Can I melt down pennies and then sell the zinc? the penny's metal is worth more than 1 cent - legal?
913541
First, the metal value of a current cent is about 1.25 cents, not 25 cents. The melt value of an older cent is a little over 2 cents, (made pre 1983, they were mostly copper). Second, it is not illegal in any way to melt down coins for the metal value. People melted millions of ounces of old silver coins in 1980 when the price spike to over $50 an ounce, and an old silver dollar was worth $39 melt value. It is illegal to deface or change a coin or note for purposes of defrauding others. If you take a penny, scratch reeding into the sides, coat it silvery and try to pass it off as a dime, that is illegal, (this happened in 1883 with nickels, where people gold plated them and tried to pass them off as new 5 dollar gold pieces). Melting your own personal property is not illegal.
459460
It is not worth anything.  Quarters before 1965 are more valuable because of the silver content.
101565
Hi Underworld -- I'm afraid some of the previous answers may have caused some confusion about the coin(s) in question... So -- let me explain it like this:\n\nYour 1940 penny is likely worth .02 to .05 (cents) if in "pocket-change" condition.  If it is still in "shiny new" condition, perhaps $1 to $1.50.\n\n . . . ABOUT WHEAT PENNIES . . .   (per Coinfacts.com)\n\nMost Wheat cents are very common, and were produced by the millions and even billions. Currently, common date wheat cents carry a very small premium, in fact only a few cents to a few dollars each, depending on condition and year. Be on the lookout for the 1909-S, 1909-S V.D.B. (The designers initials that appear at the bottom of the reverse), 1914-D, and the 1922-D with no mintmark below the date. These four dates carry a nice premium if you have one. Wheat cents may be a good start to a youngster's collection.\n\nA complete list of Wheat Cents and their retail values is available in the Guidebook of US Coins by R.S. Yeoman. Currently you can purchase the Guidebook of US Coins for as little as $11 online (see link below)\n\n===========================\n\nThe reference to a 1943 penny with a "value of 200,000" is incorrect...  \n\n . . . ABOUT 1943 STEEL PENNIES . . .  (per Heritage site)\n\nIn 1943, the production of our One Cent coin went through a major change. War efforts that year required copper and its availability was limited. It was decided to change the content from copper to steel coated with zinc for the first run of the new 1943 cents. In 1944, the need for copper was reduced, and the production of the copper cent resumed.\n\nOver one billion 1943 steel cents were produced at the Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco mints, making this a very common coin. However, many people found the new "look" fascinating and saved, rather than spend, the new steel cent. Today, their value ranges from about 5 cents up to about 35 cents in circulated condition. Uncirculated specimens (showing no trace of wear or handling) can bring up to about $10 in high grades.\n\n===========================\n\n . . . ABOUT 1943 COPPER PENNIES . . .\n\nRare errors on bronze planchets are known - BUT beware of counterfeits (bronze will not be attracted to a magnet). IF you happen to locate a BRONZE colored 1943 penny - take it to a coin dealer THAT YOU CAN TRUST for their opinion.  \nGenuine cents of this type can sometimes fetch $40,000.00+.\n\nWhy the confusion?\n\nMany national and area television stations recently reported about a $500,000 cent. They mistakenly advised people that the steel cent was very valuable. What they should have said was that THE 1943 COPPER CENT IS THE RARE VERSION.\nWhat happened was an extremely limited number of 1943 cents were inadvertently struck on copper planchets, left in the machinery from the previous year. Very few escaped the mint unnoticed, and these are considered very desirable to collectors. \n\nAuction histories indicate the value range to be from around $5,000 to $70,000 depending on the mint and condition... not the half million-dollar figure quoted. Copper-plated zinc forgeries abound. The primary test is to use a magnet. The common steel & zinc pieces (and the copper-plated fakes) will stick to the magnet. The rare copper issues will not.\n\n[I also found this info about this coins' value:  A 1943-S Copper Cent (graded NGC MS-61 Brown) sold for $115,000 in Ira and Larry Goldberg's "Dr. Jon Kardatzke" sale, February 6-8, 2000, Lot 257 (ex - Superior's "Dr. Charles Ruby" sale, 1974 - Steve Benson, sold privately for $49,500.00 - Superior, June 2-3, 1997, "ANACS AU-58"]\n\n===========================\n\nSuch is the world of collecting coins....good luck to you.\n~mishel
623319
Copper is a tricky one, as there appears to be true demand from China and not that many new ways of digging up significantly more ore.  It might be that people who rely on copper decide to find ways to get around using copper.  Maybe aluminum cable instead?\n\nIn the case of zinc, there is a special price level maybe 10% or so above where it is now, where it is worth melting US pennies (which are 97.5% zinc).  At this price the zinc and copper in pennies becomes worth more than one cent per penny, plus the energy needed to melt it down.  There will then be a huge amount of illegal melting of pennies and demand will be satisfied for awhile.\n\nIn summary I think copper might be higher, but there is a lot of uncertainty due to the various things that could happen, such as a decrease in copper demand.  And zinc price could be limited by penny melting.  I wouldn't invest much in this area personally.
579638
From 146 to 181.\n\nAssuming you're talking about US coins, there's a big problem: In November 1982, the US penny became about 0.6 gram lighter. The older coin was 95% copper and 5% zinc, while the new one is essentially copper-plated zinc (97.6% zinc and only 2.4% copper). The nominal mass of a penny before 1982 was 48 grains (about 3.11 g). The size of a penny changed very little (-0.84%) in 1982 but, because zinc is lighter than copper, the new coin's nominal mass is 2.5 g. \n\nThe price of copper had risen to $1.33 per pound in 1980, so pennies could not be minted for less than their monetary value.  Copper-plated coins postponed the crisis  (in 2000, it cost 0.81¢ to mint a penny). \nBefore 1982, there was about 146 pennies in a pound...  If all the pre-1982 pennies were out of circulation, there would be about 181 pennies to the pound. \n\nRight now, a pound of pennies from the street will contain anywhere between 146 and 181 pennies, depending on the percentage of pre-1982 pennies in it.  According to the US Mint, the approximate life span of a coin is about 25 years.  If we take this number at face value, there remains in circulation today (November 2000; 18 years later) approximately exp(-18/25), or about 48.7% of the pennies that were in circulation in November 1982. \n\nAssuming that the total number of pennies in circulation is the same today as it was in 1982 (which is probably not quite true), this would mean that a penny's mass in grams averages about 3.11(0.487)+2.5(1-0.487) which is very close to 2.8 g, so that there would be just about 162 pennies in a pound as of November 2000.  If there's already more than 160 pennies in a pound, the average penny is already slightly less than 1/10 of an avoirdupois ounce! \n\nThe above theoretical approach tells how the number of pennies in a pound varies with time, if we assume that the total number of pennies in circulation is held roughly constant...  However, it's all based on the "approximate life span" of 25 years quoted by the US Mint, which could be an overestimate for pennies.  If we are to believe some fundraisers, an average pound of pennies was already worth $1.64 (164 pennies to the pound) as early as September 1995, only 13 years after the introduction of the new penny.  164 pennies in a pound (of 453.59237 g) corresponds to a proportion (x) of pre-1982 pennies which is such that:  164  =  453.59237 / (3.11034768 x + 2.5 (1-x))   This would mean that x was already as low as 43.55% after only 13 years or so, implying that the average number of years (T) that a penny lives is such that exp(-13/T) = 0.4355.  T would thus be about 15.64 years, about  2/3  of what the US Mint states for its other coins.
160918
Unless you have some of smelting setup, I don't think you do. Take it to a dealer and sell it to them.
939447
Chemical\nAlloying is the process of "improving" a metal by adding another metal into it to make it a better conductor, stronger material, or whatever the aim is.\nAlloying requires high heating to bond the metals together (and to melt them in the first place), so unless you like your hand being burnt, you don't touch them. \nThe use of dirty pennies carries a greater risk of obtaining, and transfering diseases, so use clean ones. Also, overtime the surface of the alloy will still react with oxygen. Note then that a dirty penny can in fact last longer than a clean one (assuming the dirt does not react) as it has a layer of protection.
5881
I don't think anybody would stop you, but depending on how many pennies are in there, you may get frowned at. Especially if you take them and put them in your pocket rather than using them to pay for your current purchase.
1001049
1) you can sell your scrap metal to any scrap metal recycler. Do a local seach for scrap metal recycler or recyclers.\n\n2) when you say "metal" building that is a broad description.  I assume you mean a steel buildig possibly with galvanized or aluminum sheeting.  I assume you may even have some copper cable as well.  Each of these types of scrap metal should be separated and sent to the recycler as each type of scrap has a different value.\n\ngo to http://demolition1.blogspot.com for current U.S. Scrap Metal prices
513463
It is is a fairly common belief, so you'd think that the website for the U.S. Treasury Bureaus would answer this somewhere, wouldn't you? While I found much information about how to replace mutilated currency, I found no official law about defacing currency listed anywhere on the U.S. Treasury Bureaus site, nor the one for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, or even the U.S. Mint. With this lack of solid information from our beloved bureaucrats, I have to rely on common sense and a bit of deductive reasoning. Given the fact that many laws outright defy both of these, do not take this answer as legal advice.\n\nMy first clue that defacing currency in and of itself may not be a crime comes from penny arcade machines across the country. At many museums, zoos, and assorted tourist traps you can drop a perfectly useless penny into a machine, turn a crank and be rewarded with a stamped flat bit of copper featuring a squished Lincoln head and the logo "I visited Treefrog, Arizona." As common as these are, I'm reasonably certain that if defacing coins like that were illegal, these machines wouldn't be out there. They'd be hidden in the back room with the slot machines instead! \n\nNow what is most certainly illegal is if you alter a coin or a bill in such a way as to obscure it's denomination and then attempt to pass it off as one of higher value. You also can not circulate an altered bill for advertising purposes. (Presumably this means you could write "Eat At Joe's" on a dollar bill and keep it at home, hidden in a closet somewhere; pulling it out late at night to chortle to yourself over your evil deeds, but even if this was strictly illegal you could do this anyway.) \n\nBottom line: Feel free to put those coins on the railroad track, write "Clinton sucks" on all your dollars, or light your cigars with hundred dollar bills. Just don't try writing some extra zeros on a ten and try passing it off as a Franklin down at the Walmart.
1168457
all coins are graded according to their condition, so not all are the same.  Take it to a coin dealer, and see what they offer. It could be sold for about 1/3 more than they offer, but you have to find a buyer.
1157737
In short, the reason why a penny costs more than a penny to make is inflation.  While the cost of copper continues to rise, the value of a penny continues to decline.  The same holds true right now for a nickel.  In the future, it might well hold true for a dime, but not yet.
943550
Its legal tender, theres no way a shop can refuse to take it, as it bears the queens head. They have given you a price for the item, so long as the currency isn't fake, you can pay how you like. If they did refuse, you could probably report them to trading standards or something similar, certainly, you should take your business elsewhere.
51398
Following is a brief chronology of the metal composition of the cent coin (penny):\n\n    * The composition was pure copper from 1793 to 1837.\n    * From 1837 to 1857, the cent was made of bronze (95 percent copper, and five percent tin and zinc).\n    * From 1857, the cent was 88 percent copper and 12 percent nickel, giving the coin a whitish appearance.\n    * The cent was again bronze (95 percent copper, and five percent tin and zinc) from 1864 to 1962.\n      (Note: In 1943, the coin's composition was changed to zinc-coated steel.  This change was only for the year 1943 and was due to the critical use of copper for the war effort.  However, a limited number of copper pennies were minted that year.  You can read more about the rare, collectible 1943 copper penny in "What's So Special about the 1943 Copper Penny.")\n    * In 1962, the cent's tin content, which was quite small, was removed.  That made the metal composition of the cent 95 percent copper and 5 percent zinc.\n    * The alloy remained 95 percent copper and 5 percent zinc until 1982, when the composition was changed to 97.5 percent zinc and 2.5 percent copper (copper-plated zinc).  Cents of both compositions appeared in that year.
856704
List it on Ebay for a penny and see if anyone bids - that's what it's worth....whatever the market is willing to pay.\n\nBest wishes,\n\npup
1019326
tarnish is ok. Do not try to remove. It will ruin the value of the coin.  If it is uncirculated,  and a Morgan dollar there are about 7 different varieties.  The price varies from about $60 to about $200 depending on the variety.  A trade dollar was also issued in 1878.
1184360
does it really matter? are you going to sell it? if so why would you get rid of something so valuable? I don't understand how people collect things and a few years later they sell them. If I were you, I'd trade it for a dozen things that were twice the value and stuff, and if you can't do that, just keep it!