and the new hot bullion is...copper???

Okay can I get some opinions on this? You go to bullion on fleabay and they have a section devoted to copper. Of course you are paying way too much over spot there that you must have a hole in your head (sorry if you buy copper bars on ebay, it's an opinion)

You can sort bankrolls of pennies for pre-82s. I've seen the forums and yes they are doing it. In massive bulk. If you're lazy you can buy them pre-sorted from these people...(some of them realized they have way to much $ tied up in cents)

Yes copper is an industrial metal. It is also not very rare. However, more of the world is modernizing. When the economy gets back on track (a little optimistic attitude isn't so horrible) this metal could get flowing.

Is this a viable bullion? It would help diversify a metal portfolio. We talk about gold and silver alot here, does the cent belong here too?

 

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try the mint medals.

 

Copper is more of an industrial metal than even silver. Unlike gold or silver, it is pretty plentiful underground. It's good for a trading commodity, but don't confuse it with an investment except against hyperinflation. And in the case of hyperinflation, gold and silver will probably do better.

 

which country got hyperinflation before?. anyone?.

 

Lots of them before. The biggest country that comes to mind right now is definitely Zimbabwe.

 

WHAT? You mean buying this $100,000,000,000 Zimbabwe note for $5.99 is not a good deal right now?? I think this will get you a loaf or two of bread over there...
https://www.apmex.com/Product/47816...lion_Dollars_Unc_Giraffe_Grain_Elevators.aspx

 

Germany, 1923
USA, 2011

 

Copper is great if you can follow an electrician around. I scoop up their scraps, remove the insulation, and then sell it for scrap. Then I take the money and buy silver so copper is sort of a "precious metal" to me.:mouth:

 

Looks like I should buy more PM's.

I was watching the history channel the other day and they did a whole segment on economic warfare. The Nazi's had a secret camp that used Jewish prisoners to counterfeit the pound. Apparently they had it down to an exact match after testing it out in many British banks. Their plan was to fly over England and drop the counterfeits to cause massive hyperinflation. I think the war ended before they got the chance. It would have been interesting to see how that could have turned to tide of the war.

 

USA - mid 1860's
13 Colonies - 1770s and 80s.

 

If you do become so inclined there are places other than eBay with copper bullion, not scrap form, to stack up with: Cohen Mint but like the others are saying, stay with the stable leaders of PMs for investment and use copper to reinvest in gold, silver, platinum as you see fit.

 

Thanks for the great informative posts, I'm really learning a lot here. I collect cents purely as a numismatic pursuit, but I was suprised at the number of people out there hoarding pre-82 cents. I understand that it is the only coin out there in U.S. circulation that is plentiful and worth more in metal content than its official tender, but it seems you would have to have literally tons of them for the endeavor to even begin to pay off. Also there is some speculation as to the discontinuation of the cent. From what I understand this has been an "old" debate going on for "a long time" but I'm still pretty new to all this. Would this hoarding affect numismatic value? It seems to me that quantity will never beat quality but if I had been around to hoard silver coinage back in the 50s that would have been a solid investment. Particularly if said hoard was sold in the 80s boom. The website that really sparked my curiousity, aside from ebay itself was this forum http://realcent.forumco.com/default.asp
I thank you for all your feedback...and look forward to more! Personally I'm actively pursuing ASEs and pre-64 us silver, I still think silver is where the best return will be realized right now. Just an opinion.

 

JrCoin:

Yes, there is a lot of "end of the cent?' debate on CT as well, here are some threads I've recently seen, participated in and links to other stories on the discussion:

Will the cent last another 10 years (CT)

Should we eliminate the cent? (CT)

Lincoln Cent Literally Struck Through (CT)
(this one didn't start as a cent discontinuation thread but touched on it)

Penny Dreadful [The New Yorker]

Managing Change: Is the penny worth keeping? [WSJ]

 

Actually:

 

Copper will most likely make a comeback as real money as the China copper based copper Yaun and or prure copper Yuan.

As the first metal ever dug out of the ground and made into something valuable, copper has a very long history of being traded as money.

As for the price. They need to get a more realistic trading price established.at we see now is 2.3 metric ton anode sheets that have a long wat to go before they can be used for any kind of commiecial use.

As fas a cents , hoarding pre 82 makes as much sense as did ( does) snatching 90% silver from commom pocket change. If you are going to grab those cents, hurry , they are being pullled by more and more copper folks every day.

Yes, copper BULLION will some day be valuable, tradeable and inflation resistant. I think those that are now putting away copper that is stamped .999 fine are going to be glad that they did in the very nesr future.

 

I hoard the little pre-1982 copper coins. It's not a precious metal and I don't consider it bullion. I wouldn't say it's a great investment either (that's up for you to decide).

The metal in nickels is worth more than face also. Those are easy to get at face value with no sorting necessary.

 

Unfortunately that may be what China intends to do to us, not exactly but the end result is the same. They will keep letting their citizens make our money and once it gets good enough, blamo!! I hope not, but it don't look good at this point. just my 2 cnts.

 

[HR][/HR]I am always astounded when I see these numbers, but there is a regular trade of copper US cents on Ebay. 100 dollars lots usually trading for $160+ (including the shipping) This site keeps a sort of running tally on weekly sales.

http://currencydebasement.com/copper_penny_bullion_index_july_31_to_aug_06_2011_166.09

 

Wow - with people paying those prices it wouldn't take all that long to pay for one of those sorting machines that people talk about

 

Those are ebay prices. Figure for 10,000 coppers you'd probably get around $130 ($160 minus about $30 for shipping and ebay fees). It doesn't seem like much considering you had to buy the machine, go to the bank for hundreds of lbs of pennies, and then haul the zincs back.

If you sold them without the fees it would start to make more sense.