Copper Pennies

So this has been brought up tons of times but I just wanted to kind of get a current idea of what people are doing. I myself have started buying bank boxes of 2500 pennies and will be sorting them with a machine I bought on amazon that sorts the 95% copper from the zinc ones. Those copper ones are worth a little over 2 cents at the moment but the issue is as many know it is illegal to tamper with currency to profit from it, so at its current state you cannot melt them down or sell them to be melted down. So many people including me think that they will stop making the penny (like canada did) and it will be legal to melt down and pull the copper. Issue is in canada the government stopped producing copper pennies and is now buying them up from all banks to melt down and use to make other coins and profit from the copper themselves rather than making it legal to melt, so people fear this could be the case in the us. So the big thing is time, if you wait long enough canada will have gone through all the pennies they can find and say it is no longer a currency and grant people the right to melt them down for the copper value. So here in the us pre 1942 pennies are 95% copper 5% zinc content and in the future I think and many others do they will stop producing, and eventually make it legal to be melted down, and when that happens I will sell to a smelter or a scrapyard (which will most likely buy by than) and make double my money, if not more since copper prices could rise a lot in the future.

The thing I like about this as an investment is there is little risk because a penny is always worth 1 penny so you can sell out at any time.

One of the issues with this is the weight of pennies and the time to sort.

A sorting machine is a good start

As for weight you really need a good place to store them because people who say "copper penny retirement" are kind of crazy and heres why.



Pre 1942 pennies weigh 146 pennies/lb

284,000 pennies will than equal a ton (2,000lbs)

A ton of copper pennies should be worth atleast $7,500

So if you consider the big picture (Using copper pennies as savings for retirement) you will be living in a dirt bunker filled with pennies for the rest of your life....


$500,000 worth of copper pennies = 133,333 lbs

66 tons

A ford 5150 weighs 4,950lbs approx.

So the pennies you would need to get $500,000 to even start retiring would be equal in weight to almost 27 ford f150's........


Just some stuff to think about. Ill post pics of my copper penny hoard and sorter soon

I don't know. Nickels seem to be a better bang for the buck IMHO.

I'll take the 27 F-150s

I don't think you'll really lose, but I think you would be more likely do be able to sell to coin collectors in the future. If pennies are to be destroyed, the collectors will want the valuable ones.

It's kind of like the people who hold on to Pentium Pros.

its pre 1982. 1943 is the exception because it is made of steel.

I am a coin collector and variety/error hunter. It is amazing how many there are. I average 4 per box. They range in value from no extra to hundreds of dollars. Best one I found in circulation so far was a $100 nickel. That is 2000x face value. Also sold a $2 dollar bill (low Serial#) for over $100 a couple years back.

When using the machine (I assume it is probably a Rydale), don't forget to look thru the pre-82's that are sorted out and pick out any wheat back pennies (1958 and before). Those are worth more than their copper content. Time to time you may even get an indian head cent.

Originally Posted by DevinThaScrapper

So this has been brought up tons of times but I just wanted to kind of get a current idea of what people are doing. I myself have started buying bank boxes of 2500 pennies and will be sorting them with a machine I bought on amazon that sorts the 95% copper from the zinc ones. Those copper ones are worth a little over 2 cents at the moment but the issue is as many know it is illegal to tamper with currency to profit from it, so at its current state you cannot melt them down or sell them to be melted down. So many people including me think that they will stop making the penny (like canada did) and it will be legal to melt down and pull the copper. Issue is in canada the government stopped producing copper pennies and is now buying them up from all banks to melt down and use to make other coins and profit from the copper themselves rather than making it legal to melt, so people fear this could be the case in the us. So the big thing is time, if you wait long enough canada will have gone through all the pennies they can find and say it is no longer a currency and grant people the right to melt them down for the copper value. So here in the us pre 1942 pennies are 95% copper 5% zinc content and in the future I think and many others do they will stop producing, and eventually make it legal to be melted down, and when that happens I will sell to a smelter or a scrapyard (which will most likely buy by than) and make double my money, if not more since copper prices could rise a lot in the future.

The thing I like about this as an investment is there is little risk because a penny is always worth 1 penny so you can sell out at any time.

One of the issues with this is the weight of pennies and the time to sort.

A sorting machine is a good start

As for weight you really need a good place to store them because people who say "copper penny retirement" are kind of crazy and heres why.

Pre 1942 pennies weigh 146 pennies/lb

284,000 pennies will than equal a ton (2,000lbs)

A ton of copper pennies should be worth atleast $7,500

So if you consider the big picture (Using copper pennies as savings for retirement) you will be living in a dirt bunker filled with pennies for the rest of your life....


$500,000 worth of copper pennies = 133,333 lbs

66 tons

A ford 5150 weighs 4,950lbs approx.

So the pennies you would need to get $500,000 to even start retiring would be equal in weight to almost 27 ford f150's........


Just some stuff to think about. Ill post pics of my copper penny hoard and sorter soon

I've been keeping tabs on pennies and canadian dimes for their copper and silver content myself. I think the only way you'll get copper value for em is if you smelt em down into bars and then find someone to take em. Other then that their only worth face value in which case would be silly to exclude other years. Just my 2 cents.

Current Melt Value Of Coins - How Much Is Your Coin Worth?

On the flip side of the coin Devin (pun intended), there just isn't as many pre-1982 (I don't dink with that mixed year) pennies out there any more. We save our change for our kids higher ed and every six weeks or so I go through it. Of maybe a couple hundred pennies each time, I perhaps get 3-4 dozen pre-1982s max and almost none of these are Wheaties anymore. I do save those 95% Cu pennies (as well as any Cu CAN pennies I come across) but I'm not going to have gobs and gobs of them stashed away. You can certainly get bank boxes of pennies but again, the percentages of 95% Cu are going to be low when compared to the total you go through. If you bust over 30% out of 2500 pennies, I'll buy you lunch (fast food gift card). But if you want to go at it, its your constitutional right of "pursuit of happiness"

I've gotten over 70% copper in 1 box. It's just luck and where you get them, sometimes you'll get a full box of 2014's

Originally Posted by DevinThaScrapper

I've gotten over 70% copper in 1 box. It's just luck and where you get them, sometimes you'll get a full box of 2014's

new ones sell on ebay pretty well when they 1st come out... 2015 P Bank SEALED Box NF String Union Shield Lincoln Cent 50 Rolls BU UNC | eBay

Wow, Devin, I'm impressed!! Bank boxes must be different from general circulation getting a few pennies at a time. So what kid of fast food poision do you want !

Yes I buy them 2500 at a time and sometimes if your REALLY lucky you will get a full box of copper ones a collector sells back because hes getting out of it or something.

I run a ryedale sorter as well. I average 25-30% copper in each box. I then look through my copper for wheats and find on average 15 per box. I used to sell on ebay but that market has dried up. Ever since i havnt been doing any searching as my time is better spent doing other things but look forward to when it is worth my time again.

Coinflation lists current melt values for all US coinage. Right now $0.0163850 is the melt value for the 1909-1982 copper cent on January 29, 2015
I use it all the time to value my hoard. I don't buy boxes of them but I got a 5 gallon water cooler jug so full of old ones I can hardly lift it.
I used to buy rolls of 50 cent Kennedys and always found at least a few clads (40% silver) or 90 % silver in there. If you have an old folks community with a bank in it go there and buy up the rolls of change. You may get lucky if the tellers don't grab it first. Good hunting !

But what does it really matter what they are worth since it is illegal to melt them down?