> it's only illegal to destroy coinage for fraudulent purposes or to melt it down for the raw metals. It's more nuanced than that. Back in 1965, the Treasury

> it's only illegal to destroy coinage for fraudulent purposes or to melt it down for the raw metals. It's more nuanced than that. Back in 1965, the Treasury prohibited exporting or melting of silver coins, but that prohibition has long since been rescinded. Currently it's unlawful to melt pennies or nickels, but not silver coins. Although silver coins (talking pre-1965 stuff here) trade for somewhere around and above spot value anyway, so melting is pointless.