Its going to happen eveeeentually right?

[ThePt78Gamer]

Hello all. I'm just looking for some opinions regarding the melt ban involving cents/nickels. Were approaching 10 years since the law was put into effect. My question is, when do you guys think it will be lifted? There may be no way to tell for sure, but Its been 34 years since copper cents were being produced for general circulation... Thoughts? And also... where do guys see copper prices heading over the next few years?

 

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[jeff of pa]

not until the values are too high to let it sit as is.
possibly when copper sells for $15.00 an OZ or more would by my Guess.

They would definitely be Needing the Copper very Badly to say
"Yes,
Melt it down & sell it to us"

other possibility may be if all Pennies are Aluminum or other metal & they want the Copper out of Circulation Permanently.
though they may try the route of paying penny for penny first.
too many would hold back & save 'em.

 

[Dozer D]

What law went into effect 10-years ago? Refresh my memory about copper cents stoppage or deletion?

 

[jeff of pa]

I'm not sure on the 10 year thing,
but there is a law on the books now,
it is a crime to Melt nickels & Copper pennies,
because of a Perceived Shortage in Circulation if all
Nickels & Copper cents disappeared.


Of course what they don't take into account is hardly anyone
spends Nickles & dimes, So they usually end up out of circulation anyway
at least till someone makes a bank run with a few ton.

but then Politicians don't use money. they sign for everything.
even tips and bribes.
so they don't know what the average person does with change.

 

[ThePt78Gamer]

Dozer D the 2006 melt ban that makes it Illegal to melt US cents and nickels for profit. Punishable by 5 years in prison and $10,000 in fines.

 

[enamel7]

And if you think you can melt it and get away with it, forget it. They have ways to check.

 

[fistfulladirt]

Thoughts? And also... where do guys see copper prices heading over the next few years?

Considering the global economic slump we are in, commodities down, down, down.

 

[iammoleman2]

My LCS guy told me that it is illegal to melt silver coin as well however the refiners are allowed a permit from the government, for a nominal fee of course. Anyone else hear of this?

 

[enamel7]

It's not illegal to melt silver.

 

[ArkieBassMan]

My LCS guy told me that it is illegal to melt silver coin as well however the refiners are allowed a permit from the government, for a nominal fee of course. Anyone else hear of this?

He's either horribly misinformed, or just downright lying for some reason. Only cents and nickels are illegal to melt, as stated above.

 

[iammoleman2]

There are other possibilities besides the guy being wrong or a liar. Perhaps I misunderstood what he said. He may have been referring to Canadian silver.

Q: Can you refine Canadian and US gold and silver coins?

A: We can refine all US coins and have a permit from the Ministry of Finance to refine Canadian silver coins. We purchase Canadian* fine gold coins as a fine metal transaction. Commemorative denominated Canadian gold coins*are not accepted for refining

 

[jeff of pa]

my understanding Silver coins can be melted down because
they are no Longer widely circulated by the banks.

http://moneyweek.com/why-its-now-illegal-to-melt-down-us-coins/

 

[SFBayArea]

I recall someone from Feebay years ago posting sales of copper ingots but was buying in copper pennies. It was at the height of copper prices. It was so obvious, I laughed. I'm sure if you know someone that is a metallurgy expert or owns a smelter, no one would know.

I'm not saying anyone should do it because it's against the law but I'm sure it's been done. There are numerous laws on the books, very few of them get enforced or prosecuted by the FED government. With the FED government slow to move on anything, penny melting would not get noticed unless it makes the news. Then they feel embarrassed and act like they have to do something. I don't recall anyone getting prosecuted because of that law.

 

[ThePt78Gamer]

Yeah... it appears that Its legal to melt them, but not for profit. At that point though who would know? Its literally impossible to tell. Once I hit $50 face is there an average asking price I should list it on craigslist? What I mean is if anyone here has experience selling bulk copper cents, what would/DO you list that much for over face? Not much I know, but I'd still like to know.

 

[ArkieBassMan]

Yeah... it appears that Its legal to melt them, but not for profit. At that point though who would know? Its literally impossible to tell. Once I hit $50 face is there an average asking price I should list it on craigslist? What I mean is if anyone here has experience selling bulk copper cents, what would/DO you list that much for over face? Not much I know, but I'd still like to know.

Here's a few recent auction results:

5000 Copper Pennies | eBay
1500 95 Copper Pennies 1959 1981 $15 FV Circulated Unsearched for Errors | eBay
700 U s Copper Pennies $7 00 Face Value Years 1959 1982 50 Cent Packs | eBay

 

[jrf30]

PT I used to get about 1.6 cents per penny. Then 1.5. Then 1.4. After that, the fee on ebay, with paypal too, are too high. On CL, I continued at 1.4 for a while, but now they sell for about 1.25 cents per penny. And I just asked if anyone wants to buy a truckload for 1.1 cents per penny. So pretty slim right now. :-(

 

[ThePt78Gamer]

Thank you for the insight jrf30 and ArkieBassman. It means a lot to recieve answers. Good luck to both of you in whatever lifes throwing at you.

 

[Pete_Iredale]

possibly when copper sells for $15.00 an OZ or more would by my Guess.

Considering the highest ever copper price was 28¢ per ounce, I kind of doubt that's ever going to happen. At least not in any of our lifetimes.

This will happen when they stop making pennies, but who the heck knows when that will be? And as I understand it, silver coinage is no longer considered to be in circulation, so it's legal to melt it (though god only knows why anyone would want to).