[Ancesthntr]

Pennies changed from 95% copper & 5% zinc in mid-’82. Those are worth about $0.03 each right now - but they’re illegal to melt down. It is now 97.5% zinc...and, surprisingly, its melt value is very slightly above $0.01. So the government loses money on every cent that they produce (and, of course, you have to add in mintage and shipping costs).

No other coin’s composition has changed since then. I can understand why nickels aren’t there - its melt value is about $0.07, and was close to $0.09 last week when nickel spiked (they’re also illegal to melt). But ALL nickels (except the War Nickels) have had the same composition for over a century, so why those from the 70s and 80s would be missing I don’t know, other than that so many new ones have been made. War nickels are worth close to $1.40.

Dimes, quarters and halves have a melt value of about 30% of their face value.

More details here: https://www.coinflation.com/coins/basemetal_coin_calculator.html

Silver coin melt value calculator: https://www.coinflation.com/coins/silver_coin_calculator.html

[P.O.E.]

Thanks for those links.

[dynachrome]

Thanks.

[DAC21]

“Pennies changed from 95% copper & 5% zinc in mid-’82. Those are worth about $0.03 each right now - but they’re illegal to melt down. It is now 97.5% zinc...”

I have in the neighborhood of 8000 pre-1982 pennies. Maybe a few Wheatheads. Wondering if they can be used as an anode for electroplating. Or would that 5% zinc screw up the works?