How to Invest in Copper Pennies

How to Invest in Copper Pennies thumbnail
Invest in Pre -1982 Copper Pennies

You can use pre-1982 copper pennies as an investment. Pennies minted between 1909 and 1982 are 95% copper and 5% zinc. Today's value of the copper is about double the face value of that penny. Follow these steps to start use pennies as an investment. It is easy, fun and you don't have to have lots of money to start investing. Please note that right now it is illegal to melt pennies but that probably won't last forever.

Things You'll Need

  • Pre-1982 pennies
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Look for pre-1982 pennies in your change every day and start putting them away in a bucket or piggy bank.

    • 2

      Purchase a roll or rolls of pennies at the bank whenever you are able to, even if it is just $1.00 at a time. Go through those pennies and sort out and save all the pre-1982 pennies. Take the others and spend them or put them in a change machine at the bank to get paper dollars back. Pennies after 1982 are 99.2% zinc. You could consider holding onto these until the value of zinc increases someday.

    • 3

      Purchase boxes of pennies for $25 a box at the bank. These boxes will most likely be a mixture of pre and post 1982 pennies. You can sort through them as a fun family project looking for the pre-1982 pennies to keep. The box will weigh about 13.81 lbs so it is easy to store. Your bank may only have 1 box of pennies available. You can let the people at the bank know how many boxes you want and how often you can pick them up and they will order them for you. If you get seriously into stocking up on pennies you can buy a sorting machine for about $500 that will sort out the pre-1982 coins from the post-1982 pennies.

    • 4

      Set a purchasing goal and stick with it. Whatever amount you can afford to purchase use that as your weekly or per paycheck investment, even if it is only a few dollars at a time. If you purchase 10 rolls a week at the bank it will add up and will really be worth something by the time you are set to retire, depending on your current age.

    • 5

      Keep your pennies until copper is at a price you like and the government legalizes the melting down of the coins for the metal.

    • 6

      Have fun monitoring the value of the copper and your penny stash using the coin metal calculator I have included in resources for you.

Tips & Warnings

  • If you ever get in a bad financial situation you can always sell the pennies at an online auction site for more than face value or cash them in at the bank.

  • Do not melt the pennies for copper until it is legal to do so.

Related Searches:

Resources

Comments

You May Also Like

  • How to Build a Coin Sorter

    Collecting coins can be a rewarding hobby, in more ways than one. Whether you are looking to find a specific style of...

  • How to Invest in Copper Stocks

    Decide between a direct investment in a copper ETN (symbol JJC,) or a more diversified investment in gold. For a direct investment...

  • How to Purchase Copper Stocks

    Copper stocks are the shares of mining companies exclusively or primarily in the business of mining and producing copper. Copper is an...

  • How to Invest in Copper

    Commodities investing is increasing in popularity as new products make investing in commodities more accessible to the individual investor. Many people invest...

  • How to Sell Wheat Pennies

    Because of their ubiquity, wheat pennies are one of the most collected coins in the U.S. As a tribute to Abraham Lincoln,...

  • How to Collect Lincoln Pennies

    "A Penny For Your Thoughts" The Lincoln cent is now considered an "orphan" coin, an unwanted old piece of antiquated junk that...

  • How to Find a 1943 Copper Penny

    During World War II, the materials used to make pennies--copper and nickel--were in short supply because of the war effort. In order...

  • The Value of a 1915 Penny

    The copper penny was bronze for almost 100 years, according to the U.S. Mint. From 1864 to 1962, 95 percent copper and...

  • How Do I Invest in Kennedy Fifty-Cent Silver Coins?

    The Kennedy fifty cent coin series began in 1964. Although the Kennedy fifty cent coin has not been issued for general circulation...

  • What Is the Value of Scrap Copper?

    The value of scrap copper has increased, as it is used to build buildings and to plumb the interiors of the buildings,...

  • How to Make Money Investing in Penny Stocks

    Learn how to make money by investing in penny stocks. Because of their volatile nature, penny stocks are often considered a risky...

  • Why Do Pennies Corrode?

    The common pennies corrode because they are surrounded by a light layer of copper with a zinc core. Copper oxidizes and produces...

  • How to Clean Copper Pennies

    Many coin collectors gather each year in search of rare pennies and coins with errors. That copper penny in your pocket might...

  • How to Shine a Copper Penny

    If you have a penny that was minted prior to 1982, it is made primarily of copper. According to online resource Copper.org,...

  • How to Determine If a 1943 Copper Penny Is Authentic?

    The 1943 copper penny is a rare and valuable coin, with only 40 known to be in existence, according to The United...

  • How to Buy Copper Bullion

    Copper isn't generally considered to be one of your flashier commodities, like gold or silver, but as a precursor to good and...

  • How to Sort Coins

    Common monetary coins include cents, nickels, dimes and quarters. Other types of monetary coins include the silver half dollar and gold whole...

  • How to Invest in Penny Stocks

    Common stocks costing under $5 per share are more informally known as penny stocks. Obviously you can't buy anything for a penny...

  • How to Take Copper Plating Off Zinc Pennies

    The humble penny has been made from many different metals over the years including steel, brass and bronze. From 1962 to 1982,...

  • How to Buy Copper Stock

    You buy copper stock by going through a stock market brokerage, where you will first need to set up an investment account....

Related Ads

Featured