Isn't melting money for scrap metal (w/o the proper license) a crime? Hoarding might be legally ok but the use is limited to resale. trying to recycle and purify the silver out of the pre 64 coins is often quote as a criminal act.
It is 100% legal to melt US silver coinage. All quarters, dimes and half dollars before 1964 (and the old silver dollars - Morgan and Peace dollars) were 90% silver, and you can melt them as much as you want.
Currently it is illegal to melt copper pennies and nickels, but many people are hoarding them because they are worth more in metal content than face value. (
http://coinflation.com |
http://coppergeek.com |
http://www.crazycoinguy.com/) You can sell copper pennies above face value on eBay, the market price tends to be somewhere in between face value and melt value, to account for the fact that you can't currently melt or export them but most believe these laws will be eventually lifted just as it was for silver coins.