1944 S Wheat Cent

Why don't you call the reclamation centers in your area and ask what they are paying for alloyed copper. You can come up with all the BS numbers you want, but no one is paying too much more than 25% for alloyed copper.

 

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You've been burned, haven't you. You are really upset over three cents.

Or do you buy scrap and are tired of explaining that Bullion content is what you can get for it AFTER you process it. Not what you pay for it.

Or did somebody steal some copper out of the walls of a house you own.

All are reasons to be sensitive.

 

Never been burned. You're such an idiot. We don't need people like you giving out misinformation. How many reclamation centers have you called? I guess the answer is NONE!

 

You make me laugh. But ignore me if you must. SENSITIVE.

 

I agree. The reclamation centers don't want it or the cost to refine it. I would love someone to call and report what they are told.

 

I just wonder why people assume that copper cents need to go to a reclamation center but silver and gold go to a refinery? I understand that it is illegal to refine the copper from cents and that it would likely be cost prohibitive to set up a small scale refinery to purify copper. But if it was legal, the big boys that refine the copper from copper mines at less than 3 percent purity could easily throw a few tons of copper cents in the "mix" and could turn a profit. Which is likely why it is illegal to do.

 

Maybe it is because a refinery extracts the product from its raw state, and a reclamation center extracts the product from something that was made using it. Wouldn't this be the same for an oil refinery and an oil reclamation center?

 

How much silver or gold have you sold straight to a refiner? Most individuals who sale scrap gold and silver sell it to an intermediary such as a coin dealer, pawn shop, jeweler and etc.

 

Right! I have sold zero to a refiner. Reclamation centers (or dealers pawn shops etc) can't by law sell copper cents to a refiner, so why do people keep saying try to call a redemption center? To Marshall's point on calculating the scrap value of cents (copper) is the same as calculating the scrap (melt) value of coin silver or gold. It is cost prohibitive to do on a small scale but at a very large scale it would not be. It is a moot point at the present time because it is illegal.

 

However, this conversation pertains to the (small-time) coin collectors and "stackers" that are hoarding copper pennies for their (potential) melt value. The fallacy given to this concept is that it costs more to extract the copper from the product than it is worth. Grade A copper would have to be selling near $6/lb. just to make it a break even proposition.

 

My guess is copper cents wouldn't be refined into Grade A copper. They would be used for the production of copper alloys which would allow their melting as is without refining.

 

we're just caught in yet another semantic game. Bullion value is the intrinsic value of the primary element a coin contains. Scrap value is what you can sell them for. Getting mad about the difference is silly.

 

If that is the case, then why are some people saving them based on the value of Grade A copper?

 

I'm not sure how this post got so far off of track, but @Momof4 I'm still rooting for you to find that one special coin, and I can't throw any stones for the messy room as mine looks like a tornado hit it, but then I live alone and don't really care. LOL

 

Think the extra L looks cool. The rest of the coin is a squeeze job. Sorry

 

I can't answer that question. Currently, when selling Red Brass (an 85% copper alloy) to a scrap yard one should expect, depending where in the US and other factors, in the range of $2.00 to $2.60 a lb.

 

That sucks. So I take it that copper isn’t 6 bucks a pound. Oh I just read it. Damn it

 

I wouldn't know how copper is extracted from red brass, or if it even is. Maybe it is a simpler process. However, a 45%-50% value is still a far cry from the full value of Grade A copper.

 

Currently, Grade A copper is about $4.53/lb. which is the highest it has been in quite a long time.

 

Copper futures are currently trading in the $4.50 range. Keep in mind the physical market can deviate significantly at times.