I was recently told by someone that pennies from 1978 and older are worth 3 cents because of their copper content. I am wondering if this is true and where I would take my pennies to sell? I have just recently started a coin collection and don't know every much. :rolling:
cents from 1982 and older are the copper ones. some of the 1982 cents are zinc, and some are copper. a few of us here do not keep these, but the ones i think are worth keeping are the wheat cents, 1959 and 1959D, 1960 and 1960D, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1969, any cents with an S mintmark or any "shiny" copper cents. they are worth 2 cents apiece, but they are illegal to melt to get their value out. no dealers are buying them, so you can either set them aside until they start buying them, or roll them up. welcome to the forum too!
The rush to save Lincoln cents appears to have started. In 2009 there will be the redesigned Lincoln cent (or several designs.) And there's the real possibility that it could be the last of the one cent coin. I recently started a cent collection for the years I haven't previously collected, BUT it appears the prices have already started to advance. So I'll look for some other issue to occupy my time and money. These are my understanding and impressions.
Not sure but I think there is a web site called realcent.forum.com or something like that. They have a forum on metals and basically discuss the melt values of coins. Also, depending on where you live there are not so reputable organizations that will take coins and melt them down for the metal content and have no idea of coin values as coins. The problem is those places basically purchase metals by the pound, not ounces. You would have to have a substantial amount of cents (pennies) to make it worth them purchasing them from you. Usually they buy Copper from electricians that borrow wires from job sites and then they throw in cents and anything else made of copper. Basically this is a stupid thing since many of the coins lost due to melting may be worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars. But then those that do this could care less.
I agree wholeheartedly. I told someone about the pre-'82 cents, and they suggested I hoard them and sell them on eBay, but I refuse to do so. I encounter hundreds of these every week through roll-searching, but I refuse to remove them and sell them because I know they will be destroyed for their metal content. They may only be from '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s, but they are still a part of a US history that I will not be responsible for destroying. Do you think these nameless, faceless copper barons would strip the statue of liberty for it's gold and copper content for a few thousand dollars? It wouldn't surprise me.
I would just save them. Look at how bags of mixed silver coins nowadays are sold for a bundle. The copper pennies could be in this situation in the future.
