CAUGHT RED HANDED MELTING DOWN US COINS!!! War Nickles

jewelerdave

Hero Member
Aug 29, 2007
848
96
Fort Collins, Colorado
Detector(s) used
I just follow my nose!...where the silver and gold goes!
Minelab 5000, Goldmaster, and a few others
XRF spectrometer, Common sense.
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
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I Believe higher grade war nickels will be worth more as the years go by and they become scarcer because so many were melted.
 

Hoped you checked for the 43 over 2. That's quite a collection, was quite a collection of war nickels.
 

Hope you checked for war nickels lacking the mark on the back, cause you might of melted down some non-silver hennings nickels. definintely not heisenberg level of purity if you do that. Plus a Henning Nickel is worth $50 at least. You've done screwed up son.
 

Here is the proof. Melting down War nickles and obsolete US Silver coin. Note we did not have the Secret Service come barging in the doors and through the roof with guns blazing to stop me. Because its legal.



??? My local refiner won't even buy war nickels because the magnasium in them makes them dangerous to melt. Do you have any problems with the melting of the nickels?
HH
Gary
 

Its technically illegal to melt ANY 1 and 5 cent coins.

"

Sec. 82.1 Prohibitions. Except as specifically authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury (or designee) or as otherwise provided in this part, no person shall export, melt, or treat: (a) Any 5-cent coin of the United States; or (b) Any one-cent coin of the United States. "

Per Federal Register, Volume 71 Issue 244 (Wednesday, December 20, 2006) it is illegal to melt down any nickel (or even half dime) or penny.
 

Its technically illegal to melt ANY 1 and 5 cent coins.

"

Sec. 82.1 Prohibitions. Except as specifically authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury (or designee) or as otherwise provided in this part, no person shall export, melt, or treat: (a) Any 5-cent coin of the United States; or (b) Any one-cent coin of the United States. "

Per Federal Register, Volume 71 Issue 244 (Wednesday, December 20, 2006) it is illegal to melt down any nickel (or even half dime) or penny.

Section 82.2 is amended by revising paragraph (a)(2), redesignating current paragraph (c) as paragraph (f), and adding new paragraphs (c), (d), and (e) as follows:

(d) The prohibition contained in § 82.1 against the exportation, melting, or treatment of 5-cent coins shall not apply to 5-cent coins inscribed with the years 1942, 1943, 1944, or 1945 that are composed of an alloy comprising copper, silver and manganese.
 

??? My local refiner won't even buy war nickels because the magnasium in them makes them dangerous to melt. Do you have any problems with the melting of the nickels?
HH
Gary

Sounds like an excuse to me. Maybe try a new refiner. They are more expensive to process this is true so a lot of places wont take them but I use them to process something different. If you are trying to sell them just war they they may say no. If you have them and they value your business and you have high grade as well. Do business with someone who will take it all.

Every day some are being melted somewhere, and I feel most of them are probably gone. In massive hordes they would have been problematic to recycle if you didnt have high grade as well. Are they a head ache for most refiners.

Usually they come in one or a roll or two at a time and I let them add up for a batch. Rarely does anyone say, I have a bag of these. And rarely does anyone want to buy them...unless high grade. Most of these I get are the ones coin dealers dont want because no one wants them. Anymore at shows you may be lucky to find a cup of them for sale by some guy who has to get every last dollar out of everything they own. Or some guy who thinks they are worth a ton of money no matter the grade. Fact is people who are all about business dump them as soon as they get them and we process them as fast as we can. Someday I am sure people will realize they are not as common as they used to be. The high grade ones will always be saved. the worn out ones just go away a hand full at a time.
 

Hope you checked for war nickels lacking the mark on the back, cause you might of melted down some non-silver hennings nickels. definintely not heisenberg level of purity if you do that. Plus a Henning Nickel is worth $50 at least. You've done screwed up son.

ok so has any one found a henning nickel crh??how bout you 50?ever found one?i had forgotten all about these until you brought it up.i did'nt recognize the name at first then i googled it and i remembered the story how he was busted by the feds and hearing the stort how he was throwing the in the river.if thats the case why dont we hear stories from of people on here finding all them with their water detectors.i know if i lived out there i would be looking for them.
 

ok so has any one found a henning nickel crh??how bout you 50?ever found one?i had forgotten all about these until you brought it up.i did'nt recognize the name at first then i googled it and i remembered the story how he was busted by the feds and hearing the stort how he was throwing the in the river.if thats the case why dont we hear stories from of people on here finding all them with their water detectors.i know if i lived out there i would be looking for them.

Plenty of people have them on the internet. As for finding one in a roll, I've never but there was a member on this very site who either bought one or found one in a roll, i'll link back to it if I can dawg. Also, nickels, would probably just sink to one giant spot in the creek/river they were dumped in and are just sitting there. They wouldn't float down the stream unfortunately.
 

I do pull better coins. but it depends on time and size of the lot.
When we melted down 4 full $1000 face bags of 90% a couple years ago I did find a 1934 Quarter that was Mint state. sold it for $400 nothing else good in the lot either...was it worth the five hours going though it all...in that case it was because the guy selling was just a hoarder. not a coin guy. He had it all buried in his back yard in his garden shed in metal gas cans...and the stuff was covered in old oil...nasty job. also it was at the time when 90% was not selling for any premium...now the stuff is more and more scarce.

Just last week I pulled a 1921 mercury Dime from a lot of Culls and Reject 90%. This guy figured anything with wear on it in junk silver was truly junk. And was just a silver guy not a coin guy.
But I also spent an hour going though the stuff for a $30 coin...sometimes its worth it, sometimes not. If I have to spend an hour or two going though a lot and it delays higher paying jobs and options...when the other option is the lot is exactly what it is. Junk, Its a waste of time and money.

Have I melted down things that are rare and special. Absolutely. I have just noticed things when it was just too late...yep. Do I cry about it...hell no. Why. this is business. you make money and lose money. Same with prices moving. If I make money 49 weeks out of the year and only lose money 3 weeks out of the year guess what. I am still ahead. If i notice a good coin in a lot and sell it its just bonus. If I dont find one or see it...well, you dont know what you missed out on till you miss out on it.
So I cant really justify looking for a counterfeit nickel that may or may not be worth $20 when I make $400 for melting down a pile of crap.

This is what I do with counterfeits by the way!
It was in a gold collection we picked up at a show. the stuff was olny 18k plated with 22k gold but looked good enough to fool most people. You would not belive how many dealers at the show tried to buy them off me...even when i disclosed them as bad. They just see a bag of Gold Double eagles in my case and think that just because I refine gold and silver that I must have got them cheap...no, I paid 98% of market for them for the gold contained. Likewise I have the same problem where people think I must melt down everything in sight...no, if it is worth more its sold for more if we catch it.

So crap like that just has to go. its also a good way to find out who in the business is honest and who to watch out for when full time coin dealers try to buy them off you after disclosing the fact they are fake.


 

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