Salty sand corroding US coins...?

[controlfreq]

I would imagine this question has come up before but I didn't have any luck searching through back posts... if you could point me to a back post that would be great.

I only get to do occasional beach hunting but have noticed that the newer US coins don't seem to handle the salty environment very well. Does anyone know about how long the newer quarters or pennies (and nickels) have to lay in the sand before they start to corrode? I have found some "objects" that I feel were pennies at one time, but are no longer identifiable as such. The older copper pennies don't seem to be affected as much. Same for the quarters. On my last trip to the beach I was pulling up some rather deep coins on a popular and regularly hunted area. I don't know if I'm getting in there a little deeper than the other guys or just got lucky with stuff that was missed. The shallow stuff seemed less affected but the deep stuff was more corroded. Found three peso coins with the copper center and aluminum ring that were shallow and didn't seem too corroded. [The wife got tickled because I found a Hot-wheels car (around 8") that was the same model she drives...]

Thanks
John

 

[Finderskeeper]

The newer coins are going to self destruct in a very short time. They are like little batteries that generate little currents that eventually eat the metals being used.

I've seen some 2011 coins that were in such bad shape after being on the ground for a short time that they were starting to lose their round shape. Especially on salt water beaches.

 

[marc g]

The pennies are made with zinc. They don't last too long on saltwater beaches. Around here (nj) they're calld "zincolns"
Marc

 

[padgett79]

the zinc pennies dont look good when dug from regular dirt either,

 

[scubadetector]

Even the coin star machines won't take them.

 

[Fabio]

Any pics of the Zincolns?

Here are a few Zuro Cents:

 

[Finderskeeper]

Here's how to double your money.

Go to the bank. Get whatever amount of pennies you can afford.

I separate the pre 1982 pennies from the newer Zincolns. I keep the older pennies as they are 95% copper, 5% tin and 5% zinc.

I return the newer pennies for even more pennies. Eventually, I have with say $100 worth of pennies which are all older copper pennies.

The melt value of pennies is as of today, $00.0217. The face value is $00.01. In effect, you have doubled your money.

Now it is totally illegal to melt pennies. But what do you get for silver coins? Certainly not the face value. You get the melt value if it is just a common coin.

Pennies are the poor man's silver. They will be useful when the economy collapses. They will be the lowest base unit in a value based monetary system that is sure to develop when the dollar crashes.

Why do you think they are making pennies out of copper plated zinc now? Because they know that the copper in the older pennies are worth double what a penny is supposed to be worth. The actual melt value of a Zincoln penny is .....

get this........$00.005 which is 5 one thousandth of a cent.

 

[scubadetector]

Now it is totally illegal to melt pennies. But what do you get for silver coins? Certainly not the face value. You get the melt value if it is just a common coin.

I know some might not agree with me but WHY is it legal to melt silver outdated coins and its illegal to melt copper outdated coins? I highly doubt the law on copper is constitutional. We don't make silver coins but legal to use them, we don't make copper coins but legal to use them. So HOW can it be illegal to melt the copper ones??

I smell a BIG RAT in the governent law makers

 

[DaleGM]

Now it is totally illegal to melt pennies. But what do you get for silver coins? Certainly not the face value. You get the melt value if it is just a common coin.

I know some might not agree with me but WHY is it legal to melt silver outdated coins and its illegal to melt copper outdated coins? I highly doubt the law on copper is constitutional. We don't make silver coins but legal to use them, we don't make copper coins but legal to use them. So HOW can it be illegal to melt the copper ones??

I smell a BIG RAT in the governent law makers

I would guess that it is because silver is no longer in circulation except for a few that come up every now and then, but all copper pennies are still in circulation today, if the Government decided the Penney would not be in use any more as suggested this year, all copper pennies would then be available for melting

 

[bbspd]

The copper (actually Brass) penny was put out to pasture in 1981. This is the last year that the copper penny was "officially" made. However, there are loads of 1982 & a few 1983 coppers in circulation as the mints finished up their copper supplies. I'm sitting on several dollars worth of these 1982/83 pennies, hoping that one day they will be worth more than their melt value. Easiest way to tell the difference? A gram scale. Coppers will weigh in at 3+ grams, zinc weighs less than 3 grams.

 

[controlfreq]

Now it is totally illegal to melt pennies. But what do you get for silver coins? Certainly not the face value. You get the melt value if it is just a common coin.

I know some might not agree with me but WHY is it legal to melt silver outdated coins and its illegal to melt copper outdated coins? I highly doubt the law on copper is constitutional. We don't make silver coins but legal to use them, we don't make copper coins but legal to use them. So HOW can it be illegal to melt the copper ones??

I smell a BIG RAT in the governent law makers

I would guess that it is because silver is no longer in circulation except for a few that come up every now and then, but all copper pennies are still in circulation today, if the Government decided the Penney would not be in use any more as suggested this year, all copper pennies would then be available for melting

Concerning laws regarding which precious metals American citizens can and cannot own, you may want to check your history. (Not sure which country you call home.)

http://www.the-privateer.com/1933-gold-confiscation.html

http://users.rcn.com/mgfree/Economics/goldHistory.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_6102

Note that Rosevelt forced citizens to sell their gold for $20 an oz and he turned around and sold it a year later for $35.

I would suppose the argument regarding the melting of coins would be who or what poseses the value. From what I think I know about it, coins originally contained their own value. For whatever reasons, governments at some point switched over to keeping the precious metals in vaults and started handing out checks or tokens good for one X of gold (or silver.) Since the coin now is just a token representing a small piece of GNP (no longer gold or silver) then who does the token actually belong to; the person holding it or the government that minted it? Heck, for that matter, most of the time now I don't even have the token, it's just a number on a computer screen where my empolyer transfer numbers to my account and I transfer them to my creditor's accounts.

(OK, this is always where my stomach really starts to churn and I want to throw up...)

BTW, didn't Austrailian citizens have their gold rights confiscated too, at some point in recent 20th century history?

[FWIW, I am attempting to stick to facts but my opinions do invariable leak through. Please feel free to correct or counter point...]

 

[banditicey]

the zinc pennies don't look good when dug from regular dirt either,

AMEN

I day dream that I will take ALL our found corroded pennies and send them to the US Treasury with a note

"THIS IS THE QUALITY OF COINS THAT THE TREASURY OF THE GREATEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD HAS PRODUCED?"

"SHAME ON YOU"