scary.robot

Ok, so I had a thought. Maybe if I share it, you guys can help me work through the problem.

(I'll mention, its not something I'm considering doing myself.)

Copper is a precious metal and is getting pretty expensive these days. That is why people are raiding old houses and telephone poles for it.

"Copper has always been an enticing metal for people to steal because it's 100 percent recyclable. It's easily recycled, and it's relatively plentiful and accessible," said Ken Geremia, manager of communications for the Copper Development Association, an arm of the U.S. copper, brass and bronze industry."

http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_4021...e=most_emailed

There is also a myth I have heard that the value of a penny is worth more than 1 cent merely because of the price of copper. I'm not sure if this is true or not.

Now, copper melts at about 1000 degrees celsius (according to Wikipedia).

So, what if you could exchange your money in at the bank for pennies, then manage to smelt all those pennies down (because I don't think you can sell pennies for scrap). Would that work?

I've also considered that the process of smelting could get quite expensive, but a furnace that heats to 1000 degrees, is that likely? Could a campfire get that hot?

(I spent a bit of time trying to google "melting pennies down fo scrap" but haven't found anything too conclusive. If sure if I spent long enough on the problem I could figure it out...but I thought I'd post the problem up here.)

xray

You could make/build a robot out of it. Since, you know...

Cynikal.Mindset

i'm pretty sure penny copper is some whack nickel alloy that is worthless just so people dont do this

shlammed

I know an electrician who collected scrap pieces of copper wire on construction sites for 3 or 4 years

he would strip them all and sell them to scrap yards or whatever places buy metals. he eventually had enough money for a down payment on a new car.

scary.robot

not sure about the Canadian mint but here is what the US mint says:

http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint...ion=fun_facts2

The alloy remained 95 percent copper and 5 percent zinc until 1982, when the composition was changed to 97.5 percent zinc and 2.5 percent copper (copper-plated zinc). Cents of both compositions appeared in that year.

damn!

...but maybe if you got some old pennies....

is zinc worth anything?

Cynikal.Mindset

gotta find pre 82 US pennies

fingolfin

http://www.histori.ca/fairs/studentP...mcat1?id=11725

might help a bit..

i didn't read it.. just found it

iamcodie

That desperate for some extra cash?

Jay

iTrader: (1)

actually the price of number one copper isn't that great right now, it has gone down a lot since the summer when it was getting close to 4 dollars a pound.

and if you did melt them down it would be considered number two copper as far as I know

Les_Active

I'd rather melt down some chocolate for a fondue

1999blksi

so ****ing true!

my neighbour does that and i think he's an electrician!!! he's always outside stipping down wire and selling em to scrap yards....**** it...im gonna take some wire from him!

Jay

iTrader: (1)

That's what I do when I can get away with it
all the left over copper from A/C lines adds up pretty quick

bruce fee

we pulled a 'caper' and scored $440 from the scrap yard for 3 hours work (two guys).. just cutting and pulling cat5e cabling out of a building (with permission from the owner)

the penny will be around as long as it's worth it for the government (worth less than $0.01), when metal is worth more than the canadian cent, you'll see it disappear.

d16y8

yeah like everyone said the penny isn't pure copper so it isn't worth it to melt down.

Now for the furnace, it is possible to make a small furnace that can melt down most things. Using charcoal briquettes and compressed air, it is possible to produce an immense amount of heat.

http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/tools.html
l

scary.robot

haha, thats hilarious...

i'm not going to read all that

wish i had time for that kind of hobby

k_r_a_c_k_e_r

iTrader: (3)

distroying a penny (or any money) is illegal anyways.

mike-.-nametaken

math maybe (pennies = pre 1982= 3.1 g, post 1982 = 2.5 g) , so 1 lb = 453.59237 g
454 g = 3.60$
pre 1982 = 454/3.1 = 146 pennies so it'll take $1.46 to make $3.60
post 1982 = 454/2.5 = 181 pennies so it'll take $1.81 to make $3.60

mike-.-nametaken

not in russia cuz .......we dont have any