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 Replies: 24 / Views: 2,946 |
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Valued Member
58 Posts |
I hoard pre-1982 copper cents. As a lot of you know, the copper in them is worth 2 cents. Already making money  - a pastime is getting a big box of pennies from the banks and sorting by: post-1982 (back to the bank), pre-1982 (keep), wheat and IHs (keep), Canadian cents (keep). Nickels of course have the same issue, their metal content is worth about 7 cents. Just hoarding them whenever I get them in change. Finally, with Canada phasing out pennies I am holding onto them for future appreciation. The same with currency such as Jackson 20's that will soon be phased out with new pictures. Anytime a bank teller gives me an extra crisp $20 I put it in a holder. Anyone else do this? Anyone else collect common things now in the hopes of one day cashing them out for more? Or am I alone  Please note: this is coming from someone who bought a few billion dollars in the now defunct Zimbabwean currency lol. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1191 Posts |
I, too, am keeping all the copper cents that I find from boxes. I have a couple thousands of them just laying there. I always tell myself today I will roll them by date and mintmark but I always find something for fun to do.
The nickels and the 20's I don't keep.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3843 Posts |
Although I'd like to think that the coins I buy today might be worth more in the future, I haven't started hoarding any particular series based upon on that premise.
However I also go to estate auctions and collect antiques where there some undervalued pieces that I do purchase partially for future resale/investment purchases.
A lot of antique/collectable categories were battered badly by the Great Recession a few years back and sell for a fraction of what they once did. A prime example is Art Pottery, there are some beautiful vintage pieces out there that used to sell for big money. I've been buying collectable vintage pieces for less $$$$ than the new imported Chinese junk that you see at many home decor retailers.
So I've built up a nice collection of art pottery that I should handsomely profit on when/if I decide to sell.
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Moderator
 United States
34423 Posts |
@puglife, interesting concept for a thread. I don't hoard copper coins. I wonder if you have actually turned a profit on these--brought the cents to a junk collector or metal reclamation facility and gotten your Two Cents. Don't get me wrong, I'm not being critical of the idea but I do wonder whether it actually works in practice. "If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
Edited by Spence
07/08/2016 7:27 pm
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Valued Member
 58 Posts |
It's actually illegal to melt the pennies right now, but who knows if copper could appreciate more.
I just miss the nostalgia of finding those 1964 silvers and pre-1982 copper is all I've found similar.
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Moderator
United States
34423 Posts |
Ok interesting, thanks for the clarification.
"If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
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Rest in Peace
United States
18456 Posts |
Puglife711 , 1982 was a transition year for the mint going from copper to zinc for the Lincoln cents . so you have some 82's made of copper and some zinc . you can tell which ones are copper with a small scale or an easy home made scale .  |
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Valued Member
58 Posts |
Yes they make a couple machines to sort out the difference. I segregate the 82's if I ever decide to get the machine. But honestly I can eyeball the differences, copper ones feel and age differently than zinc filled.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1391 Posts |
puglife: do some search for posts by cladking. He makes some interesting observations on where the higher value coins will be.
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Valued Member
58 Posts |
I like his posts, lots to read. I wish you could "subscribe" to another member hah.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1602 Posts |
Quote:
I like his posts, lots to read. I wish you could "subscribe" to another member hah. Actually, with the new feature that Bobby just added, you can. See that little white bubble in the post header? That can be used to follow a members recent posts! Edited by Biedercoins
07/09/2016 07:51 am
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Moderator
United States
54282 Posts |
As of July 8, 2016 the melt value non-zinc plated Lincoln cents is $1.41 per $1.00 face. That's the metal value, not what you could get selling them to a smelter if that was legal. Amassing enough cents to accumulate a significant store of increased wealth is going to take a lot of time and take up a lot of space. It only takes 145 such cents to make a puond. When you gather just $2,900 in copper cents, you will have something that weighs a literal TON (but it will be worth $3,306 in metal-about $400 "profit"), but if it crashes through your floor, the repair costs will be more than your "profit". If you live in an apartment, and it kills your downstairs neighbor, well you will have even bigger problems.
When I was much younger, silver coins circulated freely. When they quit making them, I WANTED to save them all, but I just could not afford to spend all my income on that endeavor. I still managed to save a few hundred quarters, but if I had kept all that passed through my hands I would have "gone broke" before the price of silver rose enough to actually sell at a gain.
Show your financial support of the Coin Community Family (click here)See my topic on Mexican Numismatic Medals (click here)Edited by nss-52
07/09/2016 08:18 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4809 Posts |
I think folks can collect or hoard what they want if that makes them happy. The question whether to hoard copper cents comes up here often enough, and many have contributed pros and cons to the idea. I think if folks want to hoard their copper cents, they may want to do some Advanced Searches here and read through the dozens of threads. My feeling is that a number of folks hoarding cents will stop...and find a better subject or metal to invest in (i.e. save enough copper and zinc cents to buy silver and gold bullion). Waiting for a day where the government allows copper cents to be melted may never come and if it does, a decade of increases on precious metals and 401(k) holdings will have passed.
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Valued Member
58 Posts |
All good points. I guess it's like anything else, pros and cons and people on both sides.
I do invest in stocks as well, and in the stock market they call it Dr. Copper - if the world economy is well Dr. Copper gives you a gauge of how healthy it is with its price. I think it will appreciate IF the world economy can get firing on all cylinders.
But it is fun to grab discontinued Canadians, Wheaties, IHs and Copper cents just as a hobby.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Some of the problems with hoarding, using melt values, etc. is where can they all be used? You can say this or that is worth this at melt but just who is going to give you that? Most people I know simply dump old Cents in with Copper Cables when they take them to a meal recyler. Around where I live, most of these place don't care what it is as long as it's metal. You can try taking a pile of old Cents to a coin store or coin show but you would be lucky to get anywhere near what you think.
As to hoarding something for tomorrow. A long time ago, myself ad a friend started to hoard those Bicentennial Quarters. After about 10 years of hoarding I took my stash of about 1,000 to a coin show. I asked all over how much I could get for those. Most dealers said $.24 each as sort of telling me no one wants them. The next day they all went to a bank. Today, after 40 years, their value is still about the same. So HOARDING? You could do better with a savings account in a bank.
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Moderator
United States
34423 Posts |
Quote:
Most dealers said $.24 each as sort of telling me no one wants them. Hmmm, I do have a bunch of bicentennial quarters.  "If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
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Replies: 24 / Views: 2,946 |
Posted 07/08/2016 6:50 pm
