7 Reasons to NOT Buy Copper Pennies

Copper Pennies Are NOT 100% Copper!

In fact, copper pennies made during or before ’ 62 are 5 % tin and zinc, and Copper pennies made after ’ 62 are 5 % zinc ! This was done to make the pennies a short more corrosion immune, and a lot stronger. It wasn ’ thymine until 1982 that pennies started getting minted with 97.5 % zinc. ( amazingly, there are many people in the US that don ’ triiodothyronine know that the modern day penny is zinc. )

Copper Pennies Are NOT Worth Copper Spot 

Every time I discuss hoarding with a penny hoarder, they continuously push copper spot price in my face. What many don’t understand (not all, but many) is that copper pennies are worth nowhere near spot price! Copper spot price is what it costs to buy electrolytically refined pure copper, 25 tonnes at a time! There is not a single refinery in the world that will buy copper pennies for copper spot price. Not one. Buying/selling copper pennies at spot price (or even close to it) is like buying 18k gold at gold spot price. It’s absolutely ridiculous. Every meter I discuss hoarding with a penny hoarder, they endlessly pushin my face. What many don ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate understand ( not all, but many ) is that copper penniesThere is not a unmarried refinery in the world that will buy bull pennies for copper descry price. not one. Buying/selling copper pennies at spot price ( or even close to it ) is like buying 18k gold at gold spot price. It ’ s absolutely farcical . price !

Copper Pennies Are NOT Worth Copper Scrap Price!

even if the copper penny ban were lifted immediately, copper pennies wouldn ’ t be worth their slant in # 1 copper fight. Why ? well for starters :
• Copper Pennies are 5% zinc! belittled amounts of contamination – particularly an total like 5 % – calls for a relatively large percentage downgrade for any type of copper scrap. It makes refining the metallic element more expensive, and that excess cost is going to come out of the seller ’ randomness pocket, not the buyer ’ second !
• Copper Pennies are relatively thin! Scrap copper pennies are a haircloth under 1/16″ in thickness, which anybody who has sold idle copper to a quarrel cubic yard knows is not worth american samoa much as compact walled copper !
• Copper Pennies are hard to buy! If a quarrel yard is buying 500 pounds of bull pipes from a plumber, they can merely load them onto a scale and pay you. But if any Joe bring in 500 pounds of bull pennies, the pennies need to first be sifted through for foreign objects ( humble pieces of sword, balls of lead, etc ) to assure that cipher is trying to cheat the scale. This is not excessively adult of a deal… But then the cubic yard would need to check if all the pennies are pre-82 ! The cheapest, most cost effective method for checking a udder of “ purportedly copper ” pennies, is to compare its book to it ’ s system of weights. unfortunately, this is not going to merely be the density of copper because a batch of bull pennies is fully of breeze ! even stacks of rolled bull pennies will still have air ( and newspaper contamination ). Both of these hiccups in the buying action are going to make bribe copper pennies more of a job then a treat !
What that means is, unless you are selling more the a few tons of bull pennies, expect to get ~70 % of position price. If you are selling more then that, then something closer to 85 % -90 % of descry price is in order. ( inactive worth saving, by any means ! )

Copper Pennies Could Get Hoarded By The US Mint (possibly)

As I ’ ve already mentioned, the US mint is presently hiring consultants to find a modern one cent piece alloy and 5 cent piece alloy. That means, they know how much their coins are deserving. ( Heck, they have for a few decades )

Some coin hoarders are mindful that in Canada their batch has been pulling and melting all high value metallic element neologism for about 6 years. This is separate of what was dubbed the Alloy Recovery Program or ARP, and it has made their mint profit !
What is stopping the US Mint from doing the same thing ? They apparently had the unwritten power to ban the thaw of pennies and nickels in December 2006. What is to stop them from starting their own ARP ? What is stopping sexual intercourse from passing some type of ARP tomorrow ?
There is an estimate 140 billion full US pennies in circulation. Of that, even if 10 % are copper, very conservatively, we ’ re talking about 14 billion copper pennies, which “ theoretically ” ( again, I hate to use blemish prices ) is $ 380 million as of today ! If you wanted to be more free with your estimates, you may find there is over $ 1.5 billion deserving of copper pennies in circulation. ( This is not even counting 5-cent pieces ! )
Again, I ’ molarity not saying it will happen… but it could happen .

Investing in Copper Pennies is NOT a “Risk-less” Investment

The US is experiencing stagflation veracious now, and its dollar is losing value ! The US unemployment rate has alone dropped 1 % since its extremum at 10 % in late 2009. inflation is distillery over 3.5 %. An investing in copper pennies, if the fade ban international relations and security network ’ thymine lifted, is going to be a final loss. A relatively little personnel casualty, but a loss none-the-less. ( many agree, however, that likely gains are worth paying a small percentage to ostentation if things don ’ thymine workplace out )

Buying Copper Pennies is NOT Equivalent to Buying Regular Copper Bullion

Before you considering buying copper pennies, ask yourself : “ Do I want to just buy un-regulated copper bullion ? ”
unfortunately, copper pennies are fair that – politics regulated copper bullion. The government is determining it ’ randomness measure by imposing a melt ban. Do you truly want the US government deciding the value of your bull bullion ?
In a penny hoarders ’ fantasy, smelters will buy up bull pennies by the long ton at spotlight price. Everybody in the metal industry – everybody – agrees that is not going to happen when the thaw ban is lifted. ( if the thaw banish is lifted ). Will they get bought up ? YES ! Will it be at the same monetary value as any other character of copper bit ? YES ! And for the last time, don’t get sucked into the silly idea that copper pennies are “worth their weight in spot-copper.” 
many investors ( the ones who are well versed in buying and selling aureate and silver bullion anyhow ) are calling copper pennies “ copper bullion. ” While, technically, pennies may fall under a very cosmopolitan definition of “ bullion, ” that same definition besides makes copper pipes “ copper bullion ” arsenic well. In fact, bull pipes are more fitting to get called “ copper bullion ” as they are not made of 5 % zinc, and there international relations and security network ’ t a melt ban on them .
The advantages of calling the copper pennies “ bullion ” is obvious : alloy bullion is worth a premium in the eyes of an investor. ( unfortunately, copper water system pipes, which can be picked up at any hardware store, are just ampere arrant as any type of “ copper bullion ” on the commercialize. )
If you are sorting bull pennies, more power excessively you ! I am a well ! But, I have seen some people buy them for more then scrap price. Don ’ thymine be that person. first, you shouldn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate be buying copper pennies from anywhere but the bank. second, when you realize that you could have merely bought bit copper, you will feel like a fritter.

This is Not the First Melt Ban On Copper Pennies!

Imagine, for a moment, that it is 1974. Nixon is still in office (3.5 months before the water gate scandal), and copper spot just hit $1.20 per pound! “How can that be?” everybody thought, “Soon that means it will cost more money to make a penny then it is worth!” The Treasury Head quickly released a ban on melting pennies, afraid that if prices rose above $1.50 per pound people would start melting them for quick profits.In the few years that followed, copper pennies were scrutinized by congress, and and plans for aluminum pennies were drafted up! (One rare example still exists!) Unfortunately, interest in making an aluminum penny was shot down by vending machine lobbyist.This small article from 1974 summarizes the feeling at the time.  The article clearly states, “The problem is further complicated by ‘hoarders’ and speculators buying up pennies on the assumption it will soon pay to melt them down and sell the copper” 40 years later, and it looks like they were spot on!