I have been reading about people stockpiling pre-'82 Lincoln memorials. I know that they are hoarding the pre '82's as they are still copper and they are worth more than one penny in copper scrap. However, since melting pennies for scrap is illegal, why the hoarding? Is it because people think that pennies will be discontinued like Canada did? Or is it because you think that the law regarding melting will change? Just curious...thanks for the input!
*** Moved by Staff to a more appropriate forum. ***
From our standpoint, I do not keep every pre '82, only the cents that are higher in grade or key dates and errors. I have a friend nearby that sorts several boxes a week and has been doing that for years. He has 4 or 5 five gallon buckets, he keeps them since they are copper. Everyone has their own thoughts and you should keep what you feel good about or what you are interested in.
I have about 3000 pre 82. I think someday it will be viewed as a poor mans junk silver. I like junk silver too. $60 value is around 1/3 of an ozarka jug. I think most people would prefer 2 or 3 Morgan's, but that's no fun!
Fast some people hoard them hoping theyll be legal to melt one day with in my opinion is unlikely. You can however sell lots on ebay for more than face value which a lot of people do. I wouldnt search them out but if you come across them or wanted to look for them theyre a risk free item t hoard since you can get them for face at the bank. If you enjoy searching pennies pulling them until you have enough to sell is f very minimal effort and worst case they are still worth exactly what you paid for them if the market disappeared.
I keep all the copper I can, and sell it on ebay. I don't put any stock in investing in copper, but since other people do, I just set aside all my copper and sell it to them for some extra CRH cash.
people save them because they're worth more than 1 cent. Just because they're not legal to melt doesn't mean they're not worth selling or something. If you pluck a 63 quarter out of circulation, is it only worth something if you melted it down? I save the copper pennies because they will be worth more money with time. Whether or not the law changes saying it is now legal to melt them makes no difference. They're still 95% copper. I'd personally rather like to have 10,000 copper pennies than a single copper ingot, but that's just me.
Thanks for the input and a big thanks for the video. I didn't realize people were buying them on ebay for over face value. I was wondering why to keep them if you couldn't melt them or sell them for melt. I guess there is a secondary market for them. Is there any other market for them other than ebay?
I have been saving most pennies for over 30 years. I don't roll search but I do separate the copper from the zinc pennies. I have several shoeboxes of rolled copper pennies saved over the years (sorted by date also). Maybe one of these days I will sell them but I am in no hurry. It is just fun.
While I know I can sell it buy the pound essentially for a profit, I still only keep what's appealing to me. If the current return was a slight bit higher I might change my tune, but currently not strong enough to hoard. I'm happy to return at face value for more chances at CRHing :)
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Posted 06/10/2013 9:44 pm
