Do you recycle copper pennies?

Got a call from a guy, told me he had 10-20 pounds of copper pennies and was wondering if we buy them.

He said, he could go to the bank and exchange them for quarters (larger change) but said he knew the price of copper was up and felt he could get more by recycling them rather than cashing them in.

Of coarse I told him no, warned him he might be subject to arrest and large fines if he tries to scrap (destroy) US currency.

That was a first for me, never had anybody ask if we pay cash for the scrap value of pennies.

I thought this was a bizarre and interesting inquiry so I figured I'd share it.

Im sure it would be a felony to do so, as the US Government has measures into place to replace old currency with new, fresh currency all the time.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by GeorgeB

Im sure it would be a felony to do so, as the US Government has measures into place to replace old currency with new, fresh currency all the time.

---

I'm not sure what the exact charge is but I'm sure it is in fact a very hefty one.

I believe, give or take my exact words, the first thing I said was "If you get caught destroying (scrapping, melting, refining) US currency you'll probably get arrested"

It's a bit baffling to me that he said it like it was nothing, in fact when I told him about the illegalities of it he sounded quite surprised that this was the case.

Soon it will be legal. As soon as they stop the production of pennies. I have spoken to several officials. Whom most replied with if a man can melt a silver quarter with no penalties. Then after pennies are no longer made yes you could melt pennies, but as of now NO. I have 4 5 gallon buckets of 1982 and back pennies waiting lol. All my wheat pennies are in rolls for my kids. The rest in buckets for ,,,,,,, well my kids lol. Thanks for sharing ADMIN

One copper cent is worth .023 Current Melt Value Of Coins - How Much Is Your Coin Worth?

You can, however, sell big lots of pennies on Ebay. What the buyer does with them is their business.

It is currently only illegal to melt cents and five cent coins (pennies and nickels for those of you not into numismatics). You can melt everything else. It's not cost effective to melt dimes, quarters, halves, or dollars though. The only exception is war nickels (minted from 1942-1945 with the large mintmark over the dome on the reverse). They're 35% silver and can be melted.

Plenty of people still melt silver dimes, quarters, halves, and dollars for the silver content.

IIRC it was a few years ago it was legal to melt pennies. There was a thread on here a few months ago about a guy buying up trailer loads of them and sorting/melting them or something.

I believe Canada has done away with the penny. Wonder if there's a niche there and what copper content their pennies are.

In the UK it's illegal to melt coins of the realm but not to do so outside of the UK. Some people may travel over the channel and melt them in France and it would be ok. There's an article of a guy that did just this.

A fast look on ebay and you see today 1 cent is worth at least 2 cents so people are gearing up for the big melt down or it is being done now but how do you catch people they can melt pennies and wire and hide the pennies true CU content I feel some of the copper bars selling now are melted pennies

admin If you could buy them would they be #2 copper? Also looks like 145 pennies to a pound! How many pennies per pound, Penny types

In my offshore oilfield days, working out of New Orleans, found myself hanging out on Bourbon Street, one summer afternoon. Wasn't much to it, just grab a beer and stand around watching the people come and go. There were lots of people had apartments and homes right there along the street. All of a sudden someone opens their door and steps out onto the sidewalk, with some sort of a cranking machine (similar to the thing you'd see in cartoons where the guy cranks the box and the monkey dances), but this machine cranked out pennies. I didn't inquire, but believe it was for a quarter, he'd crank you out a real penny with a New Orleans souvenir stamped into it. A crowd gathered round, as they often did for side shows, and the line grew. It wasn't long (i hadn't even finished my beer) until some fellas in suits appeared, showing him their badges, and arresting him for defacing US property (I think that was the charge)

I found it best to pick up the pennies kids had layed on the trolley car rails, for souvenirs, they came out squished quite well ; )

Quote:

---

but this machine cranked out pennies. I didn't inquire, but believe it was for a quarter, he'd crank you out a real penny with a New Orleans souvenir stamped into it. A crowd gathered round, as they often did for side shows, and the line grew. It wasn't long until some fellas in suits appeared, showing him their badges, and arresting him for defacing US property (I think that was the charge)

---

Based on what your saying I think there is some differences of opinions as I've seen a penny pressing machine in the rest areas of the Ohio tollroad. Check halfway down this page. interesting reading;
Legal to press pennies or other coins?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mechanic688

Based on what your saying I think there is some differences of opinions as I've seen a penny pressing machine in the rest areas of the Ohio tollroad. Check halfway down this page. interesting reading;
Legal to press pennies or other coins?

---

that was an interesting read but to my interpretation, came across as though it is in fact illegal to use penny pressing machines, like at disney world, other amusement parks, or souvenir shops. So, is it legal to provide a penny pressing machine, and earn money with it, however illegal to use it?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bear

the pennies kids had layed on the trolley car rails, for souvenirs, they came out squished quite well ; )

---

guilty:cool:

down the block from where i grew up "the tracks" was a favorite hangout

I know they have one of the penny press machines at Bass Pro in Indiana. My ex wife and I took the kids there maybe 7 years ago and we came back home with about 2 bucks worth of smashed pennies. Didn't know then I was breaking the law lol. Kids enjoyed it tho.

the defacing of currency has to do with the intent to cheat people (coin with string attached to steal from vending machine ect.) Explore realcent.org under copper penny investing forum it will tell you all about the laws and penny hoarding.

Here are my two cents (forgive the pun).

1. I'm guessing the US mint/treasury would be exempt from laws regarding the destruction of currency for obvious reasons. That being the case, I'm wondering what criteria they would use in determining when coinage should be taken out of circulation. Is it age, condition, or a combination of both? If age is a factor, one should wonder if the treasury itself has the authority to sell off excess copper from pre-1983 pennies at their discretion.

2. If the laws do change, and people are allowed to smelt currency, might it be wiser to keep hoarding pennies instead (at least the ones that are in rather decent condition)? If this does happen, I would imagine the flood gates would open, and a large percentage of these older pennies that are currently in circulation would be turned in for scrap. This would of course make finding them a rarer occurrence over time, and coin collectors may be willing to pay more to have them.

Some people buy them and hoard them without destroying them. They are "banking" on pennies going away from US currency due to inflationn or being able to cash them in for scrap value at some point in the future. i dont smelt copper myself, so i am not interested in hoarding pennies, but im sure it happens all the time with backkyard foundries. I would hate to know what happens when someone gets caught

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by admin

that was an interesting read but to my interpretation, came across as though it is in fact illegal to use penny pressing machines, like at disney world, other amusement parks, or souvenir shops. So, is it legal to provide a penny pressing machine, and earn money with it, however illegal to use it?

---

Here's what I found interesting in that letter that came from the Treasury Dept. lawyer;

Quote:

---

This is in reply to your letter of Jun 20, 1980, concerning United States statutes governing the destruction, melting, or other extramonetary uses of United States coins. You refer to and question the legality of a souvenir machine which compresses coins and returns a souvenir. You refer to Title 18, U. S. C. sections 331 and 475.
As you are already aware, a federal statute in the criminal code of the United States (18 U.S.C. 331), indeed makes it illegal if one "fraudulently alters, defaces, mutilates, impairs, diminishes, falsifies, scales or lightens" any U.S. coin. However, being a criminal statute, a fraudulent intent is required for violation. Thus, the mere act of compressing coins into souvenirs is not illegal, without other factors being present.
Section 475, which you refer to in your letter, regarding the attachment of notice or advertisement to legal tender, does not apply to your souvenirs in this case. Your are not impressing or attaching a business or professional card, notice or advertisement to a coin, your are simply making an impression on the coin.

---

If I'm reading it right then as long as your not stamping advertising onto the pressed coin then it is legal??? (scratch head)