As if echoing the situation, it was barely 10 years later during the early 1970s that the price of copper rose to a point where the penny contained almost one cent’s worth of copper, it’s own monetary worth. This led the Mint to test alternate metals for that coin, including aluminum and bronze-clad steel. Aluminum was chosen, and over 1.5 million of these alternate metal pennies were struck and made ready for public release before being ultimately rejected. The proposed aluminum pennies were rejected because vending machine owners insisted the coins would cause mechanical problems in the machines. Samples of the rejected aluminum cents were sent to congressmen and upon being returned to the Mint, at least one went missing, its whereabouts unknown to this day. One of those aluminum pennies was also donated to the Smithsonian Institute.

Anyway, as copper prices rose, collectors and speculators rushed into the numismatic marketplace, snapping up bagfuls of wheat cents and other copper coins before, as one eager buyer put it, “they begin melting down pennies for their high value copper content, just like those silver coins. Well, as any level-healed investor/collector knows, copper prices returned to normal before that actually happened. However, the short-lived price rise did have some surprising effects.

Back in the mid-1970s, I owned a small bookstore in northern Wisconsin, which featured a coin department. I also sold area souvenirs, including small copper anvils and other items from longplayed- out copper mining areas in Michigan’s fascinating Upper Peninsula. During that temporary upswing in copper prices, I noticed that folks began snapping up not only souvenirs but also wheat cents and those large copper English and Irish pennies. That was to be expected. However, much to my surprise, I began getting phone calls from contractors and other bulk copper users, some from as far away as Texas, who had seen my ads for copper coins and souvenirs and wanted to know if I had a source of affordable bulk copper they needed in their business. Unfortunately, I couldn’t help them in their desperate search for copper, but the facts and events of those years are a good example of the effects of a price run-up in copper - or for that matter, any valuable commodity.

Well, about 10 years later, the price of copper again started to rise, so much so that the cent’s composition was changed in 1982 because the value of the copper in the coin at that time was actually higher than the value of the cent. Again, the price of copper returned to normal levels, but the new composition of the cent remained.

Another interesting story: When I was a boy fascinated with coins and a beginning coin collector - my friends and I would toss a U.S. copper cent onto a table top and marvel at its “ring” as it landed. Then we’d toss a zinc coin from the Third Reich (Nazi Germany) onto the table top where it would land with an ugly splat. This proves, we said, that America makes the best coins. (This was important in those days. There was a war on!)

Now, of course, the new zinc cents splat down on that old table, too. Zinc is, after all, zinc. But now, the price of copper is again on the rise, reaching $3.64 a pound. At that price - and it’s expected to go higher - each 95 percent copper cent has a value of 2 cents. And astute investor/ collectors are beginning to take notice and buy them before they’re worth even more, which could create a shortage of cents.

“Raw material prices in general have skyrocketed in the last five years, sending copper prices to record highs,” says Francois Velde, senior economist at the Chicago Fed. Copper pennies number 145 to a pound, Velde says. And at today’s copper prices, those coins could sell for $3.64, their melt value. “History shows that when coins are worth melting, they tend to disappear,” Velde notes. Velde said that since 1982 the Mint has produced 910 pennies for every American. Last year there were 8.23 billion pennies in circulation, according to the Mint. The Mint is making more and more pennies, at higher and higher cost. But don’t just take our word for it. “Sharply rising prices of metals such as copper and nickel have meant the face value of pennies and nickels are now worth less than the material they are made of,” says Velde. The good news is that U.S. 95 percent copper cents are still available at affordable prices, but prices will definitely rise along with the price of copper. Astute investor/collectors will add as many as they can afford to their holdings as soon as possible. This can not only add prime coins to a fine collection (don’t forget to fill a penny book for those grand-kids) but can also become a valuable asset as copper prices rise to even higher levels. Velde goes on to say that savvy investors and others could sell the coins for a profit. We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

P.S. LAST MINUTE UPDATE: As we go to press, the market has turned very strong for bulk copper cents … in particular Lincoln Wheats. The good thing about this is that once you enjoy going through them and taking out the goodies, you still have the bulk left over to collect, sell or trade to others. It's amazing how few people in the world have even seen a Wheat Cent. The editors of Coin Wholesaler all agree that the Wheat Cents (1909-1958) in P, D, S mintmarks offer the best value for profit returns. Since 1958 these were all hoarded and now with the rising base metal prices they may discontinue even the cent itself. What have you got to lose owning the most collected and hoarded coin in America… while it is cheap?