If you had the resources to melt copper pennies

[coin sercher]

Would you do it? I know it is illegal, and I am not endorsing it in any way, but if you had the tools to melt them down and pour them into bars, or any kind of mold and take them down to a scrap metal place to sell it would be a killer way to make some $.

 

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[BuffaloBoy]

if people could melt down a 1c for 2.7c, copper pennies would be gone in America in 6 months. Personally, I wouldn't melt down pennies.

 

[madwest]

The investment in resources for smelting would be affordable. The energy cost would be the bigger deterrent (after the legality).

If someone did choose to defy the law and scrap copper cents, they would best do it by mechanical means, not by smelting. Crush/Grind/Shred those cents and sell as brass grindings to the scrap dealer.

 

[coin sercher]

The investment in resources for smelting would be affordable. The energy cost would be the bigger deterrent (after the legality).

If someone did choose to defy the law and scrap copper cents, they would best do it by mechanical means, not by smelting. Crush/Grind/Shred those cents and sell as brass grindings to the scrap dealer.

Yeah I didint think of tge fuel cost. I guess you could take the time to mutilate each penny, wouldn't be worth the time though. I guess if you came up with a good way to mutilate them in bulk (jackhammer in bucket with $100 of pennies) then you could sell them as scrap, but it's not worth the jail and fines if you get caught. What's best now is to just get a ryedale and stock them up until you can melt them.

 

[madwest]

. . . Ill wait for them to lift it!

That's a smart approach. But, there is a smarter approach - wait until those cents are 20x face. That won't coincide with the melt ban lifting. It will come much later. When the melt ban lifts on cents, it will be a buyer's market for quite a long time.

Think of all the ppl who sold junk silver at 3x face value when the melt ban was lifted on those coins. I'll bet you many of them would have held them rather than sell them if they knew where silver would go.

Silver was $0.75/oz in 1950. Now, it circles around $40/oz.
Copper hovers around $0.25/oz today. In 50yr, is it the next silver?

My kids will have tons of copper cents as either wealth or clutter. Only time will tell.

 

[coin sercher]

Yeah your right, it's best not to sell them now cause they are gonna go up in value soon, but if you need some cash now, then your mutilation idea is the best, just use a jackhammer in a bucket filled with a couple hundred worth of pennies, or a regular hammer and beat them individually... As long as they are beat beyond recognition then you could just sell them as scrap.

But it's not worth the time for now.

 

[jewelerdave]

Considering the things trade as a unit just like %40 or %90 silver what is the point in melting it down? its really not necessary, I see sacks of coppers and wheat cents trading at 2.whatever to 5 cents each now, even copper bars and that just blows my mind.

copper is not as easy to re manufacture like gold and silver is. the only thing that makes it worth more is if your turning it into something else.
say you made electrical wire or pipes and were of a small enough scale that cents could be used...one would and few would be the wiser, but they are not pure. they are alloy. And even then now with XRF guns that can ID such things. it would be a risk that is not worth taking.

leave the cents alone, and trade them at units by the pound. that is what is happening and what is going to happen. You can still make something on them, and its legal. Just find someone willing to "invest" in it.

 

[thecoincollector]

[mod] LETS TRY THIS AGAIN. IF YOU POST ONE MORE RUDE COMMENT TO ANYONE ON THIS BOARD OR THIS FORUM YOU WILL BE BANNED! WE DON'T NEED PEOPLE COMING HERE JUST TO CAUSE TROUBLE WHICH IS ALL YOU'VE DONE SINCE YOU'VE STARTED POSTING. [/mod]

 

[clovis97]

I know something for sure...copper is not done yet.

I think copper is just like crude oil. All the easy stuff has already been mined.

I just wonder, in my lifetime, will copper ever be sold by the ounce?

 

[BuffaloBoy]

I just wonder, in my lifetime, will copper ever be sold by the ounce?

or by the gram :P

 

[enamel7]

who are these moderators comments aimed at!

Look at the name beside the mod's comments. He omitted the OP's comments.
HH
enamel7

 

[Ginkawa]

honestly I am not sure I would believe that copper is rare enough in a purely "sum of the amount that exists" sort of sense, that realistically, it will ever be worth selling by the ounce.

I do think that in a crazy mad max, post-apocalyptic sense, brass or bronze or whatever, as well as "fine copper" would likely be used as currencies alongside gold and silver.

in my imagining of possibilities, I could see people simply using already made pennies and nickels, though not valued at all as we regard them now.

 

[clovis97]

I agree, there is a bunch of copper out there, but we are consuming it quickly.

I've read numerous articles in the WSJ that have talked about how few copper mines there are in the world, and how few untapped copper sources there are.

I still haven't found anyone that agrees with me that copper might someday be sold by the ounce. Who would have ever guessed that we would be paying $4 a gallon for gas? I would have thought you were certifiably crazy if you would have told me that in 1990. I thought that if gas got over $3 a gallon, the world would stop on a dime, and we would be living like folks did during WWII with strict gasoline rationing.

I still think it is possible...I never would have guessed that #1 copper would bring $3.50 at our local scrap yard!!!!

 

[FreedomUIC]

Watched some show about bidding on Storage Containers and their contents. They found a ton of silver jewelry and it showed them
melting it down and making their own bars of silver with them. Portable Propane tank, small smelting pot(??), mold and a bucket of water.

They heated up the mold prior to pouring the melted silver in, let it cool for a second or two and into a bucket of water for the finished
product. Ton kept saying "Watch Out, this is where it might explode" as they were pouring into the mold and then dumping the silver
out of the mold into the water.

If it were that simple and the mold was big enough, I would be considering it. I am a law abiding citizen but Joe Lombardo is all over
the US.

 

[Emperor Findus Cladius]

I agree, there is a bunch of copper out there, but we are consuming it quickly.

I've read numerous articles in the WSJ that have talked about how few copper mines there are in the world, and how few untapped copper sources there are.

I still haven't found anyone that agrees with me that copper might someday be sold by the ounce. Who would have ever guessed that we would be paying $4 a gallon for gas? I would have thought you were certifiably crazy if you would have told me that in 1990. I thought that if gas got over $3 a gallon, the world would stop on a dime, and we would be living like folks did during WWII with strict gasoline rationing.

I still think it is possible...I never would have guessed that #1 copper would bring $3.50 at our local scrap yard!!!!

It is true that copper is consumed very quickly, but it is also one of the most recycled of all of the metals also, so basically the vast majority of it is retrieved and reused (not all, but most).

As in most laws there are loopholes, and there is one in the copper melting law I do not think anyone has ever thought of. I am not advocating this, but just pointing out it is a loophole. It is not legal to melt pennies, but it is legal to put them through one of those roller machines that makes it an elongated penny and prints some impression. At that point it is no longer a unit of commerce. All someone has to do is put all their pennies through one of those rollers, then they can legally sell them for their copper content.

 

[Ginkawa]

It is not legal to melt pennies, but it is legal to put them through one of those roller machines that makes it an elongated penny and prints some impression. At that point it is no longer a unit of commerce. All someone has to do is put all their pennies through one of those rollers, then they can legally sell them for their copper content.

fraid not, they seem to have thought of that:

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.

and "treat" is defined as:

Treat or treatment means to smelt,
refine, or otherwise treat by heating, or
by a chemical, electrical, or mechanical
process.

and the portion that explicitly allows those coin squishers, while disallowing this:

The prohibition contained in
? 82.1 against the treatment of 5-cent
coins and one-cent coins shall not apply
to the treatment of these coins for
educational, amusement, novelty,
jewelry, and similar purposes as long as
the volumes treated and the nature of
the treatment makes it clear that such
treatment is not intended as a means by
which to profit solely from the value of
the metal content of the coins.

I was thinking, though, that in a post-apocalyptic sense, using or making those sort of squishers as a way to convert pennies into whatever new post-apocalyptic currency people wanted, could be imaginable to me... do copper pennies and zinc pennies look different after crushing? never checked now that I think about it.

and I wonder if you could make something like that for nickels, or if those aren't soft enough.

 

[Emperor Findus Cladius]

Hmm, didnt know about that last portion, I guess they were heading that off at the pass. I have seen those roller machines that do nickels and quarters. As far as the copper and zincer cents go after being elongated, all the zincers I have seen have silvery looking streaks in them from the zinc.

 

[azlegends]

Watched some show about bidding on Storage Containers and their contents. They found a ton of silver jewelry and it showed them
melting it down and making their own bars of silver with them. Portable Propane tank, small smelting pot(??), mold and a bucket of water.

They heated up the mold prior to pouring the melted silver in, let it cool for a second or two and into a bucket of water for the finished
product. Ton kept saying "Watch Out, this is where it might explode" as they were pouring into the mold and then dumping the silver
out of the mold into the water.

If it were that simple and the mold was big enough, I would be considering it. I am a law abiding citizen but Joe Lombardo is all over
the US.

You can do that pretty easily with silver, and even gold, but im not sure the torch would be hot enough to melt copper.

 

[azlegends]

Watched some show about bidding on Storage Containers and their contents. They found a ton of silver jewelry and it showed them
melting it down and making their own bars of silver with them. Portable Propane tank, small smelting pot(??), mold and a bucket of water.

They heated up the mold prior to pouring the melted silver in, let it cool for a second or two and into a bucket of water for the finished
product. Ton kept saying "Watch Out, this is where it might explode" as they were pouring into the mold and then dumping the silver
out of the mold into the water.

If it were that simple and the mold was big enough, I would be considering it. I am a law abiding citizen but Joe Lombardo is all over
the US.

You can do that pretty easily with silver, and even gold, but im not sure the torch would be hot enough to melt copper.

I actually just double checked and that might work for copper, as it only melts a few hundred degrees higher than silver, and right around the same temp as gold.

 

[usandthem]

Some of you guys are doubting that copper will ever be sold by the ounce. Google "copper bullion" and see what you find. They're selling bars and rounds and have been for some time. I've been selling copper pennies for a while and doing quite well. There's no need to melt them.