![]() ![]() Some pennies, originally worth a single cent, are now worth thousands of dollars. But coins hold their value remarkably well. 15 Most Valuable Pennies Still in Circulation Most pennies are worth one cent - but a few rare pennies are worth looking for.Ĭollectibles come and go. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.If you ever come across one of these rare pennies, don't use it on a parking meter. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at for further information. That's how many people are out there betting against the penny.Ĭopyright © 2014 NPR. He sorts them with industrial-size sorting machines and sells off the copper ones online. He rented out some space in an armored car warehouse, so he has a regular supply of coins coming in. Like, this one guy out in Portland, Oregon. And it's fun to do.ĬHACE: Some guys are already making money off this expectation that the penny will die. 'Cause, hey, I kind of like like look through so many more. WARDAK: When the pennies are abolished then that's the end of one of your hobbies right there. WARDAK: I would probably go buy as many boxes as I could afford.ĬHACE: Steve, though, he says he would not scrap them right away, because that day - the day they kill the penny - that is a sad day for him. If you turned on the computer right now and you saw that they'd abolished the penny, what would you do? government kills off the penny, then the pennies are no longer U.S. ![]() Unless - and this is what these guys are hoping for - the U.S. The copper in these pennies is stuck there. He figures the copper is worth double the face value, so that's a thousand dollars, practically, stacked in boxes in the back of his closet.ĬHACE: You know, there is this problem with this investment strategy which is, right now, it is illegal to melt these pennies down. Copper.ĬHACE: Steve has collected $475 in old pennies. It sounds like fake money.ĬHACE: Kind of subtle to the untrained ear. WARDAK: And these are the zinc pennies that they make now. Almost a third of the pennies Steve is pulling out are 1982 or before. Like, I'll give her a box and I'll take my own box - '82, there's '82.ĬHACE: You actually get lucky really quickly. They sit next to each other in the living room and go through them. And this is kind of the thing they do together at night. He gets the coins and he brings them home to his fiancé. WARDAK: I can turn it on for a second to show you how fast it goes.ĬHACE: Steve doesn't have a machine 'cause he likes to sort by hand. ![]() See?ĬHACE: Some people have special machines that sort out the pre-1982s out from the post-1982s. UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: These are all pre-1982 copper pennies. I had to go and pick up another box, $25 worth of penny rolls. The coin roll hunters, they like to go online and show off their hauls. This is the thing, Steve Wardak is what's known as a coin roll hunter. So I like to pull those out and double my money very slowly.ĬHACE: This prospecting for copper - one old penny at a time - there are thousands of people doing this. WARDAK: Nineteen eighty-two and prior, they were 90 percent copper and they're worth about two cents, maybe a little more depending on the price of copper. But before 1982, they were mostly copper. The metal inside is worth about one cent. These days, pennies are made out of mostly zinc. So I'm going to in here to the PNC Bank and ask for two boxes of pennies.ĬHACE: Steve is not a mere coin enthusiast. STEVE WARDAK: I have $50 that I don't need for anything else right now. He takes paper money to his local bank in Pittsburgh and asks for pennies. In fact, instead of taking his change to the bank and cashing it in for dollars, like most people do, Steve does the opposite. He's never walked past a penny on the street and not picked it up. ZOE CHACE, BYLINE: Steve Wardak is one of those people. NPR's Zoe Chace has that story from our Planet Money team. If that happens, a small group of people plan to make a bunch of money. to kill the penny, take it out of circulation. And some politicians and economists say we ought to just get rid of them. They cost around twice as much to make as they're worth. ![]()
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