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nickle and penny 10k fine - 12/15/2006 9:27:01 AM

pahunkboy

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if one is caught melting down the fine is 10k. it seems that 1981 and older pennies, and ? nickles cost more to make then the metal cost.

who would have ever thought?

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RE: nickle and penny 10k fine - 12/15/2006 10:03:39 AM

subfever

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Yes, I saw that story plastered on AOL's home page yesterday. I can't help but wonder why the US Mint would advertise those facts. Now there are tens of thousands more people who know that melting can be profitable.

One answer would be to just eliminate the penny and nickel, and round everything either up or down to the nearest dime. Over the long haul, everything would equal out.

Elimination of the penny and nickel would also create better opportunities to introduce successful half-dollar and dollar coins.

The only downside to this idea, that I can think of at the moment, would be that such measures might give the privately-owned Federal Reserve the opportunity to inflate our money even more aggressively.

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RE: nickle and penny 10k fine - 12/15/2006 10:57:43 AM

pahunkboy

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The penny should be eliminated.

Im not so sure about teh nickle.

This may fuel the rush to a cashless society....

Who is going to take teh time to do this tho???

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RE: nickle and penny 10k fine - 12/15/2006 11:00:43 AM

r4l884slave

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I missed the story on AOL-what is profitable about melting pennies?

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RE: nickle and penny 10k fine - 12/15/2006 11:03:40 AM

DOM68005

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The value of the metal in a US penny exceeds one cent. That really is not news.
It has happened before. Once upon a time, the penny was all copper until the value exceed one cent. That is why today's penny is an alloy.

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RE: nickle and penny 10k fine - 12/15/2006 11:04:40 AM

pahunkboy

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this is for pennies 1982 and older. current pennies -the metal is worthless....

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RE: nickle and penny 10k fine - 12/15/2006 11:06:23 AM

pahunkboy

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I might add that gangs would strip slums/abandonded houses of the copper plumbing. if even more brazen the street poles were next....

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RE: nickle and penny 10k fine - 12/15/2006 11:15:15 AM

subfever

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quote:

ORIGINAL: r4l884slave

I missed the story on AOL-what is profitable about melting pennies?

Pre-1982 pennies are primarily copper. Since 1982, they are 95% zinc with copper plating.

Melting either one today would produce a profit, though the older pennies produce more profit, as copper is more expensive.

Melting nickels are also profitable, as they contain 75% copper. Their melt-down value as of yesterday's spot metal prices was 6.99 cents per nickel.

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RE: nickle and penny 10k fine - 12/15/2006 1:28:20 PM

NeedToUseYou

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hrmmm, so a 40% profit for melting it down. That's damn good. How do you get 50000 dollars of nickels anyway. Can you order them through the treasury. LOL.

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RE: nickle and penny 10k fine - 12/15/2006 1:33:29 PM

sub4hire

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How are you going to get caught? Is there going to be a sting in my garage?

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RE: nickle and penny 10k fine - 12/15/2006 1:39:01 PM

sophia37

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Whats the cost for the melting process.

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RE: nickle and penny 10k fine - 12/15/2006 6:22:22 PM

MasterKalif

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more than the cost.....how on earth do you melt one or five or ten for that matter? not in your kitchen pot, right? anyone know?

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RE: nickle and penny 10k fine - 12/15/2006 8:24:28 PM

Chaingang

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A kiln might get hot enough depending on what one uses it for. But I would think melting coins would have to be incidental to getting other real work accomplished so that the melting of the coins is just an extra.

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RE: nickle and penny 10k fine - 12/15/2006 9:33:59 PM

UtopianRanger

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quote:

ORIGINAL: pahunkboy

if one is caught melting down the fine is 10k. it seems that 1981 and older pennies, and ? nickles cost more to make then the metal cost.

who would have ever thought?

As soon as China completes the work on all of their new steel plants /alloy facilities, the price of steel and other non-precious metals will tumble in price.

Helicopter Ben and another envoy will be making a trip to China very soon. They'll get on there knees and beg President Hu not dump any of their dollar holdings or flood the market with cheap Chinese steel.

It will come at a hefty price. ; }

- R

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"If you are going to win any battle, you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do... the body is never tired if the mind is not tired."

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RE: nickle and penny 10k fine - 12/15/2006 9:51:21 PM

LadyHugs

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Dear pahunkboy, Ladies and Gentlemen;

I saw this topic float by on the scroll and was attracted to read what you wrote.

In addition to people that strip old homes of copper and other metals in homes, to include fixtures; people steal the bronze and or copper plates off tombstones and or grave markers.

I did by chance come by a 1945 penny that was not copper. It is a Zinc penny, to include the wheat branches on the back. Although there are values listed for the 1943 Zinc pennies; there is no mention or listed value for the 1945 Zinc penny. My parents mentioned that during W. W. II; all metals that could be used in the war effort were used, even steel rims off cars.

I'm sure there must be billions in pennies here and there. I can also imagine some being lost in between seat cushions in cars, the cars then smashed in the salvage yard and sold as scrap. Question is, who will find the pennies from these old cars and lost coins from pockets with holes that happen. I've picked up a hand full of pennies on parking lots. I view it as nearly impossible for the US Secret Service to enforce the law in regards to these coins being destroyed. There are, in my mind's eyes--higher priorities.

Thank you for an interesting thread/topic.

Respectfully submitted for consideration,
Lady Hugs

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RE: nickle and penny 10k fine - 12/16/2006 6:13:03 AM

sub4hire

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quote:

ORIGINAL: MasterKalif

more than the cost.....how on earth do you melt one or five or ten for that matter? not in your kitchen pot, right? anyone know?

When I was a child my father used to melt lead down. Of course lead is a softer metal than copper.
However, he used to do it outside...in a kitchen pot over a fire.
He would melt it down..take out all the impurites. Mold it onto custom pieces and re-sell it. Even those he didn't end up selling he still make a killing on selling to the recycler as clean lead.

You'd need a pot that would'nt melt before the copper did. I'm sure it can be done. Not so hard either for the person who really wants to do it.

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RE: nickle and penny 10k fine - 12/22/2006 11:20:28 PM

Termyn8or

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Ok folks, you have been warned about me.

I used to know this guy who sifted the gold out of the "pot" at a crematorium. He killed himself. I didn't know him all that well but he showed me his little melting pot.

Now as I think both sides of the equation, if you melted a bunch of coins (into what ?) they can tell by the alloy.

I can think of an easy way to melt down nickels. In the US there are and have been bigscreen TVs for a long time. Many are unrepairable and the go to the dump, but the screens are saved if they are in good shape. The outer screen is called the lenticular and disperses the light in a specific pattern, thus forming the viewing angle.

The inner screen is referrred to as a fresnel, and that is what it is. You can easily burn asphalt on a ½ sunny day with one. On a sunny day you can melt just about anything. They start at about 46" diagonal but those are the small ones. They go up to like 61".

If melting metal is profitable, I have a cheap way to do it. Using solar energy I can melt damnear anything. With these fresnels I can also put them to water and make steam.

BTW, it used to be a 10K fine not to turn in all your gold.

T

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