a (pre-'82) penny saved

Is apparently worth a bit *more* than a penny earned at this point...
JMR

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By Rob Amen
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Sunday, January 29, 2006

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/trib/regional/s_418275.html

Your two cents might be worth more than you think.

That's the case if you're holding pennies minted before 1982.

For just the second time since 1793, when the U.S. government
authorized the minting of one-cent coins, a penny is worth more than
one cent because the price of copper has skyrocketed to historic
highs. It barely eclipsed that threshold -- and only briefly -- in
the late 1980s.

But it has surged well beyond that recently, thanks in part to
strong demand from China, where manufacturers have been stockpiling
the metal before the Lunar New Year holiday, which begins today.

Today's pennies are copper-plated and mostly zinc. But from 1864 to
mid-1982, the coin was 95 percent copper and weighed 3.1 grams.

With copper selling for $2.23 a pound, a pre-1982 penny actually is
worth about 1.45 cents -- 45 percent above face value -- based on
its copper content.

Someone with a pile of pennies gathering dust in a jar could melt
them down and sell the copper for a tidy profit. It's perfectly
legal.
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