulation now, are not rusted... Though they do exhibit wear... I find more damaged zincolns than rusty '43's....Cheers, RickO

Type2 · October 23, 2018 8:01AM

@Treashunt said:

@thefinn said:

@Type2 said:
Haha I just picked up 10 for $1.00 ea with 1- $3-Indian and not rusted.

$3 Indian is a gold piece.

You beat me to it, then I realized that he meant that he paid $3 for the Indian cent

Okay fixed.

And yes most get plated or put in junk box's. I had a dealer ask for 10 roll's so he can put them in his junk box.

thebeav · October 23, 2018 1:26PM

As Cameo has said......
They get tumbled, to clean the rust and then get reprocessed.
You see those P,D,S sets that are all shiny and newly plated.

thefinn · October 23, 2018 7:45PM

@Cameonut said:
To answer the original question.
They go two places...
They get replated OR
they go to the big blast furnace in the sky.

You forgot the Neil Young answer, "Rust Never Sleeps".

Connecticoin · October 24, 2018 3:54AM

I spend them!

BustDMs · October 24, 2018 9:50AM

We here in the rust belt hoard them.

claychaser · October 25, 2018 4:46AM

To all,

I just do not see that much demand from Lincoln cent collectors - after all, a P, D, and S will fill the album holes. Just how many collectors are the for the Whitman book #2 (1941 forward) cents? And how many less sophisticated collectors and hoarders for them?

And, the attrition I think would be low. There is no demand to melt them since scrap steel is worth far less than copper, and post war, I think a lot were saved by both collectors and the general public. It's more likely to get a pre 1940 Wheatie in change than a steel cent.

Did the banks take these back for the government to cull these out of change after the war?

Mintages:
43-P 685 million
43-D 218 million
43-S 192 million

Assuming a 1% survival rate in all grades from rusty culls to BU, that means about 10 million survivors. But I think the survival rate would be higher for all grades including circulated and rusty ones.

Any other pundits here?

jesbroken · October 25, 2018 6:19AM

In the mixed wheat cent rolls

philographer · October 25, 2018 9:02AM

I love the steel cents as they remind me of going to flea markets when I was a child in the 1970's. It is such a unique coin. You could never find them in circulation. I have a few in my old Whitman books, but they are not so attractive. Perhaps I should get a nice one, but it's not an imperative. There is always tomorrow!

BuffaloIronTail · October 25, 2018 9:14AM

@Cameonut said:
To answer the original question.
They go two places...
They get replated OR
they go to the big blast furnace in the sky.

And that's exactly what the Mint (or the banks) started to do by recalling and withholding as many as they could from recirculating. The rest, of course were saved by collectors and interested individuals and got ugly.

Pete

BuffaloIronTail · October 25, 2018 9:17AM

@thebeav said:
As Cameo has said......
They get tumbled, to clean the rust and then get reprocessed.
You see those P,D,S sets that are all shiny and newly plated.

Original, uncirculated 1943 Cents had a nice finish to them. There is a slightly bluish tint to them that gives them a great look.

Pete

Cameonut · October 25, 2018 9:31AM

Here is one I bought 15 years ago - I liked the mild cameo contrast. Bluish tint as @BuffaloIronTail pointed out.
Paid crazy money for it, even by today's prices.

tyler267 · October 25, 2018 9:47AM

Is there really money to be made scrapping steel cents? Any idea what the melt value of a steel cent would be? I don't have any rusted steel cents I'm just curious.

ChrisH821 · October 25, 2018 9:54AM

I have a little ziplock bag of them that I don't know what to do with.

BuffaloIronTail · October 25, 2018 10:07AM

@ChrisH821 said:
I have a little ziplock bag of them that I don't know what to do with.

I've got a bunch of them that I soaked in vinegar and let them sit for awhile. Rinsed them in baking soda, then water.

Dried 'em up and it got rid of the rust.

But.................I don't know what to do with them, either.

Pete

claychaser · October 25, 2018 10:09AM

@tyler267 said:
Is there really money to be made scrapping steel cents? Any idea what the melt value of a steel cent would be? I don't have any rusted steel cents I'm just curious.

Scrap copper is around $2.50 + per pound, and scrap steel is around $0.05. So, no money in scrapping steel cents. But it would be economical (and illegal in the US) to melt down copper cents.

There are about 150 copper cents per pound, and 180 or so steel cents per pound, so the steelies melt for almost nothing,

tyler267 · October 25, 2018 10:21AM

@claychaser said:

@tyler267 said:
Is there really money to be made scrapping steel cents? Any idea what the melt value of a steel cent would be? I don't have any rusted steel cents I'm just curious.

Scrap copper is around $2.50 + per pound, and scrap steel is around $0.05. So, no money in scrapping steel cents. But it would be economical (and illegal in the US) to melt down copper cents.

There are about 150 copper cents per pound, and 180 or so steel cents per pound, so the steelies melt for almost nothing,

Thanks claychaser, so I guess they will just continue to move from owner to owner until they all either get replated or rust away to nothing.

Where do all the rusty steel cents go?

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