The U.S. Copper Penny Melt Value Calculator, located below, will help you in finding the total
copper value and total copper content of your pre-1982 United States Lincoln 95% copper cents.
Calculate by quantity, rolls of pennies, face value, or total weight. The copper cent calculator
will only show you what the copper metal in your pennies is worth (intrinsic value), and will not
indicate any numismatic (collector) or zinc value.
Do not attempt to actually melt your pennies, as it is currently
illegal to do so in the United States. You may, however, use the copper penny calculator to
figure the copper bullion value of your pennies or how much to pay for them.
(Instructions Below)
You may also wish to try one of the many other calculators from the drop-down menu above.
Nickel savers should try the
U.S. Nickel Calculator. For other U.S. coins, use the
U.S. Coin Calculator; for junk silver coins, try the
Silver Coin Calculator.
More applications will be added to this website on a regular basis. Be sure to check back often,
or find out how to stay updated when new
tools, features and resources are added.
How to use the U.S. Copper Penny Melt Value Calculator.
First decide what method you will be using to indicate the amount of copper pennies to calculate. You can enter
your amounts either by the total quantity of copper pennies, the total face value of your copper pennies, or by
the total weight of your copper penny hoard. You could also use a combination of methods depending on how your
copper pennies are stored.
The first option, showing the picture of a single copper penny, is for entering an exact count of copper pennies.
Use the text box on the right to enter a number representing the total quantity of copper pennies you wish to know
the copper melt value of. As an alternative, you can simply click on the copper penny picture, or its link, to
increase the value in its text box by 1. The calculator will automatically update the Total Copper Value
(in red), whenever a change is made to the amounts in any of the text boxes.
The next option below is for entering the amount of copper pennies by rolls of 50. This has the
same effect as entering a value of 50 in the single copper penny option text box. This option is
nice if you like to store your copper pennies in rolls or coin tubes. If you received your penny
rolls from the bank, be sure to inspect them to determine that they are all of the 95% copper
variety. If any of those pennies are of the newer (post-1981) 97.5% zinc variety, then your
calculation will not be accurate. This calculator is only designed for measuring the copper melt
value of pre-1982 U.S. Lincoln 95% copper pennies.
Your next three options are for entering your amounts by the face value of your copper pennies. There are $10, $50,
and $100 options each representing 1,000, 5,000, and 10,000 copper pennies respectively. This option works well if
your copper pennies are stored in canvas bags. You can also use decimal values for partial bags. For example, a value
of 1.5 entered into the $10 Face Value Text Box would be equal to a $15 face value.
Your final four options allow you to calculate the melt value of your copper pennies by weighing them. You can choose
to weigh by either ounces, pounds, grams, or kilograms. Just enter a whole number or decimal representing the total
weight in the appropriate weight text box. If you are weighing your copper pennies inside a container or bag, be sure
to subtract the weight of your container first. Do note that these are not Troy ounces or pounds. They are U.S.
standard ounces and pounds (a.k.a. Avoirdupois).
The Total Copper Value is determined based on the U.S. Dollar amount displayed in the Copper
Price text box. The default price is updated periodically throughout the trading day. You
can change the Copper Price to represent the amount you would like to pay per pound for the
copper content in any stockpile of U.S. copper pennies. This can help you to decide the maximum
bid you should enter for an online copper penny auction.
The copper cent calculator displays total copper value and total copper content with respect to
the amount of copper contained in uncirculated copper pennies that have not received any wear.
If your pennies have some wear due to circulation, they will not consist of as much copper. You
may want to include a percentage of that wear in the "Amount of Wear" text box. A value
greater than the default of 0 (zero), will decrease the total copper value and total copper weight
results accordingly.
