Melting down your copper pennies - total process and cost involved - Is it worth it? Let's find out!
Вставка
- Опубліковано 24 тра 2020
- Please see the warning at the beginning of this video! For educational purposes only. Is it worth it to melt down your copper pennies? Let's find out!
Products used in this video:
Devil Forge (or similar like this one):
amzn.to/2WX0SKA
#4 - 8kg crucible:
amzn.to/3gjFwyM
Crucible tongs:
amzn.to/2XoCII0
Crucible carrier:
amzn.to/2TA6sjI
Loaf Molds:
amzn.to/3gilX9S
After watching this video & doing the math , I'm realizing that this really makes cents !! 🤣👍
This needs more likes
It makes dollars...lol
Da da da da da da, ding!
Golden
You can bet your bottom dollar
There's far more economical ways of smelting and even getting a better yield than what is represented here and copper has doubled in price since this video so I think it's a great idea to save all your pre 82 pennies. I have been saving them for years now.
I have 3 big ammo cans full of them and probably 10 or more filled with quarters dimes and nickels
Cant sell smelted copper anyway.
Cooper is up to $4.73 per pound today 03/20/2022, Go figure!
@T B yes, you can. I live in mid Michigan, and there are 5 places within a 50-mile radius where I can sell smelted copper as #1 scrap copper for 4+ dollars per lb.
@@TB-sw1tf well even at $4.73 per pound it only comes to $35.00. And adding in the cost of equipment, time, and gas, I don’t think it’s worth it.
Hey there Mr Scott Man,
If you simply drill a hole in a penny, it then becomes a "washer" :)
A washer that size, costs 12 Cents.
That is a Much better return on energy, and labor.
I had a situation, whereby I sent a guy to get some lag screws. The guy forgot to get washers :/
The hardware store (remember them ;) was 2 hours (round trip) away :/
Fortunately, I had 20-30 quarters in my truck.
There is a deck in Eldorado, NM that has quarters as washers.
Yours truly,
James MacGyver Gill
Thanks, that's a good idea for an emergency
That's a great story.
The 3rd member on my mustang had a few foreign copper coins with holes drilled in them used as crush washers to seal in the differential fluid, was pretty cool to see. I heard about people way back in the day doing the same thing when building ships, I think they were using large cents from the 1800s.
I bought 110,000 pre-1977 memorials at an auction two years ago for 70% of face value. I still have 90,000 left after removing the occasional wheat and Indian head pennies and turning some into the bank and selling some for 3 cents each. What I sold for me about $800, leaving me with a $25 profit and still 90,000 pennies. What's left is now worth about $2,355 in copper based on the 16 lbs. per $25 ratio used in the video.
Not bad for a $775 investment. I think I'll stick with pennies. Of course, that's over 600 lbs of pennies that I don't move that often... lol.
Why would anyone sell you pennies for less then face value when they can take them to a bank and get 100% of the value? That doesn't make any sense
@@jacobjoseph3636It was an estate auction. The auctioneer took the highest bidder... me. I guess no one else wanted to deal with the hassle of that many coins.
Iv learned something today, don’t leave comments until viewing the entire video. Great video 👍
Costs = Materials, labor and overhead. Copper, gas, scrap, your time, depreciation of the smelter, clean up material, depreciation of the molds, electricity, and storage costs of the copper material.
It’s absolutely worth it as long as you also make a UA-cam video for “educational” purposes.
Thank you for the video and the sacrifices that it took to make it. It answered several of my questions and because of that, has earned my subscription & 👍. Thanks again
“According to Title 18, Chapter 17 of the U.S. Code, which sets out crimes related to coins and currency, anyone who “alters, defaces, mutilates, impairs, diminishes, falsifies, scales, or lightens” coins can face fines or prison time.
However, gas and tank cost can be offset with elbow grease. Scrap wood, lumber, discarded pallets etc. Can be made into charcoal. A charcoal fired forge with bellows costs $0 🔨 🔥
you still need borax
The value of copper seems more stable in the long term (to me) than the unstable stock market. Like Silver it’s bound to continue its increase in value over the yrs. Enjoyed the demonstration - Thanks for sharing it! 👍
Stable long term stocks are really hard to beat. 10% return, historically. Just deal with the ups and downs and don't sell until you have to
Nice work, Scott.
Oh how I love the sound of metals in the quench. Esp silver as that is my main pouring medium.
Copper is now 4.50 a pound or .28 cents a ounce. Meaning one penny is worth 3 cents. It’s getting to be more and more closer to worth scrapping them. If you had a bunch of them say $100 In pennies it could pay for the gas and materials. Would be about 300 in copper. Also remember to weigh out the 1982 pennies because some are not copper. The copper ones weigh 3.1, zinc ones weigh 2.5. Canadian pennies copper up until 1996. If the price goes up further it could get even better. But it’s possible it could be better to not spend the money melting them and just waiting for them to legalize it to sell them as is. Like they did with silver coins. Who knows when
Tell me where I can sell copper for 4.50
@@scottlancaster4503 clean pure not scrap stuff man. in some places its up to 6 to 10 on a clean ingot on the pound
If Scott gets a few 1982 zinc pennies in the melt, won't that just skim off with the rest of the zinc in the 95%ers?
@@gotsteem I believe that the zinc would mix into the copper. Altering the color a little. If you get zinc in a lead smelt it makes it all clumpy though and it won't pour
@@matthewtomes9396 You know Matthew, after thinking about it, yes, you are right, duh.. All the pennies before 1982 were a 95/5% mix
of copper and zinc.. Man, I sure goofed up on that one! LOL. Thanks.
That's why i build a wood and coal fire and I use a real efficient hand crank blower motor from an old coal forge. It takes a bit of work but I dont have to buy gas.
Thanks. I've been wondering about this very thing.
Glad to help!
I just enjoy listening to the parrot in the background. I am a servant to my own parrot master.
current copper price is #3.39 / pound. $54.24 less $10 for LP gas leaves you with $44.24. $44.24 less the $25.00 in pennies leave you with $19.24. $19.24 / $25.00 = 77% profit. Not bad - beats the stock market!
👍 I’ve been curious about this Penny melt process. My questions have been answered. Thank you. (SUBd)
Thanks for the sub!
Smart conclusion sir. Subbed. 👍
I always wanted to see this!
You should make a lift ring for your crucible. Lifting by the edge like that could be risky if it comes apart and all the molten contents spill out.
Spare me! Not another "safety dance" person! Leave us alone safety people! Do it!
@@donaldhoot7741 ok boomer
Especially in shorts and Crocs. 😂
@@donaldhoot7741 you're free to do what you want. You're the one that is gonna get molten metal on you
Donald, I hope you never have a molten metal accident.
Ok here's why melting coins is a bad idea. Coins in their original form are recognizable. You know what you're getting and what it's worth. When it's melted down like that, it's not easily exchangeable in a SHTF economy. For example, gold bars - some can make the weight come out right for the size by putting tungsten inside the bars. For your copper here someone else would want to x-ray or cut open your bar to make sure there's nothing hiding in there even if they weigh it' and thats a lot of work.
I really enjoyed this video!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Interesting video.
Amen!! Thank you for explaining this. These videos drive me crazy !! Especially the people who derive gold from computers. It takes so much time and money. And people forget to consider their personal time, there is a price to put on that also.
Exactly. Have to put some sort of hourly rate on what your time is worth!
If there were clean ,shiny and engraved ingots you can sell them for more (like 50$ per 2 pounds ingot ) as they could be nice on a desk . That is where the markup can be made .
Well I’m 72 years old and I never quit learn thank you for showing me something new
I'm glad you pulled out the wheat backs, I used to see them all the time 20 years ago with the occasional Indian head, now I haven't seen an Indian head in years and I hardly come across wheat backs in the wild anymore.
The fact of including your child in this is absolutely ridiculously important and fantastic! I applaud you and her I'm assuming! 👏 I love your work! Much respect 🙏!
What do you mean you’re assuming? You can see in the video that she did in fact have a little bit. That’s a very odd placement of the word “assuming”.
Good for you, bagface for being woke to the fact that our children are no longer boys or girls and should all be dressed in little skirts so we don’t influence their decision to identify as male or female or trans or whatever.
What?
@@smarterthanyou9090 Calm down.
@@LinkRocks Based on what did you come to the conclusion that I was excited somehow and needed to "calm down"?
Not to mention how long it takes to sort out the zinc coins. Great video....thanks☺
yeah it takes time, but if you weigh them (1982 pennies) its much faster, copper pennies weigh in at 3.1 grams while zinc pennies weigh in at 2.5 grams, you can even go buy sound by dropping them on a hard surface, copper pennies have a distinct sound compared to zinc pennies.
THANKS FOR THAT INFORMATION!
Thanks for time patience and days of looking for those pennies and the process
Melting useless arcade game tokens is the option I choose is that when arcades no longer use tokens, they must melt down for real.
Alot of those are brass to at least the ones I have come across
My Dad worked the Cash & Carry Counter at a Metals Supply in Atlanta, Georgia. Every few months a man in the same overalls stopped by and purchased about 6 rolls of coiled copper tubing. Once my Dad asked what he did with them. He said he chopped it up in various odd lengths and scattered about his Salvage Yard, making a handsome profit.
not sure what he was doing. the buyer was scattering chopped up tubing in his salvage yard?
@samboheena When he finds it again, the price will have increased in value
Thank you for your Honesty.
Always!
very informative.
Clarification. 1982 was the year the U.S. Mint removed Some of the copper and replaced it with zinc. Both Copper and Zinc we're pressed for that year. Have to weigh each penny that year to separate Zinc from Coppers. They sound different when dropped as well.
Correct! 3.11g for 95% copper,. 2.50g for mostly zinc ones.
@@scottsCC I thought from 1959 to 1982 pennies were 97% copper, and 3% zinc? After 1982 pennies were 3% copper and 97% zinc. A lot of people don't know this but you're early Indian Head pennies are bronze. Not copper
@@unknownuser2737 'Flying Eagle' and early 'Indian" Cents were 88% copper, 12% nickel,. During 1864 the alloy was changed to bronze, in 1982 changed to copper plated zinc.
Cents minted from mid 1864 through mid 1982 were bronze and weigh 3.1 grams.
First, as he says, it is illegal to melt down pennies. Right now, copper is about $4.5/lb. You need 153 pennies to make a pound of copper (pennies are 95% copper). So there is a $3/lb spread. So it should be economical to melt them. But I would just save them as pennies, for now.
Pennies WHERE 95% copper they mostly made from zinc or aluminium nowadays and plated with copper.
Definitely illegal. Citation: CFR 82.1
$75 with todays prices with $25 worth of pennies plus all your time involved. Very cool video and that looked very heavy so you must be strong and brave.
You just proved what I've tried to tell others
I agree that melting pennies to keep as bars for monetary gain is futile. If however you were to collect older pennies and then find the ones that were more desirable to collectors, you could sell one penny for a decent price. Less work, more profit.
Sorting through coins like that is tedious and boring WORK.
I often wonder if the people melting these go through them first good vid!
Yes, they were all gone through to sort 1982 and older, and 1982 were all weighed individually.
Very good point.
Thanks for sharing
👍🏻 nice job. The time you spent with your daughter ... priceless 😃
So in simple terms, leave the pennies as they are, unless you're intending to actually make something that has a useful utilitarian purpose. Good informational video.
like otzie the Ice Man's Copper Axe ?
gringo joto
Often wondered about that. I’m much happier that you did it rather than me😁
👍thanks for the information
I get what you're saying to a point. But, do you know when the markets going to crash again. When all that money you invested into stocks disappears. The great thing about metals is they hold their value. The stock market has been around for not long at all. But metals have been traded since the dawn of time. Yes they might go up and down a little. But when the stock market crashes again, because it will, your metal is still worth something
Unless the market stays crashed below your investment value for 5+ years then it's not the same. Markets recover most of their pre crash value within a few years of a crash. Also if it is during a crash the value of the propane is going to go up. You would have to stock that too.
The next "crash" will be the last. The technocrats are ready for their complete takeover. Many lives will be lost. Your stocks will not feed you or anyone else.
Well done Scott. I am sure you are getting paid now.
This was good, I wonder if it could be done with a good old style forge with wood or coal to be cheaper? Then it might make sense but it would be so labore intensive. I dont think it would be worth it even then.
Funny most 1982 Cents I come across are the Copper Ones & Yes I check Each one .
meant to reply to the above "propheZ23" guy , But I wish I could melt down all the old Paper Shotgun Brass Hulls I have + other dug scrap metals . I know it can be done , I saw 'Big Stack Dude do it ' but don't know where to get a smelter and molds. That's just 1 of 100 things I want to do , add in the Bullets & fishing weights & WOW ! Mucho Metal . LOL
You could probably just dig a pit in the ground and make a blast furnace.
Interesting - Thank you
You're welcome
Thank you.
What a great video.
I stack copper but I get it through scrapping I had heard years ago that there was a time when if you melted down a copper penny it would double it's value but I haven't done it and enjoyed watching and learning from it good job
310grams in 1$ .... 4$ of pennies would weigh 3 pounds of copper ... you'd double the value and pay for the propane to melt them down
@@ryanscott2548 95 percent copper or 88% so you have to take that into account
@@hector5749 .05-.15 per dollar.... that's still hardly anything, but to be more profitable you'd have to cut out the propane....maybe an old propane tank with 1/2 the top cut off...stuck on a bonfire and starting with a few thin copper pipes to get the melting started....! $4 OF pennies would weigh about 2.5lbs after melting.... let's say a price of $3/lb canadian..... $3×2.5 = 7.50 - 4.00 (pennies) = 3.50 profit per pound.... gotta cut out the propane... I wonder how many pennies would fill a propane tank half full ;)
Is this illegal thing to do ?
Yes
Zinc will harm you, so do be careful. As an artist I am always looking for copper to use for art, not profit. Coins were what I thought of, but the zinc factor has me spooked.
Thanks man!
I think the future of copper looks brighter than gold
1982 was a transition year when copper cents were made in the beginning of the year and then they changed and began making zinc cents. Anyone who is experienced with coins doesn't have to weigh them. They can tell if it's zinc by the look, feel and weight of them by eye and hand and give them the bounce test too. I've searched 100s of boxes of coins and found Indian head cents, wheaties, Canadian and foreign coins and I saved all copper cents dated up to 1982. I've sold $25 boxes of rolled copper cents to a scrap metal recycling center and more than doubled the money and got $54. I would never melt down and destroy coins. Btw, my recycling center would buy the copper ingots at the current scrap spot price. Why waste time melting coins when you can take boxes of copper coins to a recycling center and double your money. But not all buy coins so I'm lucky mine does. I don't have to advertise them either.
for me it's the sound
the reason people go to the trouble to melt copper down themselves is because you can get around $20 a pound for "artisinal" ingots.
don't worry about destroying coins, they already sell destroyed coin art at the mints.
I would just keep them , the price of copper is only going up over time , like most other metals that come short for some industries ..
This guy wants the biggest cookie
Should heat your molds before pouring and pour slower for a smoother more even bar. Lose less grinding that way too.
Heat the molds to avoid a steam explosion...unless you like getting burns.
He had his safety shorts on.
He did heat his molds as seen at 8:52
@@robertmeadows1657 you forgot to mention his fire proof Crocs.
You should also pre heat your utensils to prevent the metals from Sticking to them
Very Intresting video. More fascinating on the melting of copper than the value of it.
Thanks 👍
This was well done and i apprecaite the test you did. It makes sense to go ahead and sell the coins at a higher value. Let someone else do the melting.
I have to say that was pretty cool. My mother will tell you (with a chuckle) about the time I set the carpet on fire trying to make a zinc apple from pennies using the lost wax process. I'm lucky it was just 10 year old carpet that was damaged, that stuff retains a lot of heat. I don't think it'd ever be worth it to melt them down in a backyard set up. I'm not sure doesn't the government sometimes decree certain coins are "obsolete" and can take a trip to the foundry?
“According to Title 18, Chapter 17 of the U.S. Code, which sets out crimes related to coins and currency, anyone who “alters, defaces, mutilates, impairs, diminishes, falsifies, scales, or lightens” coins can face fines or prison time.
@@tahoma6889 That specifically refers to attempting to change the value (alter) or remove the metal (lighten). Destroying a coin is not mentioned, because the statute is about fraud.
Awesome video! Very informative. Do you have a video melting silver coins or is it not worth it as well?
I do - I do the entire process of refining some "no date" ones that have pretty much only silver value.
Good to have a helper.
Very informative and interesting .................
Instead of a gas forge, would a wood/coal based fire (with air blower) work to reach melting temp? ( I have no idea if a blacksmiths fire reaches melting temps, just seems like it would be cheaper).
It's possible I would think!
Are you SURE that you don’t know if humanity was able to smelt before the invention of a gas fueled forge? ARE YOU SURE you’re not just being an idiot?
If you can make one that works decently, a waste oil furnace will melt just about everything. Used motor oil and cooking oil, old diesel or kerosene will burn extremely hot and much cleaner than coal or charcoal. The main problem with building a WMO/WVO furnace is most designs want a pressurized feed, and at higher burn rates you'd need a large air compressor running almost constantly.
@@chjarvis85 you feeling pretty satisfied with yourself after being a total ass to a stranger?
@@chjarvis85 Not sure about David, but I am about you. Blacksmith forges aren't for melting, they are for heating metal until its malleable. His question is a valid one, the answer to which is that it depends on the forge itself.
Now I know why we are in coins shortage crisis.
Haha.
That is a myth. Contraction of the money supply.
The shortage is people throwing them away.
our*
😂😂😂 yeah
Point taken but factor in future costs either up or down and it’s all a gamble ! I will be using the copper to make things such as plate and round bar for plant stands and slugs to stamp and resell for more then scrap price !
right on man you just spared me from wasteing my time,or any more of it as i have seperated about 1000.00 dollars worth.
READ the Law at the beginning of the video guys! I have no plans or intent to sell any of it. This is not against current US law as it is not being 1) sold or 2) sold for profit. It is for educational purposes only. All of the coins used here were 1982 and older AND all of the 1982's were weighed individually to ensure they were 3.11g and not the 2.50g zinc ones.
how do you remove the zinc content to move the melted pennies into a ingot at greater 95% purity ?
It's legal to do anything you want with your money as long as you're not attempting to alter the face value for profit.
Hang on to it man!
Copper is King!
Good to know!
17:07 “It’s not worth it.” (Green scale backlight goes out.)
"You made exactly nothing on this." Kind of like selling silver on eBay.
I have probably close to a thousand copper pennies, and I was waiting for them to be worth more but, if I have to buy everything to melt them I don't think is really worth it, better invest in to something that will be worth over time. Thank you that was a good wake up call, on saving those copper pennies.
Things change. Your mystery blob will become valuable soon enough and China won't be sending supplies to their enemy pretty soon either. People who make furnaces in the good ol USA still get their supplies from China. Might want to get the furnace while you can. Your mystery blob has more copper in it than a mere penny and finding a bunch of pre 82 pennies today is proving harder and harder. All recycled metals head to China. Finding copper is eventually going to be as hard as finding silver scrap is today. All good things do come to an end. Anyone thinking a penny is going to get anything after a dollar collapse is nuts but "blobs" will be bought to make munitions. People amaze me by how dense their thinking is. If you sell me a legit blob of copper the first time I will happily barter with you for a second "blob" again. Just sayin... You do you.
I learned something new from you. I didn't know that you can not sell it after you melt it down.
So the way to come out on melting pennies for copper is to melt it in a wood fire that you were going to burn anyway.
Just need a blower, and $2500 in copper pennies to make a grand.
Of course you could use them to plate with as they are.
Copper is worth a lot more when you plate it onto a bumper and chrome over it or whatever.
You say in the video that you're not allowed to sell those ingots as proscribed by law. Yet, carefully reading the regulation you kindly posted at the beginning of your video doesn't seem to say that. It appears to state that you can resell melted-down pennies and nickels IF they're being sold for artistic purposes (novelty or jewelry are mentioned) rather than the intrinsic value of the metal. Does that mean that if one polished the ingot and sold it as an art piece that it could be resold legally?
Or pour it into an art piece instead of a plain ingot.
Nice loopholed you find
That was the same logic behind the prohibition of ownership of gold. If you had a gold coin, drilled a hole in it, and put it on a necklace, you were not violating the law
Once the coins are melted down how would anyone know they used to be pennies? Nobody that's who, so just do it and profit.
@@mmace3 Actually any scrap yard with a PMI gun can tell instantly.
Quick tip: I Cut a piece of cardboard and put it under the crucible before I start, the carbon prevents refractory/crucible from fusing onto the base of the silicon carbide crucibles.
Good to know.
I’ve always wanted an African grey, I grew up with two haha.
That's pretty impressive analysis... Though I think you might stand to benefit from watching some serious metal melting/form pouring guys on UA-cam like TheGrowingStack and bigstackD... They have better tools if you're intending to do this more frequently. My advice is get a lifter that will apply force to the sides of your crucible for picking it up and place it into the center of a pouring tool with a full circle on the end that supports the whole thing. I think one of those guys has a video on making the tools for pouring molten metal. That said the yield you've gotten is quite respectable... that's got to be close to 99%.
Thank you - and yes this winter when I fire the forge back up, I plan on having a better lifting tool for the crucible!
@@scottsCC Hope you have fun with it... Good thing is copper melts pretty low temperature, to melt steel well even those guys I listed have trouble doing it. I think the one guy set his forge/tank to like 4 mPa or whatever and still didn't get it fully melted though I've seen people melt steel with big induction coils and it melts pretty fast but that method is crazy dangerous if you don't know what you're doing.
I agree with everything theyve said, except for the love of god…. Put some pants on and lose the crocs. Burns of that nature really suck
@@scottsCC I sound a penny the other day worth $392. from the 1970's.
By the way, defacing or destroying currency is a crime, ya know?
@@tahoma6889 I asked a penny destruction artist about the legalities the other day... she said they sell her artwork IN THE MINT. she was really rude about it too... she must answer that question a lot.
This was quite informative. You did it so I would not have to. I’m trying to help your Al Gore rhythm.
Nice job. If I had the stuff to do that I would cast a copper axhead
I have found the war time pennies from WWII work best. 1939 to 1946. I do pours for vets quite a bit.
Removing the steel ones of course
Steel pennies?
@@stevenleslie8557 Both our countries made them. I am a Canuckian. My dad saved a few as he was there in the middle of that awful time in Europe. He was gone for 3 years. I treasure every one of them from both our countries. They all paid big for our freedom.
@@stevenleslie8557 in 1943, during World War II, they made pennies from steel in order to use the copper for other more important purposes
@Steve L I will melt anything if asked to. Some silver pieces mean a lot to folks when made into something special they want.
I literally see 20 plus pounds of scrap copper wire and tube go into the recycle dumpster on every house my brother builds. These get hauled off by whatever company is contracted to remove the waste from the jobsite and he has to pay for this waste to be removed. There are far easier and cheaper ways to get scrap copper and brass if you are so inclined.
thanks
No problem
Don't forget you have to pay for the furance, the crucible, all the tools, and the molds. All in all even with the current market it is still not worth it.
Prices up to 4.46 by the way. Also seems like you might need a more effective way to do it
I just did my first Devil Forge melts this past Sunday. I'm glad my lid isn't the only one that looks like that...hahahahah. Man it was so much fun.
I do love the African Gray in the background, they're sweet birds.
Why melt them? 3/4” copper pipe makes a great hiding tube without the expense of melting them.
I know a guy who has been collecting copper Pennie’s since before I was born.
He’s got like four pallet boxes full. Has to be 10 tons at least.
Use a waste oil heater to melt the copper.
Get a 200 gallon bin of oil for free from an oil change shop. Plenty of folks use waste oil heaters. It’s almost $5 a pound now.
Thanks for the video as of 12/17/2021 that price for scrap copper is $3.31/LB
As of today 10/15/2022 price is stay at $3.41.
Awesome
I believe But this isn't really considered illegal. I would never say anything but be careful you don't have Treasury knocking on your door for melting down coins that were perfectly good. I've heard stories about people mounting down coins I'm getting in serious trouble to saying. Thanks for the video very interesting. God-bless you
I’ve watched this twice it just doesn’t make cents lmao
CENTS XĎDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDX
It makes dollars...
Good to know
where do you find these types of molds ? :)
It’s all fun and games till you melt a collectible
1909 VDBS and realize it’s worth $1000
I've roll searched every single one of them beforehand! Also checked for errors!
That's the real reason I don't melt mine. I just stockpile until I need them, Then I'll sort through them for key dates. It's no harder to store pennies than ingots. The law is a factor too , lol. I hope a grand child will help or have the pleasure when I'm gone. I found a steel war penny in the coin return of a coinstar recently. Most people just don't pay attention.