I save every one a see. I don’t have that much currently, maybe $50 FV currently. I don’t expect them to ever hold the value that pre-65 silver coins do. Copper would have to have an absurd rise in value. My main thoughts in saving them are hopefully getting to search through them with grandkids 20-30 years from now.
As I was already looking at every cent, all 3 sides, throwing the copper in a bucket was 0 extra time or effort. Didn’t even have to roll them. Ended up with about 300 lbs. Down to about 75 now. And it’s not always about the money. Dollar/hour doesn’t matter when bank accounts are 6 figures, no mortgage, no children, $5000 cash positive per month in retirement. Just finding things to post here for my CT friends is my reward
Just because there are people willing to buy copper cents at 2-3x face value doesn't make it ethical when you know it is only worth face value. They have been duped into believing that the weight of the copper inside the cent is worth X amount when I have already explained it isn't. As for copper having uses, there is no shortage of copper (I think it is mined in South and North America) and if there ever was a copper shortage, all of these people that are hoarding cents will be allowed to melt them, and then they will find out they are ending up with less than face value and they would have been better off spending them, instead of wasting their time, resources, storage, labor etc. saving them, storing them, transporting them, melting them only to get short changed in the final transaction.
Despite your belief that copper is plentiful, focus on reality https://www.mining.com/web/the-worlds-copper-supply-is-suddenly-looking-scarce/https://glescrap.com/blog/why-copper-scrap-metal/#:~:text=Copper Scrap Prices May be,through 2030 is currently foreshadowed
And as for unethical… The guy who buys my CRH leftovers fully knows that I’ve searched them. Says he looks for doubled dies and I don’t know what else. Came back for more
What?! Okay, maybe it's only worth face value to you, and that's perfectly fair. By the same reasoning, to most of the public, a silver dime or quarter is worth only face value. But I'm sure not going to go cashing silver coins in at the bank, and I don't consider that an "ethical" issue. "But it's legal to melt silver coins!" Yes, now it is; but it certainly wasn't during the years immediately after the composition change. People still saved silver coins, and were happy later that they had. Melting cents is illegal. Speculating that it someday will be legal isn't the least bit foolish. Buying and selling on that basis isn't unethical, or even necessarily dumb.
This guy gets it. If you're doing it for fun, it doesn't matter "how much you make per hour". For entertainment, the question is how much it costs per hour, and whether you can afford it. If your hobby's cost is zero, or negative -- you win!
Most copper pennies are not worth more than one cent. You can rationalize all you want but it's just a BS excuse. There are enough crooks in the coin business, and you don't need to come to their defense. This is bottom feeding garbage and you all know it.
I used BS in a thread a few years ago on CT. Got slapped by a moderator. Said it was the same as spelling it out.
I've seen that happen, but I've also seen mods post to threads containing it without commenting or taking action. I'm guessing it's way down on their list of priorities. If someone specifically reports it, they may step in.
I'm going to make shell casings, fuses and 2 cent coins ( with a corgi on the obverse) out of my copper when the world ends. I think that makes as much sense as anything else I've seen mentioned in this thread. Gonna rip the wires out of my house too if the fuses don't work. I think.
The legality of melting coins becomes irrelevant if there is enough profit in it. Once melted it’s hard to prove where the metal came from. Tons of U.S. silver coins were melted in the ‘60s, and many of the silver bars were exported before the Treasury Dept. stopped production of 90% silver coins. For silver, melt value didn’t have to get much over face for melting to be profitable. For base metals, the overhead costs of acquiring, melting, selling, and transport become a much bigger factor. For base metals, melt value will likely need to be several times face to cover overhead. Cal
I have a large coffee cup full of pre-zinc pennies. The only ones I put in there though are the ones that look brand new fresh from the mint.