By Goodwin Ginger
I was in a bar the other night having a drink. I made the passing observation that a Canadian penny (pre 1997) is worth over twice its value as copper. The other patrons were skeptical. So never wanting to loose when I am right here is the math.
1 tonne of copper = 1, 000, 000 grams
Spot price of a tonne of Copper=8,301US$= 9174.66CDN (as of May 29th,2006)
A)1 cdn Penny pre 1996= 2.5 grams of copper
x 400,000 pennies = 1 tonne of copper
B) 1 cdn Penny pre 1980= 2.8 grams of copper
x 357,143 pennies = 1 tonne of copper
C) 1 cdn Penny pre 1979= 3.2 grams of copper
x 312,500 pennies = 1 tonne of copper
So as you can see
In case A, a single penny is worth 2.29cents as copper.
In case B. a single penny is worth 2.57cents as copper
In case C a singel penny is worth 2.94cents as copper
QED
So if you were to spend 4000$ buying pennies at the bank and smelted them down you would have a tonne of copper worth 9174$Cdn which is a 229% rate of return. Try getting that out of savings account.
It should be pointed out that it is a Federal offence to smelt national coinage. This is for educational purposes only.
March 19, 2007 at 2:41 pm
[...] What a Canadian Penny is Worth [...]
April 12, 2007 at 4:18 pm
have much is a penny worth from 1946?
April 13, 2007 at 9:13 pm
It depends, if there was something unusual about pennies minted in 1946, if not then a 1946 penny is worth 1 cent or its copper value.
April 21, 2007 at 10:40 pm
what is a 1980 and 1972 and 1986 worth
April 21, 2007 at 10:41 pm
1946 is worth 2 cents