US Newstory: Mint to Ban Melting Pennies & Nickels

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By MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP
WASHINGTON (Dec. 14) - Given rising metal prices, the pennies and nickels in your pocket are worth more melted down than their face value - and that has the government worried.

"We are taking this action because the nation needs its coinage for commerce," Mint Director Edmund Moy said.

U.S. Mint officials said Wednesday they were putting into place rules prohibiting the melting down of 1-cent and 5-cent coins. The rules also limit the number of coins that can be shipped out of the country.

"We are taking this action because the nation needs its coinage for commerce. We don't want to see our pennies and nickels melted down so a few individuals can take advantage of the American taxpayer," Mint Director Edmund Moy said in a statement.

Officials said they had received a number of inquiries from the public in recent months concerning the value of the metal in the coins and whether it was legal to melt them.

The new regulations prohibit the melting of 1-cent and 5-cent coins, with a penalty of up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 for people convicted of violating the rule.

The rules also require that shipments of the coins out of the country be for legitimate coinage and numismatic purposes and cap the size of any one shipment to $100 worth of the coins.

Because of the prevailing prices of copper, zinc and nickel, the cost of producing pennies and nickels exceeds the face value of the coins.

A nickel is 25 percent nickel and 75 percent copper. The metal in one coin costs 6.99 cents for each 5-cent coin. When the Mint's cost of producing the coins is added, the total cost for each nickel is 8.34 cents.

Modern pennies have 2.5 percent copper content with zinc making up the rest of the coin. The current copper and zinc in a penny are worth 1.12 cents. The cost of production drives the cost of each penny up to 1.73 cents.

Pennies made before 1982, which are still in circulation, would be even more lucrative to melt down because they contain 95 percent copper and only 5 percent zinc. The metal value in those coins is 2.13 cents per coin, Mint officials said.

The new regulations are being published in the Federal Register and will go into effect as interim rules which will not become final until the government has a chance to consider possible modifications based on public comments.

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		Quote:			Posted by outback
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Coin collector looking to get millions for a nickel

In 1913 the US Mint changed its design for the nickel from the liberty head to the buffalo nickel. Somehow though five liberty head nickels were minted with the 1913 date and since then its value has risen considerably. Morelan?s nickel, now on display in New York, is expected to sell for at least $5 Million.

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First Ladies Appear on New Gold Coins
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP
WASHINGTON (Dec. 15) - Not to be outdone by their husbands, the first ladies are getting their chance to shine on the nation's coins. Starting next year, Martha Washington, Abigail Adams and all the rest will begin appearing on a new series of gold coins.

The first coin in the series features a stern-looking Martha Washington, wearing a bonnet, on one side with a depiction of her mending a soldier's jacket on the other side and the phrase, "First Lady of the Continental Army." . . . . . . .


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