I have just determined that a kilo of 20c pieces at $35 is worth $45 in metal. Am I right? I haven’t included my figures so as not to ingluence other calculations. If I’m right, a great arbitrage opportunity if refined in mass.
Spot price of a 20 cent coin is currently 23.56 cents. By my math its $35 to $41.23. Keep in mind 5c, 10c and 20c pieces are all the same in terms of composition and weight ratio. 5c for example is 1/4 the weight of a 20c. I did the math a while back and it was getting close. Will be interesting as the mint may need to make a change in composition soon. 50c, $1 and $2 are not worth anywhere near face value.
Same here in the States with Jefferson nickels and the pre82 copper cents. They are worth more in melt even with metal prices down so low. A 50 cent roll of copper pennies sells for $6 + now and more for the older Wheat cents. 12x face value for copper coins
Our dimes and quarters and the rest arent worth anything in melt value, a fraction of the face value. Youre better off spending those.
I wonder if Australia will even bother minting new coins with the king’s image on them. 5, 10 and 20c coins are of no real use now so maybe that will just leave the QE2 coins as is to wash around the system. If they do mint new coins then they may well make them from a cheaper alloy or a smaller size but that would mean that all of the bank’s coin sorting machines would need re-calibration.
You are right more or less, the value of the metal exceeds the face value of the 5c, 10c and 20c coins. An interesting fact is the same dollar value of 5, 10 and 20c pieces weighs the same, no matter what mix of the three coins you have. However; 1) It's very illegal to melt them down. 2) It is also difficult to get a sale for that particular alloy. You would definitely need to export the metal (a hornet's nest of issues), nowhere in Australia will actually use or refine it in any great quantity. Alternatively you will have difficulty getting the kind of dollars you are chasing selling to an Australian scrap yard, see point 1). 3) The logistics involved acquiring, transporting and melting the tens of tonnes of metal you will need to make any kind of decent money is beyond most people's means.
You are right, they probably are practically worth more as coins. I think it will be a good few years, if ever, before ordinary circulated Australian 5c, 10c and 20c are worth anything more than face value as coins. A Ni/Cu alloy is not a precious metal, and it is not really very valuable in small coin sized quantities like Ag, Au & Pt. It is traded in at least Kilos, usually tonnes, not Oz or grams. Our 1966 50c and pre-decimal silver coins are worth something no matter their condition because they contain silver. Real money!!
Copper and nickel arent PMs but theyve always been a part of the money system and they break down silver to the nickel or cent and sometimes bronze was used too. Our pre82 copper cents are about 3 cents melt and the nickels are about 7 cents so they are worth saving to sell in the future if nothing else, maybe when prices go up. Metal content will be changing soon in our Jefferson nickels. My bank wont even sell nickels anymore or theyd all be gone for 5 cents each! There are people that stack it hardcore and Greshams Law even affects pennies and nickels believe it or not.
I respectfully disagree that circulated Australian 5, 10 & 20c coins are worthwhile stacking in the hope 'maybe when prices go up'. By this I mean not in any large quantity, keeping your loose change for a rainy day, to show your grand kids or a numismatic perspective is a different proposition. I'm talking strictly about the metal content in current Australian coins only here. There is no silver in modern Australian coins. Copper, nickel and bronze (an alloy of copper) are used as money but that's not their major use. Electronics, bearings, plumbing, batteries, marine applications and stainless steel are common. I make my living from metal and I have processed thousands and thousands of tonnes of it. Non precious metals, even the more valuable non ferrous stuff, (copper and related alloys like 5/10/20c coins, bronze (mostly Cu & Sn), brass (Cu & Zn), and nickel allys like stainless steel) are not worth saving in commercial quantities for any length of time. No business does this, unless they have made a mistake and over paid for it in the first place or are in a jam. The simple logistics of storing non precious metals and security concerns make it unfeasible. You need to process shipping container loads of the stuff to just make a living, let alone a tidy profit. Where will you store it? Real estate is valuable and can be better utilised. How will you secure it? You cannot leave coins, brass or copper out in the open like steel, (druggies will steal it). You would need a whopping great safe to store even just ten tonnes. You could hold the equivalent value of gold in one hand. Easily. Getting off topic here, but a full shipping container load of steel is only worth about two ounces of gold at the moment. If I wanted to make money I would invest into real estate/machinery or something that gives a return. If I wanted to 'stack' it I would go with gold or silver.
Ive seen videos of guys with pallets of pennies in their basement with a machine that seperates them between the copper and zinc. It was retarded amounts of pennies but its just copper after all. Id much rather buy PMs for savings than deal with all that but going through my pocket change is almost like a little treasure hunt. When my wife dumps out her purse she just laughs at me and says have fun! And i do. Its pretty sad but ive got a few big glass pickle jars for years of it haha. Maybe it takes a special kind of coin nerd but im that guy hehe. It really doesnt cost any time and i figure its worth doing to make "every penny count." We are basically the same as the guys in the 60s and 70s that were pulling out the silver at face value. Copper and nickel could be silver's little brothers coming up soon but id never recommend buying it as an investment. Its just pocket change and its worth what its worth. Im only speaking for US change here in the States as im not very familiar with other coinage.
She spends my money then gives me my change back to go through and laughs at me. She has raised my kids and keeps the home so its funny to her. Pretty much how it works after 35 years yep. Shes a legend in my mind and i aint no simp. She's worked for it and deserves it and stuck it out with me all these years. I always recommended to every guy i know that he needs an Eskimo girl or a young squaw and ive stuck by that. They make great wives and mothers, age real well, they cant drink, they will dig for gold but wont steal it from you, they can make anywhere a comfy home, they can cook a leather boot into edible food and at the end of the day they will work as hard as most men among many other things. Shes got a little German and Irish mixed in there too and the halfbreeds are the best haha. She aint so young anymore so i say her name should have been Crows Feet haha.
Maybe Oz dudes need to go after the Aborigine girls i dont know. Are they pretty hot? I dont know much about them but it cant be hard impressing a girl thats used to sleeping under bushes and eating bugs.
I doubt if they eat bugs but im drinking beers and it sounded funny. We are probably way off topic now.
