Now what do I do with them?
jfriedm56
Posts: 2,564 ✭✭✭✭✭
I have been putting these copper cents aside in this jar when the Mint switched from copper to zinc. The jar is 13 1/2 inches high, 6 3/4 inches across and has a 24 inch circumference. Plus, I can’t lift the thing any longer. Since it’s still illegal to melt these, do I wait until the ban is lifted? Will it ever be lifted? What is the current melt value of a copper cent? Your thoughts?
1
Comments
I think it's currently illegal to melt down copper cents or nickels. But I'm just basing that on the last thread about melting silver coins.
Llamas and alpacas are camels. They aren't like camels, or related. They are camels. When was anyone going to tell me this?! How long had Bill Nye been holding out on us?
Current melt is around 3 cents still, but from what I understand most dealers are only paying a premium for wheat cents vs memorial. I highly doubt the ban on melting cents will ever be lifted in our lifetime. I'd roll and deposit or coinstar.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
“Now what do I do with them?”
Have a guess-the -number-of-cents contest. After all entries are in, count them, determine the winner and ship to him or her. 😉 Or save the time and postage expense by putting them in a “Coinstar” machine if you don’t want to look for a local bank or merchants to take them off your hands. Time is money.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Look at the grocery stores. Some are offering a 2 fer in card form at the store. Get a good steak for your self 😋 👍
**The "Double Exchange Day" will take place at all Price Chopper and Market 32 stores across New York on Sunday, November 16th, 2025, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to the Progressive Grocery website.
During the one-day event, a penny is worth 2 cents when you exchange it for a Price Chopper or Market 32 gift card, worth twice its value. For example, exchange $10 in pennies and earn a $20 gift card redeemable toward future in-store purchases.**
Unfortunately it was yesterday and the closest store is in Syracuse.
DPOTD-3
'Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery'
CU #3245 B.N.A. #428
Don
carry a few to prevent paying the round up price ... when paying with cash
i'm thinking the only place benefiting from melting will soon be the fed res
It would take a lot of time and effort to count all of them. Weigh the jar full of cents and subtract the weight of the empty jar. A little math (total weight of just the cents divided by the weight of a single cent) will give you a very close approximation of the number of cents you have.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Yes, but that wouldn’t eliminate the additional time and expense of shipping. Hence, my winking emoji and additional alternatives.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Thanks for all your responses! Well I’ve waited 40 years now. I guess I can wait a little longer and hope they lift the ban on melting them. Who knows what’s going to happen in the next few years with no more in production.
I’m in the same boat. I have a couple of APMEX monster boxes full of them. I rolled them along the way though, so there will be no contest with guessing how many pennies are in my box. 😄
I have a 5 gal jug that is over a third full. All pennies go in it so no idea of copper vs zinc.
My Original Song Written to my late wife-"Plus other original music by me"
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8A11CC8CC6093D80
U.S. Army Veteran 1/11 ACR Fulda, Germany
Scatter them in parking lots and wait for the error posts to roll in
I sold a thousand rolls on the bay for double face plus shipping (in several lots, not all at once). Made a little money and now I'm done with them.
I'd find someone who thinks they're worth more than face value and sell them. Let them worry about melting them. 😀
If I found someone local who would pay double face, I’d let them go.
Spend them. No one has become a millionare hoarding wheat cents.
WS
Unless you have 53 09 VDB proofs
Cash in and convert to silver.
Nothing is as expensive as free money.
I think the melt value is 3 cents apiece.
So that is where they all went. I was wondering why there was nothing available for the banks and stores.
I sold my wheats in bulk on eBay. I’m okay with the results of these memorials so mine aren’t going to Coinstar—
That looks like near forty-five lbs. 100 rolls?
Here is how I experienced the first image on this thread, @jfriedm56! :-)
By Official M.C. Escher website., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9174116
My hobby website Groovycoins.com, new and improved!
Thanks again all for all the varied and somewhat humorous responses. I guess I’ll just hold them for now.
Spend on Play Station 5 get GTA online.
"Investor"
I'd be tempted to look for varieties
Build a penny sculpture or cover the bathroom floor.
Start a new jar
Collector, occasional seller
You're gonna need a bigger boat
(any wheats?)
Nope. Not in there. Those were separated out before going into the jar.
Do you think the ban should only exist as long as pennies are minted? Once they are removed from minting & essentially from the economy, why SHOULDN'T one be allowed to melt them? Should be the same as any other copper item at that point..........
First of all, don't panic.
They are not a threat to you, unless they fall on your foot. or you mistakenly grab a mouthful from that UTZ snack jar,
They are not perishable, like bananas. So they can sit there, ignored for a long time (but don't dare give that same treatment to your wife, even if her name is "Penny").
Pennies are "going away". But the ones in your jar will not spontaneously walk away (without assistance from a desperate thief).
Sometimes the best option is to do nothing at all.
Hold my beer….
That doesn't hold a candle to one of the collections a guy at the small coin club has.
He has the $25 Penny cardboard boxes from floor to ceiling TWO Deep on the long wall in a bedroom office.
Thank heaven for tiny blessings. That's a competition I'll gladly lose.
I mean, if you hoard 100 million of them…
+1 Has anyone played GTA before?
Proud follower of Christ!
Document the jar and it's contents (All copper cents, no wheat cents, weight optional) ,
What ?
then seal the jar with candle wax. and take the jar to a notary. Using the notary's seal combine the
two function's the wax was intended for. A true wax sealed jar, with paper work.
Time and Pressure now controls it's destiny. You control the price.
Don't forget to add in the notary services, 5 - 10 $.