Is this feesable?

[EmpireF4i]

House Passes Bill to Revive Steel Coins - AOL Money & Finance

So say someone had the ability and resources to melt down US coins and separate the metals that are used to make them. As of right now, because of the price for nickel, copper, and zinc, a one cent coin (coins produced today, not the older copper ones) is worth $.0126. Im not very good in math, but before costs to actually melt, separate, and take the metal somewhere to sell it, thats a 26% profit.

The materials for a US nickel are valued at $.077 so if you could actually do this, nickels would be the way to go.

Another thing that came up during my stoner thought conversation with a friend about this was "is this legal?"

I know back in the day, people would shave off the ridges on coins and sell the metal for cash, thats one of the main reasons the US mint changed the materials in the first place.

One dollar of nickels could give you $1.54 (is that right?) worth of materials. Thats not a bad little profit there if you started to do it on a large scale. Even if the costs to do it all cuts your profit in half, its still not bad.

[Adam12]

United States Code
TITLE 18
PART I
CHAPTER 17
§ 331. Mutilation, diminution, and falsification of coins

US CODE: Title 18,331. Mutilation, diminution, and falsification of coins

“Whoever fraudulently alters, defaces, mutilates, impairs, diminishes,
falsifies, scales, or lightens any of the coins coined at the mints of
the United States, or any foreign coins which are by law made current
or are in actual use or circulation as money within the United States;
or whoever fraudulently possesses, passes, utters, publishes, or
sells, or attempts to pass, utter, publish, or sell, or brings into
the United States, any such coin, knowing the same to be altered,
defaced, mutilated, impaired, diminished, falsified, scaled, or
lightened— Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than
five years, or both.”

[Soriak]

Abolish the Penny.

What Do You Do With Your Pennies? - Freakonomics - Opinion - New York Times Blog

[Gauss]

You're better off stealing copper cable to make money

[Eomer]

I'm fucking fed up with the penny, personally. It's time to ditch that shit. I hate walking around with a pocket full of change, and honestly, what can you buy for less than ten cents these days anyway? I mean fuck, they don't even have five cent candy anymore.

I'd be totally in favor of getting rid of the penny, and even the nickel. Just round that shit up or down appropriately, and let's move on. When I was in NZ it was great not having to deal with nearly the amount of change I was accustomed to at home.

And yeah, if it was worthwhile to be melting down change for the metals contained in them, scrap dealers would be going balls to the wall on that shit. I'm sure by the time you throw in all the costs associated with melting it down and selling the metal, it's just not worth it.

Yet.

[Darus Grey]

The costs to do this is near zero. All you need is an exceptionally hot fire, which could process tens of thousands of coins at once.

However if you are not a professional smelter you're gonna find doing this process by hand is not anywhere near as easy to do as it sounds in theory.

That said, there are people who try to get away with this all the time, and unless you are REALLY good at smelting, you are gonna get caught.

I encounter these retards often at my business, all you do is press a spectrometer to the material and you can instantly tell it came from coins, because that mix of materials is not common in consumer or industrial goods.

Also in most states when you bring in any amount of material considered industrial grade(a slag of zinc, copper or nickel is suspicious as fuck, seriously) you will be required to prove where you got it from. Unless you happen to be a contractor who can prove(or least make it look like) you got this off a job site.

Metals theft is an epidemic right now and even the shady metals brokers are paranoid as fuck about this kinda shit.

Generally speaking most metal comes in as a finished product, anything that is in a melted, ingot, or new form will instantly raise red flags, and you'll likely be arrested soon after.

That said, I'm a professional smelter...and I'm going to the bank.

[krozman]

Without taking the effort to look up any exceptions to the law, I always thought the Penny was the exception. You remember going to the park and you are legally allowed to insert a penny and crush it into a momento for your stay there? You're not allowed to do it with nickels, dimes, etc, it was always the penny.

Anywhoo, props to the person who cares enough to look it up;

[Zarcath]

Originally Posted by krozman

Without taking the effort to look up any exceptions to the law, I always thought the Penny was the exception. You remember going to the park and you are legally allowed to insert a penny and crush it into a momento for your stay there? You're not allowed to do it with nickels, dimes, etc, it was always the penny.

Anywhoo, props to the person who cares enough to look it up;

I'm pretty sure there are ones that press quarters.

[Cathan]

Originally Posted by Eomer

I'm fucking fed up with the penny, personally. It's time to ditch that shit. I hate walking around with a pocket full of change, and honestly, what can you buy for less than ten cents these days anyway? I mean fuck, they don't even have five cent candy anymore.

I'd be totally in favor of getting rid of the penny, and even the nickel. Just round that shit up or down appropriately, and let's move on. When I was in NZ it was great not having to deal with nearly the amount of change I was accustomed to at home.

And yeah, if it was worthwhile to be melting down change for the metals contained in them, scrap dealers would be going balls to the wall on that shit. I'm sure by the time you throw in all the costs associated with melting it down and selling the metal, it's just not worth it.

Yet.

I don't mind the change in my pocket. As a matter of fact I like getting change. I save all of it each day and roll it every few months to put in a drawer as emergency money. Before I went to college and during college there were tough times when that money came in handy that I saved up. I haven't had to use it since I finished college but there may come a day when I need it. I keep money in the bank but ya never know when that emergency money is gonna save your ass...

[Etoille]

Originally Posted by Soriak

Abolish the Penny.

What Do You Do With Your Pennies? - Freakonomics - Opinion - New York Times Blog

careful. youll piss off kevin federline.

[Dom Devore]

Originally Posted by Eomer

I'm fucking fed up with the penny, personally. It's time to ditch that shit. I hate walking around with a pocket full of change, and honestly, what can you buy for less than ten cents these days anyway? I mean fuck, they don't even have five cent candy anymore.

I'd be totally in favor of getting rid of the penny, and even the nickel. Just round that shit up or down appropriately, and let's move on. When I was in NZ it was great not having to deal with nearly the amount of change I was accustomed to at home.

And yeah, if it was worthwhile to be melting down change for the metals contained in them, scrap dealers would be going balls to the wall on that shit. I'm sure by the time you throw in all the costs associated with melting it down and selling the metal, it's just not worth it.

Yet.

We'll likely have a penniless Canada within a few years anyways judging by how things have been going lately. With 26 billion Canadian pennies in circulation costing us over 100 million to keep in circulation that usually results in having them tossed on the street or the garbage, I think it's about time.

[Cybsled]

It's mostly nostalgia and tradition that keeps the penny around. The USA has gone through many coin and dollar denominations, many now 'extinct', and they aren't lamented. No one will miss the penny, cept retails who think consumers are too dumb to realize 19.99 is essentially 20 bucks.

[EnigmaticParadigm]

What are these metal coins you speak of? I swipe a small piece of magic plastic to acquire my wares.

[Zitar]

There was a piece about this on 60 minutes a while back. The argument for keeping them has to do with how money would be rounded up. Which isn't bad on most items since they are already one cent off, but when you factor in a sales tax every item would cost more. A few cents on every purchase adds up.

[Xakk]

Originally Posted by Soriak

Abolish the Penny.

What Do You Do With Your Pennies? - Freakonomics - Opinion - New York Times Blog

Pennies exist so the greediest motherfuckers can count it all.