How to make money melting coins

The bad news is, the plan's thoroughly illegal and has been for 8 years now: So you definitely should not do this — at least, not yet. But there is a very good chance the plan's criminal status will be revoked sometime in the next decade or two, which means you can still use this plan to more than double your money with little effort — though you'll need to wait a few years.

How does the plan work? This is especially noticeable if watch old movies or TV shows, and pay attention whenever they discuss finances. Consider this line from the opening scenes of the movie Mr.

Blandings Builds His Dream House , a screwball comedy about a rich Manhattan executive who decides to live in the wild and untamed suburbs of Connecticut:. Jim Blandings is part of the fabric of this town.

Democratic Underground Forums - Request error

Advertising business, lovely wife, two fine kids, makes almost fifteen thousand a year. So the dollar keeps shrinking yet our coins remain the same size, which causes and has caused genuine problems for the U. Mint, when the metal required to make a coin is worth more than the coin itself.

That explains various coin changes in living memory: But rising silver prices or the steady decline in the value of the dollar, whichever you prefer eventually made silver too expensive to use as everyday currency, so starting in , all formerly silver coins were minted out of copper and nickel layers — hence the little brown or red stripe you see on the rims of any dimes and quarters in your pocket right now.

Is it possible to make a profit melting down pennies and selling the raw materials? : NoStupidQuestions

On the off-chance you see a dime, quarter or half-dollar without that reddish-brown rim, check the date: Yet even without silver, there remain in circulation many common coins whose metal is worth more than their face value: Modern pennies are made of zinc with a very light copper coating, and zinc is close to worthless.

The actual metal in a modern zinc penny is worth a mere. Yet until mid, pennies were made of copper.

Should You Melt Down Pennies for Profit? Not U.S. Pennies, But - AOL Finance

The Mint stopped making copper pennies in the early '80s for the same reason it stopped minting silver coins in the '60s: At today's copper prices, a copper Lincoln penny is worth slightly more than two cents for the metal alone in addition to any collector's value such an old coin might have. So any penny in your pocket dated or earlier is worth at least double its face value — except it's illegal to melt copper Lincoln pennies for scrap metal, and illegal to melt Jefferson nickels too except for the silver war nickels.

That's been the case since , when rising metal prices, especially copper and nickel, meant it would actually be profitable to melt down certain coins in circulation — hence the then-new law making it illegal to do that, or to export such coins out of the country for melting.

The director of the U. Replacing these coins would be an enormous cost to taxpayers. So ever since it's been illegal to melt pennies or nickels for their metal content.

The Mint has been seeking Congressional permission to make cheaper nickels since at least Similar melt bans have been lifted before: And given how the U.

Even if you're not a wealthy hedge-fund manager with a million dollars and a secure storage warehouse to spare, you can still set aside any good pennies and other coins you find in your pocket change — and if you have an account with a brick-and-mortar bank, they'll probably give you free paper coin-roll wrappers if you ask. They'll also sell you a roll of 40 nickels for two dollars — though if you want to and can afford to buy a million dollars' worth of nickels, you'll have to skip the bank and make formal arrangements directly with the U.

Terms of Use Your use of this site constitutes acceptance of the Terms of Use. Advertisements on this site are placed and controlled by outside advertising networks.

See the FAQ for more information. Partner with ConsumerAffairs for Brands If your company has a page on our site, we invite you to sign up for a Starter Account today to respond to your customers directly. Alternatively, you may call us at The information on this Web site is general in nature and is not intended as a substitute for competent legal advice.

The contents of this site may not be republished, reprinted, rewritten or recirculated without written permission. Menu Consumer News Buyers Guides For Businesses Write a review Search. Blandings Builds His Dream House , a screwball comedy about a rich Manhattan executive who decides to live in the wild and untamed suburbs of Connecticut: Metal is worth more So the dollar keeps shrinking yet our coins remain the same size, which causes and has caused genuine problems for the U.

Copper Lincoln pennies Source: Stay up to date with important consumer news: Home Brands Blog About Us Contact Us.

FAQ Terms of Use Privacy Policy We are Hiring! Write a review Home Consumer News Buyers Guides For Businesses Log in.