Silly Murricans. Don’t they know that a penny saved is a penny earned?

Just sayin’.

The Reverend Jacques on December 5, 2011 at 3:22 pm

What is stupid is that pennies have been copper-plated zinc since 1964. They are practically worthless since then.

Richs2659 on December 5, 2011 at 3:47 pm

Now would be the perfect time to get rid of the Federal Reserve and go back to the Jacksonian Way of doing business.

Confederate South on December 5, 2011 at 4:51 pm

Johnathan
What happens after Obama and the Democrats bankrupt this country?
We may not have choices down the road.
Thank Jon

Confederate South on December 5, 2011 at 6:06 pm

Yes, but we do not have the gold to exchange. Trading in real currency was great when we were the world’s biggest exporter, but our world debt is much greater than our gold reserves. In terms of gold trading (i.e., gold backs up the dollar), we have been bankrupt for many years now.

Jonathan E. Grant on December 5, 2011 at 6:22 pm

Thank you,Jon.
Unfortunately,we may be headed in that direction
Bankers have told me that the economy is going to take 10 years to recover after Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac along with all of the other shenanigans. Our major cities are almost bankrupt.

Confederate South on December 5, 2011 at 6:37 pm

You guys are missing the point. People are collecting the pennies for the scrap metal value of the copper when the pennies are just plated zinc which has little scrap value. People are really getting scammed on this buying zinc pennies.

Richs2659 on December 5, 2011 at 8:15 pm

Rich
Matt Drudge and Paul Kersey regularly report on copper thiefs
Even copper church bell was stolen that was 145 years old. With the way
With the way Obama is taking the economy, we will begin to look like the Weimar Republic.
Hey Jon, thank you. You are a gentleman and a scholar.

Confederate South on December 5, 2011 at 9:58 pm

A few months ago a nickel was worth about .075 cents. It fluctuates. Saving nickels is easier as you don’t have to sort by year. They are going to change the penny and nickel because it costs more for the material to make them before you even add in the labor charge.

Check prices here: http://www.coinflation.com/

Ender on December 5, 2011 at 10:05 pm

oh, the pennies were 95% copper/5% zinc till 1982. From 1983 they are 97.5% zinc and copper clad with 2.5% copper.

Ender on December 5, 2011 at 10:08 pm

Copper thefts and the horrendous economy:
Stealing a 145 year old copper church bell in a steeple.
Stealing a copper sword at one of the national monuments.
Climbing up an electric pole to steal the copper in the transformer. (More than 1 fellow has killed himself doing this)
Stealing copper in light poles in D.C. (They now put padlocks on switch boxes)
Going through train tracks for copper. (The thieves were caught and paid a big fine)
Matt Drudge has a huge lists of all of these.

Confederate South on December 6, 2011 at 12:11 am

The inflationary economy is reflected most directly in what has become the metal theft industry. Expert thieves steal copper wires, even from underground municipal systems. They steal manhole covers, railroad tracks, garbage cans, monuments, catalytic converters from parked cars, sewer grates, wrought iron fences, aluminum siding and downspouts from houses, air conditioning parts – even an entire bridge – etc. Our entire way of thinking about real estate and how it is constructed will have to change, because this problem is not going away.

salt1907 on December 6, 2011 at 11:00 am

I’ve seen a horrible picture of a human who was incerated while trying to steal copper wire that was carrying mega-current. It gets stupid. But when my penny jar was full, I sorted my pennies and saved the segregated pre-1983 pennies and cashed in the later ones. Richs2659 should read Enders comments.

So I have five or six pounds of copper pennies in my gun safe, I’m glad I’m not as compulsive as the guy in the video. This is interesting on another level because I’m about to buy a 71.5 oz. bag of 90% silver US coins for about $35 over the current bid price for silver. It may be time to start converting paper to precious metal that you can keep on your property. And not in 5 gallon buckets for Pete’s sake.

Richard on December 6, 2011 at 3:36 pm