Save Your Pre-1982 Pennies (95% copper & worth more than face value)

[norml]

Save Your Pre-1982 Pennies

This post has nothing to do with the stock market, but I think it is interesting nonetheless. Prior to 1982 almost all pennies minted by the U.S. mint contained about 95% copper and 5% tin and zinc.* During mid-1982 the U.S. mint changed the metallic compisition of the pennies to about 99.2% zinc and 0.8% copper. All pennies minted since 1982 have less than 1% copper.

The reason why the composition was changed is because during the early 1980s the price of copper kept rising and the total value of the copper metal in each penny was apporoaching the one cent face value of the penny. Accordingly, if the value of copper had kept rising, the U.S. Mint would have been losing money by producing more of the 95% copper pennies.

As you are probably aware, the prices of commodities have been soaring over the past few years. The price per pound of copper was recently about $2.33. At $2.33 per pound, the value of the copper in most pre-1982 pennies is about 1.45 cents, 45% more than the face value of those pennies, as discussed in this article.

snip

http://financeandinvestments.blogspot.com/2006/02/save-your-pre-1982-pennies.html

[NJ Democrats]

1. Wow!

I have a 1919 penny. I wonder how much it's worth.

[norml]

4. Your 1919 penny is worth about 1 & 1/2 cents for it's copper

And about $1, for it's value as a collectible coin.

[NJ Democrats]

8. Awsome!

My penny is worth $1.015! Kick ass!

[AllegroRondo]

2. and if you have any pre-1960's dimes - woohoo!

they have silver in them. very hard to find these days.

[sendero]

9. 1964 and earlier..

... dimes, quarters and half dollars were 90% silver. The silver content of each is:

Half Dollar: 0.3617 troy oz
Quarter: 0.181 troy oz
Dime: 0.0732 troy oz

(generally, a bit of wear is assumed to lower the silver melt content a bit)

To calculate the silver value of these coins, use this formula:

(face value in dollars) times (0.719) times (current value of troy oz of silver)

these values are based on a silver price of $12.85 per troy oz

Half Dollar: $4.62
Quarter: $2.31
Dime: $0.92

I actually found a 1964 dime in my change a couple months back. I stuck it on my dresser with my other change and wound up spending it :) But that's ok, I've been buying silver for a couple years now!

[Left Is Write]

3. Interestingly (or not), I just found a 1976 penny in a parking lot.

[Zookeeper]

5. Thanks, Norml...

your post just stopped me from dumping several old containers of pennies into a coin machine. :hi:

[Blue_Tires]

6. thanks

i did not know that

[REP]

7. Been Saving Copper Pennies and Silver Quarters and Dimes for Years

I recently found a 1980 "S" quarter ... not silver, but the "S" means it's a proof, and worth $5.00, not 25¢.

[judge_smailes]

10. I received a 1943 silver quarter in change a few months ago

I think it has $2 worth of silver in it. As far as I know that's the first time I ever received one as change.

[Xithras]

15. No, "S" means it was minted in San Francisco.

The letters are the mint marks, and indicate where they were produced.

P - Philadelphia
D - Denver
S - San Francisco
W - West Point

A 1980 S quarter is worth about twenty five cents on todays market.

Now, there ARE S proofs, but there are also D proofs, P proofs, and W proofs. Proofs are worth more, but unless you have documentation to back up their proof status, or can have a qualified numismaticist verify that they are proofs, AND unless they are in "Uncirculated" condition (no nicks, dents, scratches, or discoloration...even under magnification) they aren't worth more than their face value. 1980 simply isn't a collectible year because too many exist.

[tjdee]

11. Where would you sell them, if you wanted?

I mean, I've got a couple $2 bills, some old pennies (less than 10 I think LOL!)... if I wanted to unload them and get some big bucks (about what, $4.45) where would I do that?

I see some folks sell them on ebay, but other than that I mean.

[judge_smailes]

12. Where to sell?

I was wondering the same thing. I heard that when the price of silver spiked in the 70s people sold silver coins to silver dealers who would then melt them down. However, I think you would have to have a lot of pennies before melting them down would even be realistic.

I haven't heard of any coin dealers buying copper pennies, so maybe eBay would be your best bet.

[Xithras]

18. Coin dealers aren't going to mess with it.

They deal in coins that are valuable because of their rarity and collectibility. It's extremely unlikely that you'll find a coin dealer who wants to melt them down.

[Xithras]

16. That's the trick...you and I can't

These are the prices being paid for raw copper by suppliers. By turning in high-copper pennies, you are essentially supplying the suppliers. The only way for you to do that is to turn them into a recycler. Recyclers aren't going to give you the market rate for the pennies because THEY have to melt them down, seperate out the zinc, AND make a profit on the entire operation. You can probably still get more than a penny each for them, but you'd need tons to make the effort really worthwhile.

[YankeyMCC]

13. Apparently copper is getting high enough to result in vandalism

or I guess it's been high enough to cause some vandalism around plumbing and electical infrastructure but just today I saw this article in the Globe:

(snip)
LYNN -- Someone is stealing the bronze plaques from this city's war memorials. Not only that, thieves in cities and towns north of Boston have made off with bronze memorials commemorating war heroes, football coaches, and police officers.
(snip)

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/04/14/anger_lingers_as_plaques_disappear/

[chaska]

14. I bought a cheap old Stella acoustic guitar once that had a...

1943 penny shimming up one side of the bridge.

[Xithras]

19. Ooh, a steel penny!

The steel pennies aren't worth a whole lot, but they are definitely an interesting artifact from that era. I don't think I've ever met a coin collector that didn't have at least one in his collection (I have three).

[APPLE314]

17. NICKELS ARE 75 PERCENT COPPER

WHEN COPPER GETS TO $5.50 LB YOU CAN MELT YOUR NICKELS DOWN AMD MAKE A PROFIT.