copper?

[juldea]

Idea: world is running low on copper + pennies are meaningless as currency = reclaim copper from pennies and turn into wire etc! I am brilliant.

Comments

[nightskyre.livejournal.com]

Sadly, pennies are no longer mostly copper.

[mr-teem.livejournal.com]

People have been saying this for years. Sigh. And now we have a president from the Land of Lincoln, so it won't happen for another four, maybe eight.

[etherial.livejournal.com]

It's also illegal.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

We'll be back to steel pennies before too long.

[lbmango.livejournal.com]

THIS, they're mostly zinc IIRC

[nyren.livejournal.com]

Pennies will cease to exist first, I'd expect.

[ratbastrd.livejournal.com]

Despite the fact that pennies are not made of copper anymore, I think the value of the metal actually outstripped their monetary value some time ago. That being said, its a federal offense to melt the bastards down...

[lbmango.livejournal.com]

But not to turn them into tasteless trinkets at aquariums!

[mr-teem.livejournal.com]

Not all that long ago, but both the penny and nickel now cost more to make than they are worth and has been going up for some time.

Individually melting them down (and separating the metals) is cost prohibitive but if there were a nationwide recall of the penny, there would be enough to make it worthwhile.

[adalius.livejournal.com]

I just ran the numbers on this, and despite what some people are saying above about pennies not being made of copper, thats only half true, they are still coated in copper, for about 2.5% of their weight (about .06g total copper per penny), and there's an estimated 200 billion pennies in circulation.

So, if we could get them back, melt them down and use that small bit to create wire, basing my number of a sturdy 8 gauge wire, you'd be able to produce 529 million feet of 8 gauge wire. Doesn't sound like a whole lot to me, that's just a little over 1 foot of wire per person in the US.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Never happen. People may hate them and find them annoying, but rounding everything off would actually be an even bigger mess.

Besides, in terms of PR, it's great. US money made from American steel!

[rufinia.livejournal.com]

That is illegal, as is pennying train tracks. It's just that the Treasury Department has bigger fish to fry.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Sure, it's great, provided you live in an area that doesn't charge sales tax. If you do, you can expect a lot of pissed-off voters.

Eliminating the penny would be a defacto tax increase, especially on items like consumer electronics. I once saved all the pennies I got from cash transactions when I was in high school for a year, and I came out with about twenty bucks in pennies. That's just from buying crap like CDs and candy bars.

Unless there is an absolute dire need and no way around it, the penny is going to be with us for a very long time.

[bonisagus.livejournal.com]

That is correct with a very low amount of copper for color I believe.

[anitra.livejournal.com]

1) Not that much copper in a penny made in the last 30 years (1982 is when they switched to clad zinc, I believe).

2) Illegal.

3) A whole lot of effort, since you'd have to separate out the cladding - easier to melt down things like old copper plumbing.

In general, I am not a fan of getting rid of the penny, since I am originally from the land of the 7.5% combined sales tax (it has since increased, but is still somewhere between 8 - 8.5%). Pennies are a necessary evil until/unless we go to a cashless society.

[lbmango.livejournal.com]

Nope, if you look at one of those machines, they actually have a little blurb on them that explains why they're legal, IIRC... Snopes doesn't seem to have an opinion either way, surprisingly...

[adalius.livejournal.com]

Because the topic intrigued me, I found this little gem:
The United States law Section 331, Title 18 prohibits altering coins or other forms of money for fraudulent uses. On the other hand, it does permit the altering of coins, such as pennies, without such intentions, such as squishing them.

[kishpa.livejournal.com]

I have an excess of copper myself. I'm willing to donate. :P