Copper Penny Hoarding?

I am not hoarding them for melting, but for posterity. Eventually they will be melted, so it is my job to make sure some survive.

how would one remove the tin/zinc from melting "copper" cents?

Melting coins, including cents, is not normally practical for individuals, the cost of the equipment and consumables is too high to make it worthwhile for small quantities. It is also difficult for small operations to separate the various metals involved.

Commercial operations work on larger scales so can do it for a much more economical cost per unit in the aggregate. It is these operations that the laws against penny and nickel melting are geared, the government can care less if you melt your penny jar. The government also doesn't care these days about silver and gold coins as they are no longer commonly circulating, nor do they care much about melting clad coins since there is little cause to as the metals aren't worth enough for people to seriously consider it.

I've been saying this almost every time this topic comes up. copper has been down now for quite awhile. stop wasting your time and effort putting away copper cents. IMHO , Dump them now and use the money to buy some real nice coins. that's what I did and have NO regrets at all .

I agree with you T-Bop but I also agree with jbuck.

In 2011 when pennies cost 3 cents a piece I stored up 2 1/2 5gallon water bottles full of Copper Pennies. (Like a Squirrel on Steriods ). When copper went down, I took them all back to the bank and bought silver. ( Yes I know, It took a long time to get all those pennies through the bank coin counter)

But now I'm thinking I need to save some or the nice copper cents to preserve them before they all get melted down.

I always wished I was around to hoard silver coins back in the 60's. Will I be kicking myself for not hoarding Copper cents, if banks stop using them like they did with the Mighty Ike's?

I save copper pennies for these reasons:

1) They aren't making them anymore.
2) The design has changed since they made them last.
3) The newest are over 30 years old now.
4) They are still available for face value.

I know I am not going to get rich by saving them but it isn't going to break the bank either. I do occasional roll hunting and get a few hundred out of a box and also a few here and there when I actually use cash for purchases. When the jar gets full I sort them out. Some day they might be worth something, if not to me then maybe the kids.

It is different then the days after silver though. Regular people were snagging silver as fast as they could then not just the collectors. By 30 years after silver was removed from circulating coins (quarters and dimes) they were exceedingly uncommon to find.

T-Bop! I'll tell you one thing.... I like your mama better than Forrest Gumps!!

It really depends on where you stand. I enjoy wheat hunting. Once I have gone through a box, I run them through a Ryedale. I have about 120lbs of coppers. Now I don't variety hunt, I would imagine I could sell them for more than the price of copper to a variety hunter since I am sure there are some 60-82 pennies that's worth searching for. I don't mind have a trivial amount of money tied up there. One day I might even decide to get familiar with those varieties and search myself. You can NEVER lose money on those.