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The value of a cent


Blackhawk

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If I figured it out right, the copper value in a pre-1981 US cent at today's copper prices (about $2.30 lb.) is 1.5¢.

 

I believe you calculated correctly, last I did the math, it took 153 copper cents to make a pound of copper.

 

The Canadian pre-78 cent has a lower face value (exchange), and more copper

 

What the heck does this mean? I thought a Canadian penny was a Canadian penny, are you saying that in Canada old cents must be exchanged for less than a cent? That's just way too European...

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What the heck does this mean?  I thought a Canadian penny was a Canadian penny, are you saying that in Canada old cents must be exchanged for less than a cent?  That's just way too European...

 

Sorrry about the confusion, I was referring to the fact that it has a lesser value when you factor in the foreign exchange rate.

 

I don't know about nickel prices, but the Canadian pre-81 5c (4.54g or 1/100 lb.) is pure nickel and IMO another candiate for "melt".

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Sorrry about the confusion, I was referring to the fact that it has a lesser value when you factor in the foreign exchange rate.

 

I don't know about nickel prices, but the Canadian pre-81 5c (4.54g or 1/100 lb.) is pure nickel and IMO another candiate for "melt".

 

That is certainly possible, since nickel is running about $6.80/lb, 100 nickels would be $5 (or $4.20 US) which is about the same spread as copper right now. Unfortunately for us, our nickels are 75% copper and only 25% nickel.

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Hmm...

 

100 US nickels ~= 125g Ni, 375g Cu

FV 5.00 US

 

125/454*6.80=1.87 worth of Ni

375/454*2.30=1.90 worth of Cu

Total melt value: 3.77, so melt is 75.4% of FV. Not too bad. Future candidate?

 

100 Canada nickels post-1982 = 1/4 lb Ni, 3/4 lb Cu

FV 5.00 CA / 4.20 US

 

1/4*6.8=1.70 worth of Ni

3/4*2.3=1.72 worth of Cu

Total melt value: 3.42, so melt is 81.4% of FV. Slightly better. Another candidate, I suppose.

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<100 Canada nickels post-1982 = 1/4 lb Ni, 3/4 lb Cu

FV 5.00 CA / 4.20 US

 

1/4*6.8=1.70 worth of Ni

3/4*2.3=1.72 worth of Cu

Total melt value: 3.42, so melt is 81.4% of FV. Slightly better. Another candidate, I suppose. >

 

Forget the post 1982 nickels how about the pre-1982 canadian nickels. (Of course I don't know how common they are in circulation now.)

 

if your figure of 100 to the pound is accurate then

FV =$5 canadian or $4.20 US

BV = $6.80 US or a 62% premium over face (Some of the coins before 1982 are steel and some are tombac but most of them are pure nickel.)

 

Definitely sounds like a hoarding possibility.

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Forget the post 1982 nickels how about the pre-1982 canadian nickels.  (Of course I don't know how common they are in circulation now.)

 

if your figure of 100 to the pound is accurate then

FV =$5 canadian or $4.20 US

BV = $6.80 US or a 62% premium over face  (Some of the coins before 1982 are steel and some are tombac but most of them are pure nickel.)

 

Definitely sounds like a hoarding possibility.

 

Most 5c I see today are 90s or later. Alot of them (like the 1c) just end up in change jars, etc. since people can't be bothered to count them back out in purchases. 70's are still around, though 60s and earlier (due to the pre-62 being 12-sided, and the '67 being a commem) are getting scarce in circulation. There's still quite a number of them, though.

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I did a table for base metal Canadian 1c and 5c (excluding steel, since there's various grades/alloys), values at full melt in CA$:

 

1858-59 1c $0.0243

1876-20 1c $0.0303

1920-42 1c $0.0174

1942-79 1c $0.0179

1980-81 1c $0.0154

1982-96 1c $0.0138

Zinc 1c $0.0053

1922-81 5c $0.0772

Tombac 5c $0.0238

1982-00 5c $0.0390

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