Canadian Government Scraps Pennies

[JadeDragon]

With Canada scraping the penny, do you think the U.S. is close to doing the same? What did Canada do with the other coins? Are nickels, dimes, quarters etc... still worth the same? Can they still buy the same items they use to?

All the other coins remain the same. We don't use 1/2 dollars at all still. Transactions are rounded (usually automatically by the till) and no one even thinks about it anymore. I've seen absolutely no changes in price as a result of removing the penny. Prices are still expressed as .99 or .95 or .94 or .49 like before.

Are they still minting 1/2 dollars? Or are made just for collectors like our NIFC halves.

I see them in mint sets. You can't order them at the bank. Occasionally a teller offers me an older one if I ask for anything weird they had come in (when I remember)

[SilverDragon72]

I wonder how the Canadian ARP is doing lately? Will the US finally get rid of it's penny? I still add to the Canadian pile whenever I come across
them during my penny searches or the occasional trip to the LCS.

[scyther]

I wonder how the Canadian ARP is doing lately? Will the US finally get rid of its' penny? I still add to the Canadian pile whenever I come across
them during my penny searches or the occasional trip to the LSC.

IDK I hope most of those things got melted down but who even knows. It would be nice if they became even somewhat scarce.

[SilverDragon72]

That would be nice to see them become scarce one day. I still find a few Canadian coppers in penny rolls here
from time to time!

[Know Common Cents]

The strongest threat to the continued production of the US penny is the rising price of zinc. While no politician would champion that cause at the risk of their own hide, what better way to still achieve the desired result than to boo-hoo the increasing zinc and production costs?

[mtalbot_ca]

That would be nice to see them become scarce one day. I still find a few Canadian coppers in penny rolls here
from time to time!

I am not sure about scarcity for individual coins and years. But it is difficult to source large quantities. The demand for them is going up. I believe it is more for crafts/flooring. I am able to move them at about $5,80/lbs (CA), for any mix of years between 1960-2012. I still have to fill an order for 600lbs.

Cheers,

[JadeDragon]

Shocking. How much face in a pound? I'm not near my scale.

[mtalbot_ca]

Shocking. How much face in a pound? I'm not near my scale.

Between $1,41 and $2,02 depending on the year/composition. I rounded-up to the nearest cent.

Cheers,

[highroller4321]

That would be nice to see them become scarce one day. I still find a few Canadian coppers in penny rolls here
from time to time!

I am not sure about scarcity for individual coins and years. But it is difficult to source large quantities. The demand for them is going up. I believe it is more for crafts/flooring. I am able to move them at about $5,80/lbs (CA), for any mix of years between 1960-2012. I still have to fill an order for 600lbs.

Cheers,

Why not before 1960?

If you are having trouble sourcing coin PM me as I have connections to large volumes.

[mtalbot_ca]

Thanks for the offer! I will let you know.

As for 1960, it is arbitrary. Since I usually get sorted coins, the collectors remove anything pre-1960, so this is what I advertise. Anything older is a bonus to the buyer. Between you and me there is no point in putting a George V into a floor.

Cheers!

[mtalbot_ca]

Forgot to tell that some buyers prefer pre-sorted by year/composition.

Cheers!

[SilverDragon72]

As time passes by, the demand for these will keep rising! I will be hanging on to mine....

[mtalbot_ca]

Coin accumulation is no exception, it requires and exit strategy. I believe that there is a sweet spot right now. Since the coins are not a renewable nor an essential commodity, supply and demand forces are rarely at play.

My opinion is that :

On one hand: Canadian pennies are currently into the hands of 45-65 year old male. If they keep the coins, there will be an outpour of coins onto the market in 15-20 years as a lot of them will move to retirement homes.

On the other hand: Most of the population still remember and has memories associated with the pennies. This number is going down each year. Strangely, the people who hold-on, are the ones that saw the last penny-candies in the late 60s.

Timing the market is hard. If you expect to see a positive return (above inflation) in your lifetime, I suggest that you think your about your exit-strategy, so that you do not end-up short-changed....

Best regards,

[Recyclersteve]

Coin accumulation is no exception, it requires and exit strategy. I believe that there is a sweet spot right now. Since the coins are not a renewable nor an essential commodity, supply and demand forces are rarely at play.

My opinion is that :

On one hand: Canadian pennies are currently into the hands of 45-65 year old male. If they keep the coins, there will be an outpour of coins onto the market in 15-20 years as a lot of them will move to retirement homes.

On the other hand: Most of the population still remember and has memories associated with the pennies. This number is going down each year. Strangely, the people who hold-on, are the ones that saw the last penny-candies in the late 60s.

Timing the market is hard. If you expect to see a positive return (above inflation) in your lifetime, I suggest that you think your about your exit-strategy, so that you do not end-up short-changed....

Best regards,

+1 (Well put!)

[AGgressive Metal]

In terms of numismatics the Canada pennies in the highest grades will continue to strengthen as "new supply" (uncirculated raw coins appearing from non-collectors onto the market) dwindles and their rarity is more firmly established ... but in terms of just bulk coppers and steels yes I think someone should be planning how to liquidate at a positive return sooner rather than later ... the analogy in the US is Wheats, the common dates were hoarded by the WWII generation that remembered them best and as a result you can still only get 3-4 cents for them as they still pop up in hoards as people retire or expire. The best high-grade examples went up in value a lot, though.

[Recyclersteve]

I may have mentioned this on another thread, but thought it should be on this one.

RE: Canadian pennies.

I took a trip to Vancouver in the summer of 2016 and asked pretty much everywhere I went if they had any Canadian or U.S. pennies. I got probably about 30-40 (U.S. and Canadian combined) while on the trip. Then, on the last day, as I was driving south to cross the border I decided to stop and fill my gas tank.

I asked the man at the gas station and he said I was in luck. He went to the back room and brought out a cup that had probably about 65-75 pennies (mostly Canadian with a few U.S. mixed in). There were a couple of the 2012 Farewell Canadian cents. He said I could have the coins for free as long as I could assure him I would vote for Trump. I was amazed that he was that concerned about the U.S. election even though he was in Vancouver.

Disclaimer: I told him I would NOT vote for Hillary, which was true because I didn't vote for either one.

[Changechecker]

Just came back from Canada and I took a bag of Canadian coins (minus pennies) I had laying around. When I stopped at a coffee shop they wanted it all. They don't seem to miss the penny in circulation. Not sure if it was a one time shortage of change or just change in general as to why they bought the sandwich bag worth.

[Recyclersteve]

Just came back from Canada and I took a bag of Canadian coins (minus pennies) I had laying around. When I stopped at a coffee shop they wanted it all. They don't seem to miss the penny in circulation. Not sure if it was a one time shortage of change or just change in general as to why they bought the sandwich bag worth.

I did some international travel a few years ago and businesses in New Zealand and Australia gobbled up my coins without any hesitation. I'm guessing they have to pay a fee to the local banks to get coins.

And I'm guessing it may be the same way in Canada. Either last year or the year before I had no problem converting about $800 in Canadian quarters to currency. This was all done with a single trip to an RBC bank in the Vancouver area. They just wanted the coins rolled. They gave me a chair and coffee table where I sat in the lobby and rolled the coins for a couple hours. Lots of people standing in line were asking about them as I rolled them. I'm glad my wife wasn't with me on that trip. She wouldn't have the patience to roll that many coins.

[mtalbot_ca]

Banks charge up to 7%!

[Recyclersteve]

Wow- 7% is a lot to charge. Coinstars charge to take your coins. Banks charge to give you coins. It seems like there is an opportunity for an enterprising person to make some money here.

[everything]

In a few years the Canadian nickel could be phased out, I did say could.. They say they would have to ditch the quarter and make a 20 cent piece and half dollar to make it work.
https://globalnews.ca/news/2677782/shou ... n-5-years/

[JadeDragon]

No there is no need for a 20 cent or 50 cent piece. Just round to the 10 cent mark. No one cares any more about 5 cents anyway - the penny went without anyone complaining. There are precious few non-steel nickels anymore.

[Changechecker]

Found a few bags of Canadian copper cents while dumping bags of u.s.copper cents. Been looking and still unable to find the answer. Can Canadian copper cents be melted in the U.S.? Anyone know. Thanks

[Tourney64]

I don’t know why there would be a law in the US pertaining to foreign currency. You should be fine. The issue would have been crossing the border into the US.

[Recyclersteve]

Found a few bags of Canadian copper cents while dumping bags of u.s.copper cents. Been looking and still unable to find the answer. Can Canadian copper cents be melted in the U.S.? Anyone know. Thanks

I don't know (definitively) the answer, but will submit this...

In the late 1960's/early 1970's there were lots of operations where people were illegally melting U.S. (not Canadian) silver coins. In the book "The Big Silver Melt" (by Henry A. Merton) (an excellent read and usually available from Nate at coppercave.com) it is explained that many of these illegal melters would purposely keep a bag or two of Canadian silver coins on hand in case the Feds raided their place or there was a surprise inspection. If the inspectors saw they were melting Canadian coins, it was no big deal.

Let's get back to your original question and let me change things up a bit. Even if you could melt Canadian pennies without any legal problems, why would you want to? You are paying perhaps a pretty sizable amount to have these melted. If you are doing it yourself, you are dealing with extremely high temperatures and a potentially toxic environment. Also, if you tried to sell a melted copper bar, what do you do when the potential buyer asks "Can you prove to me that this is really copper?" Another complicating factor is that you might have an odd weight that you are using which reduces the number of potential buyers. I personally would rather have the bags of coins instead of a copper bar that might be hard to resell at any kind of profit.

You can always buy copper bars (smaller ones) at Copper Cave, eBay, etc.

Good luck either way.