But what are your opinions about pennies and the melt value of them goes up? Ive read on this forum at some time that the government was secretly taking silver coinage from circulation and melting them down in the 60s. Do you guys think that this will be done as well for the copper cent ? Mabey They are already doing it? The conspiracy continues..
No conspiracy is required. It's just Gresham's Law at work -- "bad money drives out good." The copper cents will disappear from circulation one way or the other over time, so you might as well start saving them. I don't think this will be profitable the way collecting silver at face value was [and is], but it's a harmless and potentially profitable thing to do. A few years in the future, finding a copper cent will probably be about as frequent as finding a wheat today.
It could potentially be profitable. But you also have to look at the opportunity cost. You could probably make more money doing something else. But if you look at it as a hobby, it is a great thing to do. I had saved maybe 9-10 bank boxes of copper cents a while ago, but I got sick of it, so I just cashed them in.
I keep debating with myself about saving cents and nickels. My crystal ball is broken. Actually when you think about it, how many people in the fifties would have guessed in about twenty years silver would be worth $60 an ounce. All it would take would be for a new, big use for copper or nickel that would drive the price up, or a price munipulation like siver in the late seventies.
The copper pennies are slowly fading out of circulation in my opinion. I save as many as I can find because of the increasing value of copper.
i used to save them, had about $9 worth. then i figured i get ALOT still in circulation. even if they are worth more than face, it is still illegal to melt them down. so why save them if you cant melt them and get their value out of them? if your going to save copper why not melt down copper pots and pans and other copper made stuff. i don't think it is going to be profitable saving these copper cents. after i cashed in my $9 in copper cents, that weekend i bought about 9 mercury dimes. i'd rather have 9 silver mercury dimes instead of those old copper cents. i save the 1959, 1959D, 1960, 1960D, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1965 and 1969 cents. i also save the S mintmarked cents also, and i try to keep every BU, AU copper cent i get. i cash in the rest. i just don't think there is any big profit involved in this with refining cost if they do lift the ban. and all that space they take up! :goofer:
While I see your point, I think it is good to "hedge your bet." What I mean is, have some invested into silver, some into copper, some into coins as collector items, some in foreign currency, some gold, etc. Mixing up your spending is good IMO.
Although I do not save copper cents - it's too time consuming, let me tell you how it works on new construction sites. I've picked up wire, leftover pieces of copper plumbing material for a few years now. USED TO SEE A LOT just laying on the floor as junk and some HUGE chunks in dumpsters. All you had to do was look and I did. I had laborers on job sites that saved it for me. Just a few years ago people thought I was a "scavenger" for this. Fine, let them think that. If they asked me about it I would ask "if you saw a dollar bill laying on the floor would you pick it up?". Well, that's basically what I was doing. Now the pickings are slim as companies INSTRUCT their employees not to leave this stuff laying around. Recycling for a large electrical company can add up to a lot of cash. Do I still "scavenge?" hell yes! It takes a few seconds out of my day to put it in my van. My wife cashes it in and it's "mad money". As a side note I will add that copper theft has become someowhat rampant. People break into new construction sites and cut out ANY copper pipe they can lay their hands on. If you got to a recycler with ten pieces of 8 foot long copper pipe they want a picture ID and other info. It's getting to be big (criminal) business.
I save alot of copper cents, though at some point they will likely just be cashed in. They don't really take up all that much room. I see this alot on construction sites I'm on also. A couple weeks ago, someone was even so bold as to steal the copper downspouts from the town hall in my old home town.
