Copper Pennies, are you saving them yet?

MJPHELAN · August 5, 2006 11:50AM

I taught my 5 year old how to separate copper from zinc pennies. He will even weigh the 1982 pennies to find the copper ones. My kids are saving the copper pennies hoping someday to turn them in when they are worthwhile to melt.

Are any of you saving the copper pennies yet (non registry of course)?

Shamika · August 5, 2006 11:59AM

I'm not saving them, but I've heard of several others who do.

FYI: An easier way to separate copper 1982 cents from the zinc 1982 cents is to just flip them. Do a "head or tails" flip. The copper coins yield a very clear ringing sound while the zinc coins yield nothing more than a thud. It's far, far easier than weighing them.

jayboxx · August 5, 2006 12:03PM

FYI: An easier way to separate copper 1982 cents from the zinc 1982 cents is to just flip them. Do a "head or tails" flip. The copper coins yield a very clear ringing sound while the zinc coins yield nothing more than a thud. It's far, far easier than weighing them.

They make noise when you flip them?

Thenewguy · August 5, 2006 1:14PM

I just drop them on the top of my desk from about 3 inches so they land flat and there is no mistaking which is which.

Shamika · August 5, 2006 1:38PM

<< <i>They make noise when you flip them? >>

Try it and let us know what you think.

MJPHELAN · August 6, 2006 12:51AM

I found it easier to teach my 5 year old to weigh them. If he flipped them, I would never find them!

Baley · August 6, 2006 8:10AM

No. I did the math and totaled the effort required to separate them, the storage problem to amass enough pennies for it to be worthwhile, the opportunity cost of not having that money at work somewhere else besides physical copper metal, the transportation costs and inconvenience of moving them to a potential buyer, the trouble finding anyone who will buy them at all, much less at a profit to me, and came to the conclusion that it is not in my best interests to save copper pennies.

Then again, I don't have a five year old to help me. Maybe that changes your whole cost structure.

LEAP269 · August 26, 2006 2:09PM

i am saving them and discarding zincolns. time is on my side as they eventually cease production of the cent. storage is easy. it sure doesn't cost much to save them; they are always worth a cent. the local banks already have episodic shortages of cents as it is.

time is on my side.

Freak1c · August 26, 2006 2:50PM

I have about $70 dollars worth from just change in my pocket to bugging the teller at the bank who now pulls them aside for me. Probably never amount to much but it is fun to see how many I come across and how.

Freak

Coindexter · August 26, 2006 5:41PM

I've been saving copper cents for about a year. I will continue to do so until there are no more or I die.

construct · August 26, 2006 6:05PM

Yes, I've been saving them as they come in. I don't get enough of them for storage to be a problem. I don't know what I'm going to do with them, but there are enough zincolns that I doubt we'll miss the copper coins I pull from change.

Steve27 · August 26, 2006 7:51PM

I've been pulling them from change for over a decade; the real question is where do you sell them? A sample:

Coindexter · August 26, 2006 8:08PM

Some scrap yards will take them as is. Others require you to melt them and cast ingots. That can be fairly easily and cheaply accomplished by using tools and techniques found here.

There is also the distinct possibility that as the price of copper continues to rise the secondary market for it will become more active and fluid. Within the next few years it is entirely possible that you'll be able to list quantities of copper coins on ebay and sell them easily for a reasonable price the same way you may expect to sell a roll of silver quarters.

Shamika · August 27, 2006 12:35AM

<< <i>others require you to melt them and cast ingots. That can be fairly easily and cheaply accomplished... >>

Somehow I don't think it's cheap enough to be worthwhile.

Besides, your time is worth money just as well. Instead of casting ingots, you could be working the cash register at McDonald's or Walmart making $50 per shift (or 5,000 pennies per shift). How much time would you need to setup, melt, and cast ingots for 5,000 pennies? And don't forget cleanup and the time necessary to truck ingots to wherever you plan on selling them. There's a thousand other other ways to make money faster and easier than sorting copper pennies.

Copper Pennies, are you saving them yet?

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