My penny buyer couldn't sell his pennies to the coin shop

[scyther]

Absolutely not and the coin dealer doesnt seem to be very smart either as Canadians are much more valuable then their US counterparts.

Not altogether true. Lincoln copper cents contain 2.1 cents worth of copper whereas 1982 thru 1996 Canadian cents are smaller in size and contain only 1.7 cents worth of copper. 1980 & 1981 Canadian cents contain just 1.9 cents worth. Only Canadian cents 1979 and older are more valuable than their Lincoln counterparts.

But canadians sell on here for 2X face with relative ease. I just sold 20,000 myself for that personally a month or so ago.
You cant give US ones away for 1.5x hence the Canadians are more valuable .

Are these coins being melted here, or do they just pay more for them because they're harder to find?

[pennypicker]

Absolutely not and the coin dealer doesnt seem to be very smart either as Canadians are much more valuable then their US counterparts.

Not altogether true. Lincoln copper cents contain 2.1 cents worth of copper whereas 1982 thru 1996 Canadian cents are smaller in size and contain only 1.7 cents worth of copper. 1980 & 1981 Canadian cents contain just 1.9 cents worth. Only Canadian cents 1979 and older are more valuable than their Lincoln counterparts.

But canadians sell on here for 2X face with relative ease. I just sold 20,000 myself for that personally a month or so ago.
You cant give US ones away for 1.5x hence the Canadians are more valuable .

I stand corrected. I forgot that there are people out there who are willing to pay 2 cents for 1.7 cents worth of Canadian copper bullion when they could have purchased 1.7 cents worth of American copper bullion for just 1 cent. If my math is near correct then people are willing to pay (twice) as much for Canadian copper as American copper with the only difference being the Canadian copper is just 3% purer.

This is why I recommend people to buy Canadian copper cents by the pound only. This way you know exactly how much net copper you are getting. When buying by face be very careful because many ebay sellers will heavily or completely salt the rolls with the lighter 1980 to 1996 cents and you will end up with a lot less copper than anticipated.

[Sheikh_yer_Bu'Tay]

I didn't know ANY coin shops were in the Cu penny business.....

The largest LCS in my town sells $50 bags of Wheaties for $250 each. That's a nickel per coin and they also charge sales tax to boot.

[pennypicker]

Are these coins being melted here, or do they just pay more for them because they're harder to find?

Some pay more for Canadian cents simply because they are 3% purer. Some of these buyers unknowingly think that because of the slightly higher purity they are getting more net copper in a Canadian cu cent than the Lincoln cu cent. But since the majority of Canadian cu cents found when machine sorting are roughly 20% lighter in weight than the Lincoln cu penny, the buyer instead of being 3% ahead is actually 17% behind in net copper with regards to the 1980 to 1996 Canadian cents he purchased (if they were purchased by face as opposed to by the pound).

So if your buying simply because of their many different designs or perhaps you like the diversity of both the round and octoganal shapes, or because their scarcer then to each his own and happy hoarding. BUT if your paying a premium simply because the Canadian cents are just 3% purer and you think you getting more be careful and do your homework and only buy by the pound on ebay. If you buy on ebay by face you will likely get burned by ebay sellers who specialize in Canadian cents and know how to and do play the (pound vs. face) game.

[xippi]

There seems to be some confusion here, I would like to clear up.

1979 and earlier Cu Canadian pennies have more copper then US pennies. Heavier and purer

80-96 have less CU then US, lighter but still purer

97- zinc

http://www.coinflation.com/canada/


Years Mass Diameter/Shape Composition[10]
2000–2012 * 2.35 g 19.05 mm, round 94% steel, 1.5% nickel, 4.5% copper plating
1997–1999 * 2.25 g 19.05 mm, round 98.4% zinc, 1.6% copper plating
1982–1996 2.5 g 19.1 mm, 12-sided 98% copper, 1.75% tin, 0.25% zinc
1980–1981 2.8 g 19.0 mm, round 98% copper, 1.75% tin, 0.25% zinc
1978–1979 3.24 g 19.05 mm, round 98% copper, 1.75% tin, 0.25% zinc
1942–1977 3.24 g 19.05 mm, round 98% copper, 0.5% tin, 1.5% zinc
1920–1941 3.24 g 19.05 mm, round 95.5% copper, 3% tin, 1.5% zinc
1876–1920 5.67 g 25.4 mm, round 95.5% copper, 3% tin, 1.5% zinc
1858–1859 4.54 g 25.4 mm, round 95% copper, 4% tin, 1% zinc (bronze)

[pennypicker]

80-96 have less CU then US, lighter but still pure

The line above was the most significant line in your informative response and this is the area in which Ebay scammers operate. To be more specific I'll rewrite that line to say: '82-'96 have 20% (less) CU than US, while being (only) 3% purer.

As you can see if you are a person who buys copper bullion strictly for future melt value and you are doing so in part by paying 2x face for 1980-1996 Canadian cents then you are doing yourself a disservice and should stick to buying Lincoln cu instead at the much cheaper price of 1.5x face and below. Once again, only buy Canadian cu cents by the pound if you are buying strictly for bullion purposes. You can buy by (face) but only if the seller sorts by date and can give you a complete & accurate breakdown as to the dates so you can calculate exactly how much cu you are actually bidding on.

[mrlaufer]

I didn't know ANY coin shops were in the Cu penny business.....

The largest LCS in my town sells $50 bags of Wheaties for $250 each. That's a nickel per coin and they also charge sales tax to boot.

The last time I asked at my LCS they were selling $50 bags of "unsorted" wheats for $150...plus the sales tax as well (6.5%). Also, they told me they were buying the wheats at 2 cents per, and he didn't state a minimum.

[CLINT-THE-GREAT]

I keep all my 82's separate along with their Canadian brothers.

I just keep my Canadians seperate....If I am handsorting I will throw 82's in with Zincolns just to be safe as I don't want to take time to weigh each one, and I don't run into THAT many to make a difference. But if machine sorting, they go with all pre-81's.....

-The Great

[fansubs_ca]

I'd say just offer the guy a trade in on any 82s or Canadians if he wants to sort them himself
after he buys them from you. It's still less work for him than sorting from raw circulation.

If he really wants you to sort those out by hand you'll have to figure out what your time is
worth and price that in.