Cash in your pennies for more than face value with 0 % Investment and 0 % Risk
Here's a little money making tip that a lot of people don't know about - cashing in your copper pennies. What? You heard that right. Pennies made before 1982 consist of 95 percent copper. (About half way into 1982, the U.S. switched over to minting zinc pennies. So, there is also a percentage of pennies from 1982 that are copper. To keep it simple I tell everyone to save pre-82 pennies that way they know for sure they have the copper pennies) Copper is creeping up again in price due to a high demand for it. The mines cannot produce enough of it due to the huge demand for it from countries like China. Some predictions are saying that the price for copper could reach $5.00 per pound within the next few years.It takes roughly 150 pennies (I think the exact number is something like 146?) to equal a pound of copper. Right now copper is well over $3.00 a pound and it fluctuates daily just like the stock market. So figure those 150 pennies are worth $1.50 if you were to spend them at the store or just save them. They will always be worth 1 cent a piece. Never ever nothing more. However, if you cashed those 150 pennies in today at the scrap yard for the low end of $3.00 a pound you would double your money and walk away with $3.00.
Personally, I wouldn't go out of my way to to sell them now though. (If you do want to sell them now, read down below for a good tip on where to get the most bang for your "penny") My suggestion would be to sort them out of your daily pocket change and save them just in case you need an immediate need for a "rainy day fund" stash of money. Remember - any pennies before 1983 are the copper ones and the ones you need to sort out for the copper value. Pennies minted in 1983 and later consists of 97.5 percent zinc and are only plated in copper - those go in your other penny rainy day fund jar. lol
It does sound hokey or fishy to save currency in hopes of melting it down for scrap value, but it is one way that people are adding to their self-employment income streams. It is one way you can make some money and bleed all the value you can out of your hard earned money.
Now the real catch here is the investment potential and this is where you can maximize your penny value . If you go on ebay, you can see that there is a thriving market of copper speculators who are buying up copper pennies up in bulk and hoarding them. Head on over to Ebay and do a search for "copper pennies" and you will find people selling them from just 1 pound all the way up to hundreds of pounds.
There is another catch to this program and that would be how to acquire the pennies. What you do is go to your local banks and ask for large lots of pennies say in $25 or $50 lots. You sort out the copper pennies (either by hand or the faster way of via machine) and then take back the zinc pennies to the bank. Simple as that.
It is illegal to melt down currency for scrap value. In 2006 they re-enacted the law where you cannot melt down currency for scrap.
However, there are investors and speculators out there who are willing to buy the pennies at much more than face value because they believe that the melt ban will be lifted just like the silver melt ban was lifted. As a result these people are hoarding and stockpiling pennies in hopes of the big payday.
Scrap yards are one of those speculator/investors and there is a large thriving market on ebay to sell your pennies.
If you want to sell your copper pennies, you will need to personally call the scrap yards that are buying up the pennies in your area or sell them on ebay.
Just to clarify too...It is perfectly legal for you to sell your pennies this way but it is ILLEGAL for you to melt them down.
In these tough economic times every one needs to find ways to make money. Hope this helps someone out and would like to hear anyone's thoughts on it. Was this helpful?
Be sure to check out the following for more money making topics.....
The Dapper Scrapper Index to Making Money Online & Offline for Sustained Self Employment Income
