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 Replies: 13 / Views: 1,126 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
819 Posts |
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/...history.htmlAnd no arguments over nomenclature, please. A rose by any other name smells as sweet. However, the link above goes to a news article telling: Quote:
"At the current price of copper, it would be very profitable to melt pennies and sell the copper," lead researcher Ryan Mathur told Discovery News. "There are relatively simple calculations that demonstrate that."
The same may hold true for nickels, which consist of a copper and nickel alloy. An interesting look at the scientific side of things, for those not Numismatically inclined.
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Valued Member
United States
419 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
819 Posts |
Oh, I know this. But I'm imagining that a lot of people out there don't! In fact, I'm a little surprised the authors of the article don't mention it specifically.
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Valued Member
United States
303 Posts |
Well we will know who the Secret Service will go after first... (Ryan from the quote above). :P
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3098 Posts |
hm... probably not right now during the economic downturn, because as of right now, the Dollar is still the most stable compared to every other currency (with exception to the yen) because it still makes about 60-70% of the world reserve currencies.
Also, during a recession, cash is always king. No one is buying industrial supplies like steel, Cu, Ni, Pd, Pt, Rh, so you can see the massive drop in their prices (especially Rh Rhodium, which has dropped from its high of $12k to $1.1k within a matter of 2 months)
So... "eventually" (like 20-30 years or so) when the economy gets better and inflation takes its toll, Gresham's law will prevail and the intrinsic value will be worth more.
But here is the question: is it better to save that penny now and wait for the metal prices to go up, or is it better to use that penny to buy something or invest in something which the price will increase at a greater rate over that same 20-30 years?
Edited by wd1040
10/24/2008 01:07 am
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Valued Member
United States
303 Posts |
According to Mathur, he says that the 1942 penny is made out of iron...
And the old large cents contained only 88% copper...
...anybody see anything wrong with these facts?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3098 Posts |
... I wish I had a 1942 iron (which is basically unrefined steel) penny...
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Quote:The U.S. Gov has made it illegal to melt coins for the copper in them. The penalty can be big fines and even jail time. I'd think twice about it. http://www.usatoday.com/money/2006-...n-usat_x.htmJust a friendly FYI I really get a kick out of every time someone states that law. There are a lot of laws around that just don't work and that is one of them. Why there are laws against murder, robbery, rape, home invasions, etc., etc., etc. These don't really work either around me. Did you know it is illigal to steal a car? Why then in Chicago every year there are about 50,000 cars stolen? We have many, many metal recyclers that take any metal and that includes coins. If you told them it is illigal they would just stare at you since most can't speak our language. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
965 Posts |
There's nothing illegal about me melting Lincoln Cents, and I find plenty of them. It would be far more profitable (based on time and money) to melt pre-82 Canadian nickels, but since that IS illegal for me, I'll just stick to collecting both.  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12437 Posts |
Ryan Mathur needs to stick to Geology and not opine about numismatics, a subject in which it is painfully obvious that he has no clue about  Quote:
At the current price of copper, it would be very profitable to melt pennies and sell the copper," he told Discovery News. Apparently, he is ignorant of the US Treasury ban on the melting of modern cents and non-silver nickels. Quote:
Until around 1850, pennies were three to four times larger than today's pennies and contained 88 percent copper. Nope, large cents from 1793-1857 were 100% copper. The new small cents from 1856-1864 were 88% copper 12% nickel. Quote:
Things changed with regard to the amount of copper in the early 1900s to 95 percent copper and 5 percent nickel No nickel, just 5% tin/zinc Quote:
adding that in 1981 Wrong again, it was 1982 Quote:
Due to wartime needs, it was made out of iron Iron is not the same as zinc plated steel. I would have thought an organization like the Discovery Channel would have better fact-checking than taking this hack at his word  Of course, the attached image of a VG/F 1905 IHC is kind of funny with the caption "Hi-Value Penny"  Geez, virtually everyone knows what an IHC looks like, they should have shown something eye popping like a 1793 Chain, Wreath, or Liberty cap cent- any one of those would have been "hi-value". Edited by biokemist6
10/24/2008 12:42 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2540 Posts |
I'll think about it in 30 years.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
869 Posts |
wd1040 it IS better to use that penny to buy something or invest in something which the price will increase at a greater rate over that same 20-30 years. So true. I cashed in my 80,81,82-d and all beat up cents($35) and bought a 1924-d cent. Save space and use them to by a MS-67 19? whatever Or get a hold of more key dates coins they will be worth more in the long run then copper. I did save all the others tho that are G-VG but the damaged ones went back into circulation.
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Valued Member
United States
84 Posts |
Copper keeps going down , a penny will be a penny. Close now. Were worth 2.5 cents couple months back.
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Rest in Peace
United States
9104 Posts |
Quote:
At the current price of copper, it would be very profitable to melt pennies and sell the copper," he told Discovery News.
Apparently, he is ignorant of the US Treasury ban on the melting of modern cents and non-silver nickels. Not to mention the fact that coin dealers figured this out in 2006 or earlier. |
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Replies: 13 / Views: 1,126 |
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Posted 10/24/2008 12:57 am
