3 ms·

A funny article on the profitability of melting small coins (and you don't even have to melt them yourself to realize value!) http://www.creditbubblestocks.com

• Zenst 6y ago
  Not just silver, many coins changed from being made with high copper to way less a few decades ago when the price of copper rose. Was a stage and still is if you get an old 1p/2p(pre 1992 when they changed) coin that the value of the copper in them, exceeds their face value. Since 1992, they are copper coated steel, which is a common with many coins worldwide today of small denominations.
  • tialaramex 6y ago
    This is fun because steel was once a very valuable metal prior to 1850 it was a specialist material produced in low volume for purposes like weaponry. So when the penny was first minted it would have been insane to waste valuable steel on making coins, let alone the penny, but by 1992 steel was so cheap that it was the obvious choice for a cheaper core.
    • ThrowawayR2 6y ago
      It's not without precedent, though. The US issued steel pennies during WW2 because of a shortage of copper: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1943_steel_cent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1943_steel_cent