US pennies minted before 1982 (and some struck during the first part of that year) are made of 95% copper. Later pennies contain only 2.5% copper.

It takes approximately 115 pennies to make 1 pound of copper. If copper is at $1.15 per pound then a copper penny will be worth one cent. Currently copper is more than 3 times that amount. This means that 1 pre 1982 penny contains more than 3 cents worth of copper!

Don’t underestimate this. You may be tempted to say ‘oh its only pennies…’

In the middle of 1982 the composition of the penny was drastically changed. Previous cents were minted from 95%

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Have you ever heard the expression “he doesn’t have a nickel’s worth of sense?” Believe it or not, there used to actually be “nickel cents”.

Nickel Cents were minted during a specific time in history, and the hoarding of them, along with gold and silver coins, in Civil war times led to the passing of 18 USC 486, which made private tokens illegal to use.

Nickel Cents were pennies with the Indian head symbol that were struck between the years of 1859 – 1864 that contained 88% copper and 12% nickel. They were referred to as nickels or “nicks”, before the days of the five cent nickel piece.

We often hear today of the nuisance that pennies can be. …

Private tokens were made and since there was no real regulation on the use of other coinage outside of the United States Mint, the storekeepers and businesses began accepting these bronze coins.

Until the end of the war, these coins were used and it is thought that there were over 25,000,000 of these one cent private coins minted by 1864.

The Coinage Act of 1864

The minting of private coins or tokens ended with the passing of the Coinage Act of 1864. This stopped the manufacture of one and two cent small tokens that had been being used in the …

The America the Beautiful Quarter Program started up in 2010 with the release of coins honoring the Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas, Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, Yosemite National Park in California, Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, and Mt. Hood National Forest in Oregon.

The Gettysburg National Military Park Quarter

The first America the Beautiful Quarter released in 2011 is the Gettysburg National Military Park Quarter. It is number 6 in …

The thing that makes these cents interesting is their relative rarity. The lowest mintage was on the 2009-P “Presidency” Lincoln Cent at less than 130,000,000. The highest mintage among the 2009 cents was the 2009-P “Formative Years” cent at 376,000,000.

Coins with numbers like this are bound to be in short supply among collectors. And there are lots of cent collectors both new and old. I really think this is a coin to keep an eye on and try to …

Copper had become too valuable to be used for something with so little buying power as the lowly penny. In fact, as of today, it would take a little over 2.5 cents worth of copper to produce a traditional 95% copper cent. Add in the administrative and other costs involved and it goes even higher.

In order to affectively produce one cent coins without losing money a metal is needed that is as near to being worthless as possible while still being somewhat durable.

What? Our good old …

The Barber dime was designed by Charles E. Barber and first minted in 1892. Barber was Chief Engraver of the U.S. Mint at that time. The Barber dime was minted of 90% silver and 10% copper and used the same design as the half dollar and quarter dollar.

The Barber dime displays Lady Liberty on the obverse with a Phrygian cap encircled with a laurel wreath and a ribbon. The inscription on the headband reads “LIBERTY”. The reverse was a very simple design consisting of a wreath around the words “One Dime”. Mint marks, if present, appear at the bottom below the ribbon that ties the wreath.

The rarest Barber dime is the 1894-S. Only 24 of these coins were minted and of those …

The Winged Liberty dime was designed by Adolph A. Weinman and first minted in 1916. This U.S. coin was minted of 90% silver and 10% copper. The Winged Liberty Dime is commonly known as the Mercury Dime. It is assumed that the obverse of the coin depicts the Roman god Mercury but it is actually Lady Liberty with wings on. Behind Lady Liberty’s neck is a “W” for the designer Adolph A. Weinman.

Common date “Mercury” dimes in average circulated grades can often be obtained very near to the spot value of their silver content. In fact the Winged Liberty and the Roosevelt dimes are among the best forms of silver that you can get. They are recognized and trusted for their …

Right now there is a real opportunity to invest in your future just by keeping an eye on your pocket change for copper pennies.

While these coins are getting less common in pocket change every day they are still common enough to be found by anyone who keeps an eye out. If you see a US cent with a date earlier than 1982 you are looking at a coin that is worth more than double the face value in copper alone!

At the time of this writing copper is around $4.00 to $4.25 per pound. It takes around 155 …

Two commemorative coins were issued for 2009, honoring two very important men; Abraham Lincoln and Louis Braille. Lincoln, as our sixteenth President, led the country during one of its darkest periods, the War Between the States. Louis Braille, a man from France who developed the Braille method of reading and writing for the visually impaired.

Abraham Lincoln is honored with a commemorative silver dollar coin. The coin is made up of 90% silver, balanced by copper. The obverse has an engraving of President Lincoln, rendering him as if he were deep in thought. The reverse has an excerpt from Lincoln’s Gettysburg address. (500,000 minted)

The 200th anniversary of the birth of Louis Braille is marked by a silver dollar coin that has readable Braille …