I heard some one say that the copper that a one penny piece is made of is worth more than one pence, is this true?

You will get answers correct for it here if you disclose your location. Note how I preserved my privacy with Northern USA. Here the copper penny has been made of zinc since 1983 since it had over a cents worth of copper.

OK I live in the uk

Well, it costs about 1.4 cents to make a penny in the US, about 0.6 cents of that is from labour costs, so you can't sell the pennies for scrap zinc and make money, although it's getting close (0.8 cents) so they are looking at changing the recipe for it. (again)

The UK pennies are made of steel... which is cheap.

Small coins are considered wasteful by many: The US one cent piece has a little over one cent's worth of zinc, plus an estimated cost of manufacture of approximately one third of a cent per coin. Coins in other locations vary significantly based on the exact makeup, the relative value of the coin, and the cost of the materials in that market.

Note that in the US, it's now a crime to melt down a coin for its raw materials.

They may use steel in the future. I'm sure they wanted to use a metal that had some sort of prestigious value, but now it's come around and bit them in the butt as it becomes more and more rare :)

OK anybody know about the uk

Yes. I live in the UK, our penny has been made from copper plated steel since 1992. Which, as I stated, is cheap. Before then it was made from bronze, a more expensive copper-tin alloy.

Please do not disagree with me on issues that you obviously are not knowledgeable or have done no research about.

Albear, if you do not believe me, then do this simple thing for me.

Take a penny dated after 1992, go to your fridge and take a fridge magnet. See if the penny sticks to the magnet. You'll find that it does.

Copper is NOT FERROMAGNETIC. Steel is mainly iron, which IS FERROMAGNETIC.

Proof! Right in front of your eyes!

Ah sorry, my bad

So how cheep is the (uk) penny then?

It's amazing what you can find on Google !

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Royal Mint

Q3. What are 'bronze' coins made from? Why are some magnetic and some not?

Traditionally bronze coins were made from an alloy of copper, tin and zinc. Since September 1992, however, 1p and 2p coins have been made from copper-plated steel. The change was made because of the increasing price in world markets of base and non-ferrous metals. The copper-plated coins are the same colour, weight, diameter and design as those struck in bronze and circulate alongside them. There is one notable difference. Copper-plated coins are attracted to magnets because of the iron content of the steel core, whereas bronze coins are not magnetic.

In 1998, 2p coins were struck in both copper-plated steel and bronze. We may decide to do this again because, by having this flexibility to produce in either material, the Royal Mint can better meet customer needs promptly and cost effectively.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Royal Mint

Q7. How much does it cost to make coins?

The cost of producing United Kingdom coins varies according to the specification of each denomination. The value of metal in each coin accounts for a large part of the total cost, but it is also necessary to take into consideration the broader costs of the manufacturing process. These vary according to the complexity of the coin.

The Royal Mint does not reveal exactly how much it costs to make specific coins as such information could be used to its competitors' advantage.

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Originally Posted by Royal Mint
Q7. How much does it cost to make coins?

The cost of producing United Kingdom coins varies according to the specification of each denomination. The value of metal in each coin accounts for a large part of the total cost, but it is also necessary to take into consideration the broader costs of the manufacturing process. These vary according to the complexity of the coin.

The Royal Mint does not reveal exactly how much it costs to make specific coins as such information could be used to its competitors' advantage.


Awwwww

I would hazard a guess at probably under half a penny in material costs.

K so probably not worth melting them down separating the materials then selling them is it

No. It's probably illegal too.

Yea true but I was just wondering

People have thought about this kind of thing before :p

Yea I know but I thought id put it on here to see what the real experts have to say on the subject

But you chose to disagree with them anyway? ;)