Expert: Cameron Kiefer - 12/19/2006

Question
I heard on the news about two weeks ago about any pennies made before 1985 were now worth 4.4 cents... is it true, and if so, how many years apart? and where can someone sell them if they wanted to sell pennies made before 1985. (i heard this on fox 26 news, a tv news station for houston texas.

Answer
Pennies minted from 1982 and before are copper whereas 1983 and later are a zinc alloy.  I dont know where the news got the 1985 date but they are wrong.  The coins are worth more than face value just in their metal content but it is not high enough for people to make any money on melting them.  You would need literally tons of it to make money on melting pennies and the time and effort going through them isnt worth it.

Cameron Kiefer