Realcent.org

Is it legal to melt down American Pennies and sell in Canada? Or melt down Canadian pennies and sell those in America?

probably.... until you get caught!

If you melt U.S Cents or Nickels for their metal content you are in violation of federal law.

HOWEVER.... we have no laws against melting OTHER countries coins.

Unless you have experiance in foundry work or melting/casting copper I would refrain from the attempt. The equipment to do it safely is exspensive and the process is extremely dangerous and hazardous.

Kurr wrote:If you melt U.S Cents or Nickels for their metal content you are in violation of federal law.

HOWEVER.... we have no laws against melting OTHER countries coins.

Unless you have experiance in foundry work or melting/casting copper I would refrain from the attempt. The equipment to do it safely is exspensive and the process is extremely dangerous and hazardous.

We may not have laws that prohibit you melting another countries coins but you can still be prosecuted for it by The US Government if the other country has a law against it. I would check with an attorney on any thing you think could get you in trouble.

pops9653 wrote:

Kurr wrote:If you melt U.S Cents or Nickels for their metal content you are in violation of federal law.

HOWEVER.... we have no laws against melting OTHER countries coins.

Unless you have experiance in foundry work or melting/casting copper I would refrain from the attempt. The equipment to do it safely is exspensive and the process is extremely dangerous and hazardous.

We may not have laws that prohibit you melting another countries coins but you can still be prosecuted for it by The US Government if the other country has a law against it. I would check with an attorney on any thing you think could get you in trouble.

This is false. The other countries laws do not apply in the U.S.

This is false. The other countries laws do not apply in the U.S

You may want to check the fine print in the NAFTA agreement. I seem to recall a provision regarding an honoring and prosecuting each other's laws.

Z00 wrote:

This is false. The other countries laws do not apply in the U.S

You may want to check the fine print in the NAFTA agreement. I seem to recall a provision regarding an honoring and prosecuting each other's laws.

I second that. There have been many cases recently for people in the US and Canada being proceuted for breaking laws in another country... It makes you wonder what country you live in and if NAFTA is good or bad.

I remember in elementary school all the teachers were praising NAFTA. I wonder now if they praise a one world government.

make sure no one sees you do it.

Once we hoard them all, taking them hostage, bit higher copper prices, maybe we can start to negotiate..

Once it's a brick who knows where it came from. Unless of course it to exspensive to make.

Kurr wrote:If you melt U.S Cents or Nickels for their metal content you are in violation of federal law.

HOWEVER.... we have no laws against melting OTHER countries coins.

Unless you have experiance in foundry work or melting/casting copper I would refrain from the attempt. The equipment to do it safely is exspensive and the process is extremely dangerous and hazardous.

Don't be so sure about that. i've seen a documentary on African civilizations showing people today using 1500 year old smelting techniques. They used a fresh (as in unfired) clay pot as a crucible and stuck the whole thing in a charcoal fire. Then they poured it into a mold, also of clay.

Sure, it's dangerous, but people have been doing it for thousands of years without expensive tech.

It is not illegal to export Canadian pennies and they are not legal tender in the United States and can be melted there legally.

However, since Canadian coins have US mixed in circulation, you must be sure that no US coins would be in the batch, as that would be illegal to melt.

I have built many clay forges. I prefer charcoal I made myself to coal or coke. The thing is you have to have the right clay, prepared the right way.

I have had metal crucibles give way on me and had several pounds of molten metal drop out to the ground and run at me. I was very lucky. I had a smallish amount, was working in a specialy prepared area outside, knew it was a distinct possibility and was watching, and knew in advance what to do if it happened, and why I was watching for that particular problem to begin with.

Not to mention gassing issues. I have had sickness myself from melting metals and copper alloy is not one you need to be getting any whifs from. It can kill you.

I did start with the qualifier unless -you have experiance-. You said it yourself those folks have 1500 years of experiance with those resources and techniques and a whole tribe of other experienced people.

I just don't want to see no one get hurt.

Besides, it begs the question, unless you have an industrial use for them ... why? They are already in a recognised form, much more easily divisible, are already an established currency, serve well as bullion as they are, contain numismatic premiums OR potential numismatic premiums, I mean why turn all that upside into a brick that will float on one manipulated "spot price"?

Kurr wrote:I have had metal crucibles give way on me and had several pounds of molten metal drop out to the ground and run at me. I was very lucky. I had a smallish amount, was working in a specialy prepared area outside, knew it was a distinct possibility and was watching, and knew in advance what to do if it happened, and why I was watching for that particular problem to begin with.

My dad worked at a foundry in the 60s. A guy he worked with had a terrible accident something like that. Some molten metal fell on his foot. He instinctively grabbed at it and ended up losing both his hand and his foot. So, i definitely am not disputing the dangerous part.

Not to mention gassing issues. I have had sickness myself from melting metals and copper alloy is not one you need to be getting any whifs from. It can kill you.

Yeah, i had this one pounded into my head in high school chemistry. We did a lab that separated the Cu from a penny and resulted in little blobs of pure Cu. Of course the entire lab was done under a fume hood.

I did start with the qualifier unless -you have experiance-. You said it yourself those folks have 1500 years of experiance with those resources and techniques and a whole tribe of other experienced people.

i see your point about that now. But, as a big fan of archaeology/anthropology i felt an impulsive need to "stand up" for the earliest forms of metallurgy

Besides, it begs the question, unless you have an industrial use for them ... why? They are already in a recognised form, much more easily divisible, are already an established currency, serve well as bullion as they are, contain numismatic premiums OR potential numismatic premiums, I mean why turn all that upside into a brick that will float on one manipulated "spot price"?

i definitely agree here. i don't intend to ever melt my Cu hoard down. i am, however, going to start gold prospecting this summer, so eventually (with a bit of luck) i'll have a need to learn how to smelt gold.

I know the closer you get to the Canadian border the more Canadian copper pennies you'll get in circulation. If you mix pure copper wire with Canadian copper pennies and made bricks out of it, all the scrap yards ask is where you got it from. So a person could simply say, they got it from home and there would be no problems. Nothing wrong with melting down copper pipes and wiring.

If I remember right part of the law prohibiting the melting of US cents also prohibits exporting more than $10 FV.

everything wrote:Once we hoard them all, taking them hostage, bit higher copper prices, maybe we can start to negotiate..

The U.S. Government does NOT negotiate with terrorists! Even the ones who hold copper pennies for ransom!