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GabeSenior Member
Posts: 691
Joined: 11 Jul 2003
Location: Gainesville, FL
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 Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2006 9:52 am |
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It has come to my attention that copper hit a new high a couple of days ago at $2.22/lb.....making 100 copper cents worth $1.44. That is not bad for just 1 dollar worth of cents. That is actually pretty good, because no other investment will produce a 44% profit instantly.
Now- with this said, are copper cents worth the melting, or would the process of melting them cost more than the profits being made with the copper contents?
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-Gabe
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 murphySenior Member
Posts: 573
Joined: 02 Sep 2004
Location: New Albany, Indiana USA
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| Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2006 12:24 pm |
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Edited:
It's against the law to destroy U.S. money. Does that include copper cents?
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~ Murph ~
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MarkMember
Posts: 43
Joined: 04 Jul 2003
Location: Florida
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| Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2006 4:05 pm |
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murphy:
I don't think it's against the law to destroy U.S. money. Think of ALL the silver coins that were melted in 65-66 and then again in 80-81. And I sure don't recall hearing of any change in these laws since then.
Mark
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GabeSenior Member
Posts: 691
Joined: 11 Jul 2003
Location: Gainesville, FL
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| Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2006 4:23 pm |
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I do believe it is illegal to deface US currency, which I assume would mean that it is illegal to melt cents.
I dont believe that this law is enforced at all, since thousands of US silver coins were melted over 20 years ago when silver made it to $50 an ounce. I remember reading reports of bags of Uncirculated Peace dollars being melted just for the silver contents. If the law of defacement of currency was enforced, for sure we would have seen some action by the government when the thousands of silver coins were being melted.
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-Gabe
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 eagamesExpert Member
Posts: 3013
Joined: 15 Nov 2005
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| Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2006 4:33 pm |
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It's either not against the law or not ever enforced, just imagine the feds could show up at any county fair and bust the penny squashing machines!
Now coinstar can make big bucks by splitting out the coppers from zincs and sell em for copper. That would be great for those of us that have BU rolls saved, if they melt a few billion of each maybe the value of copper memorials will rise.
Maybe the little balance scale I made using a pencil and a ruler to determine if my 82 cents were copper or zinc has a new use : )
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Ed
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 Bob PSite Admin
Posts: 3482
Joined: 01 Jul 2003
Location: Niceville, Florida
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| Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2006 4:34 pm |
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It is not illegal to destroy either paper currency or coins. If you have it, you own it!! As far as the law which prohibits defacing money, I am not aware of the law or precident.
The only drawback to individuals doing it is that once it is gone...it is gone for good. If the US treasury destroys money, then the amount that is destroyed is credited back to the treasury system. I found the following on the net.
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The Treasury is responsible for the design and production of U.S. paper money and coin. Paper money is produced at Bureau of Engraving and Printing facilities in Washington, D.C., and Fort Worth, Texas. Coins are produced at U.S. Mint facilities in Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Denver. While the Treasury produces currency, Federal Reserve Banks are responsible for putting the newly produced money into circulation to meet public needs. The System also is responsible for destroying money that is no longer usable. By crediting the government’s account, Reserve Banks “buy” new paper money and coin from the Treasury to replace the unfit notes they destroy and the unfit coin they return to the Mint.
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As far as melting copper, once you get a system to do that with, then it becomes a supply and demand issue. I would personally leave the smelting to the buyer. If they are willing to but copper at the going rate, it shouldn't matter whether it is in coin form or in ingots. We also need to remember that since 1982, all pennies are mostly zinc. The copper shell is certainly not worth trying to recover. So...at this point we get to where the lowly cent probably has more numismatic value that the copper value. Probably not going to make you rich by melting your pennies.
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Bob Piazza
Site Admin/Moderator
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bobp@coppercoins.com
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 coopExpert Member
Posts: 3402
Joined: 17 Sep 2003
Location: Arizona
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| Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2006 5:07 pm |
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GabeSenior Member
Posts: 691
Joined: 11 Jul 2003
Location: Gainesville, FL
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| Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2006 7:27 pm |
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Very interesting! Im going to start saving my copper cents and maybe sell them to and make some extra money.
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-Gabe
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 smedSenior Member
Posts: 624
Joined: 21 Oct 2003
Location: Zephyrhills Florida
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| Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2006 7:37 pm |
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It IS against the law to alter coins and currency with the intent to defraud.
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Life Member American Numismatic Association (ANA), Pensacola Numismatic Society
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coopExpert Member
Posts: 3402
Joined: 17 Sep 2003
Location: Arizona
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| Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2006 8:23 pm |
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Now if only the bottom feeders on ebay knew this...... LOL
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Richard S. Cooper
You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
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