separating metals in a pre 82 penny

[element47]

Very interesting! I imagine a standard $25 box of 50 qty rolls could be like an "ingot" in the world of pennies. If one could develop the storage fee business, might be a feasibility there. About 17 lbs.

Of course, if you, as operator of such a business, sorted your own pennies from raw rolls (eg; paid face value plus your sorting and re-rolling effort) for them; sold them for 2x, then that is a totally risk free means of doubling (100%) on 9% (typical frequency rate of pre-82's) of your money, and current value is much closer to 2.5x. Then you store them for people and you are making great money. The beauty is that investment is risk free (well, other than the Canadian and Cuban coins you get stuck with) and your risk of getting into a car accident when you drive to the bank. Oh yeah, and a hernia from lifting the buckets of pennies.

And then, theoretically, you might find a numismatically valuable coin in your searchings! Heck, I've even found a dime or two!

 

[greatgems]

Anyone want to buy canadian Copper pennies i can ship them to you. I beleive you can melt them down in the usa cant you?

 

[jack_burton]

I live in the United States. Can I purchase items from mint.ca?
To ensure that American residents always benefit from the most competitive exchange rates, all items in our catalogues are listed in Canadian dollars only. If you are in the US and paying by credit card, your company will automatically convert the payment to US funds at the time of shipment.

Should you wish to pay by money order or certified check, please call 1 800 268-6468 and one of our customer service representatives will be happy to assist you.

The United States Customs and Border Protection (USCBP) requires that a US-based Ultimate Consignee or Foreign-based Ultimate Consignee or receiver of the goods provide a U.S. Social Security Number (SSN) or Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employer identification number for any order equal to or exceeding US$2,000.

In order to comply with US Customs regulations, the Royal Canadian Mint will now require your SSN or IRS number when you place an order that equals or exceeds US$2,000 in value. This information will be recorded in the US Customs Service computer system for customs purposes only.

(from: Canadian Mint FAQ Page)

Note it is also illegal to melt down or deface Canadian currency, in Canada.

 

[greatgems]

Excellent who wants $1900 face value Canadian Pennies will sell 5% under copper value

 

[golddiggingdude]

http://www.usatoday.com/money/2006-12-14-melting-ban-usat_x.htm[stt][/stt]

They say the reason for the law is because the coins are needed for commerce. So that should include all kinds of destruction then. So in that case, there's thousands and thousands of 10 year old kids out there who should be arrested and jailed. Because every time I've gone to an amusement park in my life there's been coin-operated machines that will destroy your penny and shape it into an engraved oval.

And you have to deposit $.50 to have it done. The law's the law. But let me guess, amusement parks have a gov't waiver. The law's the law.

 

[Harold_V]

http://www.usatoday.com/money/2006-12-14-melting-ban-usat_x.htm[stt][/stt]

They say the reason for the law is because the coins are needed for commerce. So that should include all kinds of destruction then. So in that case, there's thousands and thousands of 10 year old kids out there who should be arrested and jailed. Because every time I've gone to an amusement park in my life there's been coin-operated machines that will destroy your penny and shape it into an engraved oval.

And you have to deposit $.50 to have it done. The law's the law. But let me guess, amusement parks have a gov't waiver. The law's the law.

I get your point, but there's a considerable difference between the random few that put their penny in a machine to have it altered as compared to the guy that sets out to capture all of the pre '82 pennies.

Some time ago, there was a guy on fleabay that was trying to sell 1,000,000 of those pennies. Destroying that volume of coins couldn't be tolerated, and that's what would happen if scrappers discovered they were an easy source for copper alloy. Think of hundreds of scrappers gathering pennies every day. Wouldn't take long to make a serious shortage of those worthless coins.

Harold

 

[bisjac]

i didnt think zinc (in all situations?) melted down. or maybe the 5% that would be in a pre82 penny.
i assumed the zinc would burn away as a gas when you melted the thing. basically solving the issue of seperating the metals.

me and my girlfriend are pre82 collectors. every week we buy a $25 box of pennies from the bank to sort them out.
btw, its good to be keeping nickels right now as they have gone beyond the value of 5cents. i predict 2013+ nickels will be made of zinc

 

[Oz]

I predict 2013+ nickels will be made of zinc

I am expecting and waiting for the coins to start being made of plastic.

 

[joem]

I predict 2013+ nickels will be made of zinc

I am expecting and waiting for the coins to start being made of plastic.

Like our bill denominations

 

[FrugalRefiner]

I am expecting and waiting for the coins to start being made of plastic.

Already are! Visa, Mastercard, American Express, etc.

Physical money is a cumbersome and expensive way to handle commerce anymore. It's long term future does not look good.

Dave

 

[goldsilverpro]

It's interesting to note that 10 pre-1982 pennies in good shape weigh 31.1g = 1 troy ounce.

 

[FrugalRefiner]

And if you need a calibration weight for a digital scale, nickels are very handy - 5.00 grams each fresh from the mint. Use as many as your scale requires. It will probably cost less in nickels than a calibration weight of the same mass, and you're guaranteed to get your original purchase price back when you sell!

Dave

 

[joem]

And if you need a calibration weight for a digital scale, nickels are very handy - 5.00 grams each fresh from the mint. Use as many as your scale requires. It will probably cost less in nickels than a calibration weight of the same mass, and you're guaranteed to get your original purchase price back when you sell!

Dave

Measured 4 canadian nickles in my pocket 4 grams each

 

[FrugalRefiner]

Measured 4 canadian nickles in my pocket 4 grams each

joem, my apologies for my U.S. centric thinking. It's so easy to forget the international scope of this forum. United States nickels are 5 grams.

Dave

 

[joem]

Measured 4 canadian nickles in my pocket 4 grams each

joem, my apologies for my U.S. centric thinking. It's so easy to forget the international scope of this forum. United States nickels are 5 grams.

Dave

No worries we get them in our own change all the time, when I get one I'm going to see if my new jewelry scale is a accurate to 5 grams.

 

[FrugalRefiner]

I grew up in northern Ohio and we got Canadian money all the time. Wish I'd been collecting those 999 nickles you have up there! Sorry for hijacking the thread with this talk of nickels.

I've been holding my pre-82 pennies for a while now. I remember how we picked the pre-64 silver coins out of bank rolls of dimes and quarters when I was a kid. Now they're worth over 20 times face value! I don't expect my nickles or pennies will ever perform that well, but I just love any coin that's worth more than its face value. :lol:

Dave

 

[joem]

I grew up in northern Ohio and we got Canadian money all the time. Wish I'd been collecting those 999 nickles you have up there! Sorry for hijacking the thread with this talk of nickels.

I've been holding my pre-82 pennies for a while now. I remember how we picked the pre-64 silver coins out of bank rolls of dimes and quarters when I was a kid. Now they're worth over 20 times face value! I don't expect my nickles or pennies will ever perform that well, but I just love any coin that's worth more than its face value. :lol:

Dave

Back on Pennies: One day all Canadian pennies will perform as well since our government will phase out the penny this year.

 

[Golddigger Greg]

Just to stay on topic; I'd been sorting coppers for a few months when they announced the pennies' demise. I figure it never hurts to have more bases covered. Like was mentioned by an earlier poster, I would keep the pennies in their present form.

Oh, and the weight of the pre-1982 Canadian 5-cent piece: 4.54g (100 makes a pound!)

 

[roberts]

I am considering dong a small operation like that of the guy in portland. Not sure if money to be made yet, currently I am averaging about 20 percent cooper on boxes off my bank. I am only hording for now, but will probably sell enough on a regular basis to make enough cash to make it worth my while. $100 face value sells for $170 or so on ebay. I saw nice melted bars go for 7 bucks a pound. Might be worth melting when it becomes legal to do so.

 

[element47.5]

20% yield is darn good. From the pennies I have sorted (maybe $200 worth, not a lot of pennies, really, and not a lot of excess value certainly, but a fair amount of mind-numb work) my yield is much closer to 9%. My problem is that $25 worth of pennies is a 17 lb "brick" and I am just not wanting to accumulate more than the 3 or 4 of them I already have.

I definitely recommend getting one of those "coin discriminator" thingys for about $20 on ebay. I would NOT buy a full-on Ryedale machine. This (only getting the discriminator part---and, you'll have to fabricate some means of supporting it) does not solve the problem of feeding them into the slot one at a time...but that can be done almost without looking while you're watching TV or something. Although after you look at zillions of pennies, you'll be able to rapidly tell the difference without reading the dates. The old brown ones are clearly goodies, but if you're just looking at "brown" you'll miss plenty of very shiny good ones that look new. Likewise, newer (bad) pennies have a way of becoming corroded (perhaps due to the zinc) that can fool ya into thinking they are old. I find the best indication (without looking at the actual date, and ignoring obvious old brown ones that will jump out at you over time) is the depth of the strike. The older ones had a much deeper, stronger strike. Subtle at first, but again, after you see bazillions of pennies and start paying attention to them, it becomes more obvious.

I vote thumbs down on even thinking about melting. I think copper ingots are kind of a goofy thing in the first place...but there are lots of logistical issues with melting and pouring copper into clean looking ingots, especially when you consider the SIZE implied...you think anyone is going to want a 1 oz copper bar? No...we'd be talking a pound, a kilo, and for that, you need BIG heat. And consider: Copper is between $3 and $4. You would be selling ingots for more than "spot", of course, but do you think you could melt and pour 1 pound of copper for less than $3-$4 in fuel? Yes, in a factory environment, in bulk, but on a onesie-twosie basis, I think not. Copper does not freeze from melt cleanly in air, it tends to acquire a pretty ugly, scabby appearance without a controlled atmosphere. I very strongly believe that the guys who sell clean ".999" (seriously, do you think they really assay them?) copper ingots on ebay purchase odd cut-off pieces of thick copper sheet or copper bus bar and saw it up. They do not IMHO melt and ingotize.