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What do you do with pennies?

G

GimmieThe Loot

Member
Hey Hunters - I just enjoyed my first time out (ever) and found a few pennies. What kind of pennies are worth keeping? Here is what I found:

1950 Wheaty (Bronze)
1952 Wheaty (Bronze)
1959 Normal Penny (Bronze)
'64, '71 normal penny (Brass)

Are these worth anything other than sentimental for being my first coins?

Also - how do you go about cleaning them? They are pretty dirty and corroded.
 
I coinstar everything that is not silver or pre 59 Lincoln cents. I jammed the machine 3 times the last time I cashed in all my dirt coins. The store manager does not like it when I bring in a can of change. lol :lol:
 
"coinstar" the only one who lost there is you.......ANY coinage that is dammaged a bank will take in...no comission

Dave
 
Bronze ? Brass ?

Hmm try copper and zinc/copper clad...


:wiggle:
 
Clad pennies that are too far gone get tossed in the flower beds. Other clad coins get spent or turned in to the bank. Any wheats and silver get put away. Haven't had to deal with gold, yet! I have thought about taking all the bad coins and putting them in a jar, then burying them somewhere for a future MDer to find.
 
Lol a future metal detector to find... you will probably get bored after you know that they are there for many years, Hand some innocent first time metal detectorist one of your metal detectors and tell them you heard about a buried treasure. I can see the expression on their face when they open the jar.
:surprised:
I take all of my clad, coins after 1964 and clean them in a rock tumbler over night. I just have a thing about giving Coin Star almost 10 cents of every dollar I find metal detecting. Everything Pre 1964 goes with the saved coins.
 
Oh I keep all wheaties in a seperate chest with all my silver.
The others I clean in baking soda and pneumonia in a rock tumbler, after you wirebrush them off first.

It only takes me 1 hour to tumble them clean in this solution.Then wire brush again for a sparkling new look
Good luck hunting and cleaning..
 
I live in Wisconsin and clean all the coins that I get, I make sure they are not damaged, and the banks here still refuse to take them. Isn't that illegal? Or am I mistaken.
 
why would you save the nickles and memorials. i worked with a guy who was saving all the coins except pennies that he got in change. i told him that the nickles containing no silver except for a few years during ww2.
 
i clean them the best i can and mix them up with with some new ones in coin rolls. only heard one complaint and they said a bar complained about the coins being dirty. the bank kept taking them.
 
The Composition of the Cent

Following is a brief chronology of the metal composition of the cent coin (penny):

 
...the ones up until the last couple of years or so were worth more than a nickle. And we know the copper pennies are worth more than a penny.
 
except for the silver war nickles all jefferson nickles are the same. i think maybe the 1950 was rare because of low mintage but you still find 1938's and 39's change. some of the newer ones are interesting because of the different designs but unless a mint error or mintage are only worth a nickle. metal prices would have to go very high to make them worth more. you have to factor in the cost of melting them down.
 
The pennies that are severely corroded I try and put in penny rolls once I clean them.
 
D&P-OR said:
Yeah, good question!-----Why would you save "59-'64 copper memorial pennies??----Just curious. :)
Click to expand...

All pre-1982 pennies are copper (Ed's earlier post gives you the exact compositions) and worth significantly more than 1 cent in melt value, although the US government has declared it illegal to melt them.

It's inevitable that pennies will stop being produced at some point in the future. When that happens, I would imagine the restriction on melting them down will be rescinded.
 
U.S. Coin Metal Value Calculator

http://www.coinflation.com/coins/basemetal_coin_calculator.html
 
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