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hoarding penny's removes them from circulation and melting penny's also removes them circulation. so whats the difference. both scenarios the penny is taken from circulation, what are they trying to accomplish buy having a melt ban.

Although it is growing, hoarding copper pennies still has yet to get into the mainstream. If the melt ban were lifted our little hobby would immediately grow 10 fold and then 10 fold again with several industrial sized operations springing up. This would cause a penny shortage forcing the U.S. mint to replace at least some of the coins lost. But beyond that, I think it would bring even more attention to what inflation has done to the dollar over the last several decades. The melt ban keeps a lid on all this for the time being.

The penny would not so much be a problem if melted; after all, about 80% in circulation still have a lower melt value, and in no danger of becoming scarce.

The main issue is nickels. Instantly, people such as us would pull every last one from circulation and melt them, in order to make a profit.
I would say within a month, nickels would no longer be available from banks.

If (when, I should say) the nickel changes composition, the ban may be lifted several years later.

Scenario B is the strong possibility of a currency change in the US (which is looking more possible each day), to a North American or even Global currency.
Once that occurs, who cares what people do to coins, as they would no longer be considered legal tender.

Also I would like to note that the possibility of the ban being lifted is quite distant, simply due to Congress's mindset.
Lifting the ban would enable a lot of citizens additional revenue, which most politicians would absolutely hate to see.
Not to sound too cynical, but the best voter os a dependent one.

If they let you melt them it would be an immediate profit, so you could go after the copper pennies faster.

The uncertainty of the melt ban also limits some from collecting and hoarding, so now you have fewer players.

I agree , either way they are taken out of circulation, but the melt ban does limit the amount.

Personally, I hope copper stays where it is for a couple more years and the ban stays in place.

Hoarding Is more of a futuristic view, comprising of more ideas, that follow, IMO, logic as opposed to the want of instant gratification. hoarding is legal while melting is illegal based on the current statue of us code 31 5111d. If memory serves me correctly a class d felony with a 5 year max $10000 penaly inforced by the feeble execution of the secret service...

Red King wrote: The main issue is nickels. Instantly, people such as us would pull every last one from circulation and melt them, in order to make a profit. I would say within a month, nickels would no longer be available from banks.

(scratches head)

One nickel is worth about 6 cents in metal. Five copper pennies is worth about 15 cents. The separating can be done by machine.

What am I missing?

Mossy wrote:

Red King wrote: The main issue is nickels. Instantly, people such as us would pull every last one from circulation and melt them, in order to make a profit. I would say within a month, nickels would no longer be available from banks.

(scratches head)

One nickel is worth about 6 cents in metal. Five copper pennies is worth about 15 cents. The separating can be done by machine.

What am I missing?

You are missing that the 5 pennies worth 15 cents require sorting of 40 - 50 pennies. That requires time while the sturdy nickel is good to go with no sorting of any kind. Just melt and enjoy. So sure, if you already have the pennies sorted, they are more valuable. And, by the way, coinflation.com for this moment in time sez: 1946-2011 Nickel = $0.0733615 for a 146.72% markup.

I recently told my dad to start sorting for 95% copper pennies like this: Stop pushing dominoes around the table and push pennies. People, the economy is going to get worse, a lot worse, before it gets better. We all need to step up our saving, and salvaging and sorting. A better use of our precious and limited time is one way to do that on a budget.

shinnosuke wrote:
You are missing that the 5 pennies worth 15 cents require sorting of 40 - 50 pennies. That requires time while the sturdy nickel is good to go with no sorting of any kind.

I'd prefer nickels, but I don't see that the people who sort by hand would be a problem. If melting or exporting became legal, then the people who are really going to do the ton lots are going to be able to afford the sorting machines, and they are going to take that 20% of the pennies out of circulation and ignore the nickels. To start with.

I was wondering what % of pennies was copper. I've been hitting about 22%, so that's normal ballpark, eh?