Quote from: snowcrashed on July 03, 2013, 06:45:43 PM

Quote from: k9quaint on July 03, 2013, 05:14:09 PM

Quote from: snowcrashed on July 03, 2013, 04:32:10 PM

Quote from: wrenchmonkey on June 30, 2013, 04:53:32 AM

It's illegal to melt Pennies, so their value is stuck at "face" period. End of story.

Didn't read through the entire thread so this may have been commented on, but this is 100% wrong. It is illegal to alter a coin in an attempt to commit a fraud, like altering a nickel to try and pass it off as a quarter or cutting chunks out of 100 coins to make a new one. Melting a coin down for it's raw materials is committing no fraud so the Title you are referring to does not apply. People have been melting down silver quarters/dollars and copper pennies for as long as it's been profitable, no legal action has come of it.

http://www.usmint.gov/pressroom/?action=press_release&ID=771
New regulations in 2006 (finalized in 2007) were enacted to limit coin melting.

https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2007/04/16/E7-7088/prohibition-on-the-exportation-melting-or-treatment-of-5-cent-and-one-cent-coins

Okay that one is new to me, but it's addressing a fairly specific problem. I was referring to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/331, which is older and more general. I know of many pawn/coin/collector shops which actively buy silver quarters/dollars and copper pennies for the purpose of melting them for the metal.

Yeah. The Treasury/Mint issued new regulations to prevent melting pennies and nickels when commodity prices spiked. The US Code you refer to deals with counterfeit mainly.

Quote from: firefop on July 03, 2013, 08:28:13 PM

common practice for jewelers. If you can find a reputable legit jeweler, and have foreign coin to sell - they'll usually pay a little more for it because it's not illegal to melt them.

Some foreign coins are not covered by the treasury/mint regulations.