Copper Penny
- Year of Issue: 1793 to Present
- Authorizing Legislation: Coinage Act of 1792
Background
The “Union Shield” theme is the current design of the U.S. one-cent coin. The U.S. Mint first issued this design in 2010. The obverse (heads) shows the image of President Abraham Lincoln used on the penny since 1909. The shield on the reverse (tails) represents Lincoln’s preservation of the United States as a single country.
The penny was one of the first coins made by the U.S. Mint after its establishment in 1792. The design on the first penny was of a woman with flowing hair symbolizing liberty. The coin was larger and made of pure copper, while today’s smaller coin is made of copper and zinc.
Liberty stayed on the penny for more than 60 years. In 1857, the coin got smaller and the metal composition changed to 88% copper and 12% nickel. With these changes came new designs. In 1857 and 1858 the new coins featured a flying eagle on the obverse and a wreath on the reverse. The “Indian Head” design appeared from 1859 to 1909.
- The United States one-cent coin (symbol: ¢), often called the penny, is a unit of currency equaling one one-hundredth of a United States dollar.It has been the lowest-value physical unit of U.S. Currency since the abolition of the half-cent in 1857 (the abstract mill, which has never been minted, equal to a tenth of a cent, continues to see limited use in the fields of taxation.
- A 1944 copper wheat penny with a 'D' mark also has an average value of 15 cents, but it is only worth up to $6 in mint condition. The 1944 steel wheat penny is worth between $75,000 and $110,000, depending on its condition, while the 1943 copper wheat penny is worth between $150,000 and $200,000.
In 1909, Abraham Lincoln became the first president featured on our coins in honor of his 100th birthday. The Lincoln penny obverse showed the image of Lincoln designed by Victor David Brenner that is still used today. From 1909 to 1958 the reverse featured two sheaves of wheat. From 1959 to 2008, the reverse was an image of the Lincoln Memorial designed by Frank Gasparro to commemorate Lincoln’s 150th birthday.
In 2009, the Mint issued four different pennies throughout the year as part of the Lincoln Bicentennial One Cent Program. The program recognized Lincoln’s 200th birthday and the 100th anniversary of the first Lincoln cent. The themes on the reverses represented the four major aspects of Lincoln’s life.
Unusual Pennies:
This 1 ounce copper medallion is a faithful reproduction of the famous 1909-S VDB Lincoln cent. It is 37mm in diameter (about the size of an old time silver dollar), and contains 1 ounce of.999 fine copper.
- In 1943, pennies were made of zinc-coated steel because copper was needed during World War II.
- At the beginning of 1943, a limited number of copper pennies were struck by mistake.
- In honor of the Mint’s 225th anniversary in 2017, pennies made in Philadelphia had a “P” mint mark for the first time.
- In 2019, the West Point Mint made special collectible pennies with a “W” mint mark.
Other Circulating Coins:
Nickel Dime Quarter Half Dollar
Read MoreRead LessCharacteristics
Obverse (heads): Shows the familiar likeness of President Abraham Lincoln featured since 1909.Reverse (tails): First issued in 2010 and emblematic of Lincoln’s preservation of the United States as a single and united country. It features a union shield with 13 vertical stripes and our national motto in a horizontal bar above. A banner drapes across the front.
Obverse Inscriptions
- LIBERTY
- IN GOD WE TRUST
- Year
Reverse Inscriptions
- UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
- E PLURIBUS UNUM
- ONE CENT
Copper Penny Forest City Nc
Mint and Mint Mark
Specifications
Composition | Weight | Diameter | Thickness | Edge | No. of Reeds |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Copper Plated Zinc Balance Zn | 2.500 g | 19.05 mm | 1.52 mm | Plain | N/A |
Artist Information
Obverse- Designer: Victor D. Brenner
- Sculptor: Joseph Menna, Medallic Artist
- Designer: Lyndall Bass
Many people don’t think about the penny, but the truth is, pennies have distinct advantages as an investment that are unique to themselves. There are many articles written on this site about copper pennies, copper nickels, copper in general, and more.
If you aren’t sure about pricing, it may be very advantageous to search copper penny auctions and pricings via Ebay. Here is a link to a handy page on our site which will open a new window in your browser and show pricing examples:
Now that you have an idea of pricing possibilities, here is how to make money off of copper pennies:
Understand Pennies
Acquire Pennies
Hoard Pennies
Conquer with Pennies
Capitalize on Pennies
Understand Pennies
Copper in Pennies Weighs More than Face Value
Pennies. Small, tiny little coins that appear worthless to the average person. Pennies are so under appreciated that they get tossed on the ground and people walk by without a second thought. A copper penny is worth more than its face value because of its copper metal content (a copper penny is made of 95% copper and 5% zinc). This means that the actual physical weight of each individual penny makes that penny worth a weight value in metal.
The metal value of copper for each penny makes the copper penny very valuable in large quantities. The U.S. isn’t the first country to have a coin become worth a lot due to their metal value. Many countries have eliminated their lowest cent value. How does money become so high in cost to produce? Inflation and massive printing of currency is just a start of the problem.Devalued Dollar = Inflation = Valuable Pennies
The dollar is worth but a fraction of what it once was. A penny is 1/100th of the value of a dollar. If the dollar has become a fraction of what it once was, a penny is a fraction of the fraction. So to summarize the point: the price of the US dollars is going down, so the value of copper gets inflated. This is why the penny is worth a lot. Because the penny’s face value has become worth so little due to the devaluing of the dollar, that the weight in copper of the copper penny has become extremely valuable, that, and commodities in in huge demand. Particularly gold, silver, and copper.
That is one of the main points why copper pennies have become so valuable. Between commodity prices on the rise and the dollar on the fall, copper pennies have become very worthwhile. In fact, the worse inflation gets and more devalued the dollar becomes, the better the price outlook on copper pennies becomes.
In short: Think Quantitative Easing (QE1, QE2, “The Twist” & now QE3 AKA Quantitative Infinite)
Size Matters
The more you have, the more the investment is worth. But what is considered a lot of pennies? Even ten pounds is a great way to start.Of course, ten pounds of copper pennies is more of a starter package of an investment. After all, you want to make serious money, and to make serious money, you’ll need to find the right portion of your financial portfolio to put in copper pennies. Even if you don’t have a financial portfolio, you can still begin to build up a copper penny investing stockpile. Something is better than nothing. Even if you buy $100 of copper pennies then that’s a great head start. Investing in $1,000 is an ideal way to start a financial portfolio diversification into copper pennies. Eventually, you can work to build a huge stockpile. Though the life expectancy of the penny continuing to be minted is anticipated to not last too long. So invest in copper pennies while you still have time to get a head start on everyone else that did not buy any copper pennies. Go at your own pace, at the amount that is right for you.
Acquire Pennies
Get Copper Pennies
This may seem silly, but if you want to make money off of copper pennies, you need to get copper pennies. Find pennies on the ground, sort for copper pennies yourself, or go the efficient route of buying copper pennies from us. If you want to make money from copper pennies, your best bet is to make sure you have them. Buy copper pennies and you are on your way to making money from copper penny investing.
Efficiency is king in the copper penny investing world. It’s a balance between time management:cost:happiness. You need to find the most cost efficient manner for you that balances the amount of time spent getting your copper pennies, the cost involved in getting the copper pennies (which includes the value of your time spent), and how happy you are with those figures. For every individual, this figure is different. Most people find it much more efficient and effective to simply buy copper pennies from us.
For those that prefer to sort their own copper pennies, we offer an intermediate solution. You can buy sealed penny bags directly from our website to your door. These are the exact same penny bags we get and sort for copper bullion from. The bank the penny bags come from may differ as our sourced coin comes from many different banks. This means you’ll have a larger encompassing reach to acquire pennies from as you’ll benefit from the wide variety of our coin sourcing. We send the penny bags to you sealed, unsorted and unsearched so you never know what goodies could be inside.
The real key to reiterate and focus on is time. Your time is valuable. Everyone is different and you must make sure you are maximizing your return for your time in how you value your time. No one else can determine this but we do offer an article below to assist with helping you monetize time.
Read more: Guide: Copper Penny Sorting versus Copper Penny Buying
Hoard Pennies
Should I Hold onto Copper Pennies
Yes. If you want to hedge against inflation. Commodities are a great way to make a profit while outpacing dollar value drops and rising inflationary trends. Gold and silver are expensive. Copper pennies are cheap. All three are commodities. So why pay extra for a commodity when you can invest in real commodities below copper price cost?
Copper pennies are very durable tangible assets. They’re just as strong and recognizable as .999 copper bullion bars, but backed by the United States currency and significantly cheaper copper to invest in. Even if your house burnt down, your hundred dollar bills would burn up, but the copper pennies would survive. Perhaps a little blackened, but the copper would be intact. Holding onto copper pennies is a great way to secure your wealth in commodities while maintaining a security against failed currencies.
You can invest in .999 pure copper bars or .999 copper scrap for short term copper holdings as an industrial commercial grade base metal. Great for the short run usually holds higher premiums. Medium to long-term holdings generally have much lower premiums, thus the price difference between forms of copper in addition to purity.
The longer you hold onto your copper penny investment, the greater copper price should outpace inflation and the better your ROI (return on investment) will be. Copper spot price drives copper penny price, so holding onto copper pennies means you make money. Depending on how economic events unfold, there are other advantages to holding onto copper pennies to make money that most people do not think about. One such event is currency failure and hyperinflation (read more: Copper Penny Hoarders).
Conquer with Pennies
Copper Penny Value
Make Money off Failed Currencies
Failed currencies are not discussed to be scary, but rather investment facts to anticipate. In fact, anticipating economic disasters is a fact of necessity in the life of investing. As a prudent investor to secure ones wealth, one must prepare for possible outcomes. One currency in the news these days on the possibility of failure is the Euro.
If the Euro collapses, that doesn’t mean anarchy and the complete collapse of society. It means that a new currency (or multiple) would be needed as a medium of exchange.What is a medium of exchange? Simply a well recognized and accepted concept used to make trade easier (these days in the form of currency). In the past, objects ranging from gold, sticks, rocks, to even chocolate were used in various places throughout the world. Currency is used because it’s easy. After all, currency is just simply the ability to sell something of value to buy something of value while being easily transferable from person to person. This is the alternative to having a barter economy. And if the Euro could collapse, who is to say the U.S. dollar can’t collapse?
After all, the dollar is considered the world currency. This means that to trade in certain goods (like crude oil) countries must buy dollars rather than using their own currency. Therefore, there is enough dollars printed to be utilized not just by people of the United States, but countries throughout the world.
That means supply meets world demand for dollars. If the dollar is not used as a world currency, there would be world supply for dollars with only the demand of people in the United States plus those buying U.S. goods in terms of demand for dollars. This would create a huge imbalance between supply and demand. Basic economics would suggest the price of dollars would plummet. The demand for dollars would drop so suddenly, it could cause a huge devaluing spike in the value of the dollar, causing a potential attack by hyperinflation on our economy.
So if a currency collapses, your best investment is an investment that let’s you hold onto the value of your wealth when transferring from the old currency to the new currency. While everyone else is holding onto dollars which have their value destroyed through hyperinflation, you’ll be holding onto copper pennies, a commodity investment in copper. To create stability in an economy, a new currency will have to be distributed at a fair ratio to replace the old currency for holders of the old currency. If everyone else trades at a 1:1 ratio (old to new), then you want a 1:2 ratio (1 old to 2 new).
That means you’d double your wealth in comparison to everyone else. Will copper pennies do that? Answers currently point towards copper pennies definitely helping with a big Yes. Hyperinflation comes about from too much supply of currency (read coins can defeat hyperinflation). Therefore, a reduction in supply of the new currency would be important. So for example, you’d have a ratio more like 5:1 or even 20:1 (old currency face value to new currency face value). This would get prices under control. However, you’d have copper pennies, and instantly be able to sell the copper for the new currency at the well ratio’d cost of the old currency.
Hindsight is 20, 20. But having something useful to society is a great way to start. The key to wealth preservation is not always about making money. Sometimes it is as simple as not losing as much money as everyone else. After all, if you hold still, and everyone else loses money, you’ve gained wealth.
Capitalize on Pennies
When Should I sell my Copper Pennies
At the peak of an upswing economic market. When the economy gets tough, the tough should hoard their copper pennies. Copper is a very market economy-driven metal. In the long run, copper is a heavily demanded metal that pushes copper price above the devaluing of the dollar and inflationary effects on society. But when any economy is bearish, copper tends to be bearish).
So when the economy is in a slump, you should buy copper pennies because the copper penny investing cost will be lower. When the economy becomes bullish, copper prices tend to spike.
Since copper pennies are essentially copper bullion as a copper investment, that means the price of investing in copper pennies rises with a rising copper price. This can be seen with just about any commodity, one example being when the price of crude oil rises, so does gas price to fill up your car. When gas prices are high, a buyer pays more. The catch is so does the gas company which has to refill the oil tanks.
For you, the catch with copper pennies as an investment is the other way around. You buy your copper pennies ahead of time in large investment quantities when copper prices are low and bearish. Then the easiest hard part: have patience. Wait for the dollar to continue to get devalued. Wait for the economy to pick up. Patience is difficult, but necessary. Once the economy bulls, copper bulls, and you can sell whenever you wish (read about How & Why to Invest in Copper Bullion).
Copper Penny Years
Learn More and Buy Copper Pennies by the Ton
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Multi-Ton Copper Pennies via Freight Shipping