Are pennies made of copper
When you spend a penny at the store, it’s only worth 1 cent. Have you ever stopped to think whether the coins in your pocket are valuable metals? An interesting fact about pennies is that they were once made of 100% copper. You’re probably thinking, used to? Yes, that’s right! Pennies are no longer mainly copper and have not been for nearly 40 years. If pennies aren’t copper, what are they made of? Keep reading to find out!
What are pennies made of
The US Mint has minted pennies from many different materials. They have always contained one valuable material: copper. However, the copper isn’t usually by itself. It contains other metals mixed in to form an alloy. The other metals included in this alloy are zinc and tin. They add these metals to the mix to prevent tarnishing. This process is to help pennies last longer in circulation. This extends the life of the penny but there is still a very high percentage of copper! Have you ever found an old penny on the ground and it has a green tarnish on it? This is why! Pennies are now 95% Zinc which helps them last in circulation longer than ever before.
Why did they they stop making the penny out of copper? One reason, MONEY. Making pennies is expensive!
How much does it cost to make a penny
Who knew creating a penny would be so expensive? In 2010, the US Mint claimed costs nearly 1.79 cents to make a penny. This cost eventually went down to less than 1.5 cents. When made of copper, it was nearly 2 cents per penny! The Mint wanted to make sure they were not losing money minting coins. They eventually changed the makeup of the coins to a cheaper metal, zinc.
When did pennies stop being made with copper
- From 1793 to 1837 pennies minted were 100% copper. Eventually the US Mint found pennies lasted longer if made out of bronze.
- From 1857 to 1864 the US Mint turned to a copper and nickel mixture.
- From 1864 to 1962 pennies minted were a bronze (copper / tin) alloy. This excludes the year 1943 when pennies were shiny white steel! (Read more about that here).
- From 1864 to 1962 were 95% copper with 5% mixture of tin and zinc.
- The penny changed again to 95% / 5% mixture until 1982.
- In 1983 zinc took over the makeup of the penny with 95% Zinc and 5% copper. This is what the US Mint still uses today.
How much is a copper penny worth
Today, copper pennies are worth a little more than 2 cents each. That is double the value! Holding onto copper pennies that have a date of 1982 or older has turned into somewhat of a long haul for most collectors. The reason for this is because it’s currently illegal to melt pennies down for raw copper.
Do not forget that coins also have a numismatic value based on grade and not material alone! Some older coins have amazingly high values. Read more about those here! Many copper pennies from the wheat cent years (1909-1958) can be worth very high values based on their grade. You can learn more about coin grading HERE.
Can pennies be melted down
The current law from the US Government and Mint is that it is illegal to melt down nickels and pennies or to export them out of the country in mass quantities. Why is it illegal? The reason is due of the rising price of copper and other precious metals. If everyone in the country found out that melting down pennies would double your money, the penny would likely become scarce as people searched through their change to find them and melt them down. The time and money to replace these melted copper coins would cost taxpayers a huge amount of money. Billions!
What to do with copper pennies
You can do a lot of things with copper pennies! You can stack them, trade them with other collectors, put them in a jug, or even just collect them for fun. Many collectors enjoy putting their copper pennies in books to fill up their collection. Some collectors keep copper pennies in hopes that one day they will allow them to melt the coins down for profit. Currently the ban is still in effect. It’s even illegal to take more than $5.00 worth of pennies outside the country! Who knew?
Can I sell pennies for copper
There are sellers online that sell bulk bags of coins on Ebay, and other various markets. You might consider checking out these listings to see if it is worth the price. Usually bulk bags of pennies selling for about $30 for 10 pounds. There are roughly 145 copper pennies to a pound so you would be selling $14.50 worth of pennies for $30 dollars. This sounds great until you calculate shipping costs. Shipping is expensive!
Shipping 10 pounds can be quite expensive, so this is likely not very profitable. Don’t forget you would also have to pay eBay and PayPal’s selling fees. Instead, you might consider posting to your local Facebook Marketplace or creating a Craigslist ad. Odds are you would be able to find someone local who hoards copper pennies!
Can I get pennies from the bank
Absolutely. Pennies are readily available from the bank. You can get them in rolls or even boxes which only cost $25. This would fall in the same category as Coin Roll Hunting. You can read more about that here.
All you need to do is go into the bank and ask for a box and search through the coins. Once you’ve found the copper pennies or wheaties, fill the rolls back up and return them to the bank and ask for more! Keep doing this and someday you might end up a millionaire. Good luck out there!
If you’d like to read more about pennies, don’t miss it here: Pennies on Wikipedia.
