The bronze in your pocket 2021 pocket change

[copper123]

Anyone noticed that the pre 1991 bronze in your pocket is becomeing scarcer and scarcer

Recent rises in the price of scrap bronze might even be making the withdrawal of these coins and their hoarding / melting a common ocurance.

While illegal it would be hard to prove it was happening .

There is no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow with these coins though , you might get a 50% premium at the moment and its a lot of messing around for little reward

 

Edited September 15, 2021 by copper123

[Peckris 2]

I'd like to see the bronze coins disappear completely. The 1p is worth less in real terms than the 1/4d was when demonetised.

[copper123]

28 minutes ago, Peckris 2 said:

I'd like to see the bronze coins disappear completely. The 1p is worth less in real terms than the 1/4d was when demonetised.

your probably in the majority at the moment - personally i would rarther not mint any more and allow them a slow death

[Mr T]

I thought that lots of American coin collectors hoarded the pre-1982 pennies for their copper, but I agree, surely not worth it in the long run.

[blakeyboy]

£2.80 of bronze is a kilo, which would  maybe get you  No.1 or Heavy  copper price, so around £5.40 ish.

How you would disguise the coins as just bronze /copper  turnings etc. is another matter, as is the illegality....

[Mr T]

Although I don't suppose it's illegal to melt British coins outside of Britain? Though it's hardly economical to transport a few kilos to France.

[copper123]

5 hours ago, Mr T said:

Although I don't suppose it's illegal to melt British coins outside of Britain? Though it's hardly economical to transport a few kilos to France.

drugs are more profitable , I hear , LOL.......

[copper123]

On 9/18/2021 at 12:41 AM, Mr T said:

I thought that lots of American coin collectors hoarded the pre-1982 pennies for their copper, but I agree, surely not worth it in the long run.

I thought the USA goverment has made the melting of current USA bronze illegal , its strangely legal to melt USA silver though.

[Peckris 2]

6 hours ago, copper123 said:

I thought the USA goverment has made the melting of current USA bronze illegal , its strangely legal to melt USA silver though.

Possibly because there's no current US silver? IIRC the Kennedy half dollar of the mid-60s was the last.

[copper123]

15 hours ago, Peckris 2 said:

Possibly because there's no current US silver? IIRC the Kennedy half dollar of the mid-60s was the last.

While it is not something you find everyday in your change in the states , silver is something to watch out for, kennedy half dollars are the most popular finds, though 1940s and 1950s silver is in there with a shout as well as silver is not pulled out by private banks for the fed it tends to circulate till someone finds it .

Many current coins are still legal tender even after 100 years or so (cents) so the stuff that you can find (In theory at least ) is much more interesting than the uk where there is no circulateing silver and nothing b4 1971

[Peckris 2]

8 hours ago, copper123 said:

Many current coins are still legal tender even after 100 years or so (cents) so the stuff that you can find (In theory at least ) is much more interesting than the uk where there is no circulateing silver and nothing b4 1971

Even then it's only boring 1p and 2p coins. 20p only goes back to 1982, everything else is no older than the 90s.

[copper123]

16 hours ago, Peckris 2 said:

Even then it's only boring 1p and 2p coins. 20p only goes back to 1982, everything else is no older than the 90s.

If i remember rightly pre decimal crowns and double florins are also legal tender , but they are rarely found in everyday change from any source , would be nice if they did.

[Mr T]

On 9/22/2021 at 12:52 AM, copper123 said:

I thought the USA goverment has made the melting of current USA bronze illegal , its strangely legal to melt USA silver though.

That's what I thought too but nothing to stop the melting in Canada or Mexico I assume. Again, unlikely to be economical any time soon.

[copper123]

https://www.ft.com/content/8f80e1fa-562c-4a1d-907d-ff53bf305a06

Looks like the next shortage might be loose change

[Peckris 2]

1 hour ago, copper123 said:

https://www.ft.com/content/8f80e1fa-562c-4a1d-907d-ff53bf305a06

Looks like the next shortage might be loose change

Paywall. Sorry...

 

[copper123]

The copper price continued to rally towards record highs on Tuesday as signs of extremely tight supply outweighed concerns that slowing growth in China will impact demand.

Traders were paying huge premiums for quickly deliverable copper after stockpiles in the London Metal Exchange’s (LME) warehouse system tumbled to their lowest level in decades.

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Copper for delivery in December rose on the Comex market in New York, touching $4.8055 per pound ($10,572 per tonne), a record high.

CASH copper on the London Metal Exchange also soared to a new record high overnight. Spot copper jumped 7.2% to $11,299.50 per tonne.

Prices of the metal used in power and construction leaped 10% last week and are up and more than 30% this year after gaining 26% in 2020.

[whitedb]

One reason early circulating coins are becoming rarer is the Coin Reclamation program from the mint.  https://www.royalmint.com/corporate/circulating-coin/coin-reclamation/

They partnered with Vaultex to remove 65% of the circulating CuNi coins over three years.  See their video here: 

 

[copper123]

I notice they have not even bothered asking banks - they would have had little help from them - looks like they are using the cash centres at various points in the uk