Check Your Coins for Copper Pennies: Each Penny Worth Near Three Cents
Penny Hoarding and Possible Melting Due to High Price of Copper
With a chance to more than double your money simply by melting coins, it seems everyone wants in on it. Some websites now offer automatic coin sorters and others discuss melting coins. A YouTube video even shows someone melting a copper penny. The melting pennies usually leave a puddle of metal, at other times an eerie outline of George Washington.
A recent article on Associated Content entitled; "How Much Is a Nickel Worth? Because of Copper's Price, It's More Than Seven Cents" discusses the value of a nickel. The nickel coin actually contains less than twenty-five percent nickel.
You may find more than one penny in your piggy bank from the 1960s and 1970s as they are still used as a daily coin.
Due to the potential hoarding of the coin, and the strong possibility that some may want to melt their coins; The United States Mint has established rules making it illegal to melt coins. Despite the ban on melting pennies, it still appears to allow hoarding and collecting. Melting coins has occurred through-out history.
Evidence exists of both the sorting of the copper penny, and the sale of coin hoards. Recycling and melting pennies may occur in the future if the ban is lifted.
The Associated Content article about the nickel, cited eBay as having bulk penny lots listed, for sale at above market values. The article gave this example; "Recently, five-thousand copper pennies were offered for ninety-four dollars".
This author can offer a practical tip from personal experience. I began separating the copper pennies out of my change a few months ago. At first, I read the date on each penny, which was both time consuming and eye straining. I then realized that if well lit, you can see a color difference on the pennies.
The older, more valuable pennies are slightly more of a bronze color. The newer, less valuable pennies are a shinier copper color. I personally had about an eighty percent success rate in visually separating the copper pennies from their less valuable zinc counterparts. Most of the coins that tricked me were newer ones that had been worn prematurely. If you find a copper penny made in 1982, look at it closely, as that year they made both types.
I am now the proud owner of a bag of sorted coins that weighs at least one pound. At a copper price of almost four dollars a pound, I have collected four dollars worth. That's over a dollar per month. Not bad for a few minutes work.
Sources:
YouTube - Torch Melting Penny YouTube, LLC
Zane Waltz How Much is a Nickel Worth? Because of Copper's Price, It's More than Seven Cents Associated Content, Inc
Published by Zane WaltZ
Zane Waltz is a leading twenty-first century writer. His published work and writings include subject matter from animals to presidents. He has a unique ability to adapt his writing style to many different pu... View profile
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6 Comments
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if you want to learn more about copper penny sorting go to www.crazycoinguy.com it is a wealth of information about how and why to sort.
That's a pretty neat trick, melting the penny and discovering the image of George Washington, considering that it's Abraham Lincoln on the cent.
I've been roll searching pennies for awhile now, and I count the value of the pennies by the melt value per roll even though it's currently illegal to melt them. Which, last time I checked, the melt value (otherwise known as it's intrinsic value), is currently 97.51 cents per roll, which, if you want to count value per coin, that would come down to 1.95 cents per copper penny. That's an instant 95% ROI for each copper penny you get in change or from the bank
Don't melt the pennies. There will be a market for them like there is for 90% silver coins. And if you are interested, I just introduced an invention I've beemn working on for awhile. The Penny Wise Copper Penny Miser coin sorter. Go to my website for details. www.jmdaniel.com Thanks
On April 10, 2007, United States Mint Director Edmund Moy approved a final rule that generally prohibits the exportation, melting, or treatment of United States one-cent coins (pennies) and 5-cent coins (nickels), which became effective upon publication in the Federal Register on April 16, 2007. The final rule is based on the interim rule that was published on December 20, 2006, and it addressed public comments submitted in response to the interim rule. The United States Mint concluded the interim rule would be adopted as a final rule with certain changes based on the public comments and additional considerations. This measure has been implemented to protect the coinage of the United States by ensuring that sufficient quantities of 5-cent and one-cent coins remain in circulation to meet the needs of the United States. A violation of these restrictions can lead to a fine of up to $10,000, imprisonment of up to 5 years, and forfeiture of the subject coins or metal. The authority for impl