The U.S. Copper Penny Melt Value Calculator, located below, will help you in finding the total copper value and total copper content of your pre-1982 United States Lincoln 95% copper cents. Calculate by quantity, rolls of pennies, face value, or total weight. The copper cent calculator will only show you what the copper metal in your pennies is worth (intrinsic value), and will not indicate any numismatic (collector) or zinc value.

Do not attempt to actually melt your pennies, as it is currently illegal to do so in the United States. You may, however, use the copper penny calculator to figure the copper bullion value of your pennies or how much to pay for them. (Instructions Below)

You might also use one of the other calculators from the drop-down menu above. For U.S. Nickels try the U.S. Nickel Calculator. There is also the Canadian Copper Penny Melt Value Calculator, and the Scrap Copper Melt Value Calculator.

How to use the U.S. Copper Penny Melt Value Calculator.

First decide what method you will be using to indicate the amount of copper pennies to calculate. You can enter your amounts either by the total quantity of copper pennies, the total face value of your copper pennies, or by the total weight of your copper penny hoard. You could also use a combination of methods depending on how your copper pennies are stored.

The first option, showing the picture of a single copper penny, is for entering an exact count of copper pennies. Use the text box on the right to enter a number representing the total quantity of copper pennies you wish to know the copper melt value of. As an alternative, you can simply click on the copper penny picture, or its link, to increase the value in its text box by 1. The calculator will automatically update the Total Copper Value (in red), whenever a change is made to the amounts in any of the text boxes.

The next option below is for entering the amount of copper pennies by rolls of 50. This has the same effect as entering a value of 50 in the single copper penny option text box. This option is nice if you like to store your copper pennies in rolls or coin tubes. If you received your penny rolls from the bank, be sure to inspect them to determine that they are all of the 95% copper variety. If any of those pennies are of the newer (post-1982) 97.5% zinc variety, then your calculation will not be accurate. This calculator is only designed for measuring the copper melt value of pre-1982 U.S. Lincoln 95% copper pennies.

Your next five options are for entering your amounts by the face value of your copper pennies. There are $1, $10, $50, $100 and $1,000 options each representing 100, 1,000, 5,000, 10,000 and 100,000 copper pennies respectively. This option works well if your copper pennies are stored in canvas bags. You can also use decimal values for partial bags. For example, a value of 1.5 entered into the $10 Face Value Text Box would be equal to a $15 face value.

Your final four options allow you to calculate the melt value of your copper pennies by weighing them. You can choose to weigh by either ounces, pounds, grams, or kilograms. Just enter a whole number or decimal representing the total weight in the appropriate weight text box. If you are weighing your copper pennies inside a container or bag, be sure to subtract the weight of your container first. Do note that these are not Troy ounces or pounds. They are U.S. standard ounces and pounds (a.k.a. Avoirdupois).

The Total Copper Value is determined based on the U.S. Dollar amount displayed in the Copper Price text box. You could also use one of the other world currencies available in the drop-down menu located underneath the prices. The default price is updated frequently during normal trading hours. You can change the Copper Price to represent the amount you would like to pay per pound for the copper content in any stockpile of U.S. copper pennies. This can help you to decide the maximum bid you should enter for an online copper penny auction.

The copper cent calculator displays total copper value and total copper content with respect to the amount of copper contained in uncirculated copper pennies that have not received any wear. If your pennies have some wear due to circulation, they will not consist of as much copper. You may want to include a percentage of that wear in the "Amount of Wear" text box. A value greater than the default of 0 (zero), will decrease the total copper value and total copper weight results accordingly.