removing large volumes of coins from circulation

Might be where you live... I have pulled just under 20 pre-1982 pennies out of the "give/take a penny" bin at the cafeteria at work this past week alone. Found a 1946 wheatie, and a whole bunch of '60s and '70s, even a 1943 steel. I'm up to over a buck since beginning of August.

No, not large amounts by total volume, but considering the amount of pocket change I get, it's probably a 10% hit ratio for me.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Been there, done that, but the albums are REALLY expensive. Lots of loose coins (even a few silvers) under the seats too, just remember to pull them out BEFORE the crush...

 

I am actively buying up all the cents I can get and mining them for the bronze cents. I find a minimum of 25% of them are pre-1982 and the usual maximum is about 30% are pre-1982. I actively mine nickels for pre-1960's and you would be amazed how many 1960-4 dated nickels are still soldiering on - nearly 50 years. Demographically the part of the country I live in is older - which accounts for a bit better searching.

 

I'm a little puzzled by the nickel search. Neither Coinflation.com nor the Redbook show any difference in composition (percentage of copper) for pre-1960s nickels, except for Warnicks. So are you pulling them for "date" value or what?

 

It just isn't that simple. Unless of course you were reporting to the Treasury that you were destroying currency. Considering the fact that it is currently illegal to melt pre-1982 pennies, I assume you wouldn't be reporting anything to them.

To understand why it isn't that simple, for starters you should read up on how currency is released into the economy, how the government is reimbursed for the cost of producing currency and what effects releasing more currency into the economy has on the value of that currency.

I'm not sure which you should study first, but don't forget that you still need to look into the basic principles of metal refining too.

Here's another thing to consider. As others mentioned, all pennies aren't 95% copper. Currently, they make up about 15% of the pennies in circulation. If you go through with this, you will need to:

- Find a source where you can obtain pennies in very large quantities.
- Design and build some sort of industrial sorting device to weed out the post 1982 pennies. (The junk sorters you can buy on FeeBay will not fit the bill)
- Find another place to cash in very large quantities of those post 1982 pennies, perferably where you'll never see them again.
- Develop a refining process that will actually work. (hint: When you melt a pre-1982 penny, the zinc doesn't simply rise to the surface)
- Cast your copper into a marketable form.
- Find someone to buy your copper.

It just doesn't seem worth it to me at the current price of copper...

Keep in mind that this is all coming from a guy who currently has about fifty pounds of pre-1982 pennies.

 

please dont i can imagine how many wheats and possible varieties you may be taking away the chance for me to find....

 

Thanks for the replies all but all of my questions were answered in the first few replies. Im just going to continue hoarding these. I have 1 ton of pre82 pennies right now and about 200 pounds of nickels. I have alot of money sitting around in investments thats doing nothing. I am planning on buying 5-10 tons of copper pennies at $2.50 a pound and sitting on them for the next 10-20 years then trickle them back out onto the market at in the $10-$15 per pound range. This is simply a hedge against inflation. I guess if they ever change the law reguarding melting someone could melt them down in the future, but as a coin enthusiast i am never going to melt a single coin. I respect the hobby/business too much to do that.

The deal with the nickels is simple its 75% copper and 25% nickel. Nickel is at $7.40 per pound. The current melt value of these is basically the same as the face value right now. Hence the hoarding. We know demand and inflation is going to push prices up in the future. So im pulling every single one i get out of circulation.

I have noticed that banks are really getting stingy on giving out coins anymore. I used to be able to go to the bank and get as many rolls as i wanted. Now all i get for an answer is they dont have any. Come on how can a bank not have any coins to give out. :devil:

 

off topic also but in response, i part out about 4 cars a year for some pocket/side money, where are they paying $300 a ton, all the shredders around here are paying $200, after i sell off all of the sellable parts i average 1 ton per car of shred. And here all the fluids must be drained, gas tank either removed or a 8x8 or larger hole cut in it, and all tires removed. If not they only pay $100 a ton.

The most ive found in a car was $5 in change and, $5 in winning scratcher tickets. But evertyhing i part out is 90's or newer so its not like im gonna find any silver. On the plus side i do get about 10 gallons gasoline from every car i part out so about $40 worth average.

$300 per car sounds reasonable if all of the tires and gas tank are removed and nothing else.

 

Google the phrase "price of shredded cars" -- you will find all kinds of interesting global quotes, sources, and data.

 

you will spend more transporting, handling and storing your hoard than you will ever make back.

$$$ 55 gallon drum of pennies = same amount $$$ worth of silver that can be held in one hand.

its also a hellav alot easier to sell recognized silver than it is to sell a lump of charred pennies,
heck, i think businesses and banks can even refuse to take medium amounts of pennies.

 

In Canada, our own government (through the Royal Canadian Mint) has been removing large amounts of pure nickel coins from circulation since 2004, as part of the Alloy Recovery Program (ARP). Of course, the nickel is then used for plating the newer coins, rather than hoarding. No perceivable coin shortages, but seeing pure nickel coins in circulation is getting to be fairly uncommon. More about the ARP here:

http://www.mint.ca/store/dyn/PDFs/CP2012-16 - RCM.pdf

 

Cost in materials and manufacturing to produce a zinc cent is 2.4 cents per coin. That is a loss of 1.4 cents per coin for every one they have to make.

Cost for five cent pieces in materials and manufacturing is also greater than the face value of the coin. They do still make a profit on all the others.