Do Not Melt Our Coins?

The Royal Mint have warned against melting down pre 1992 coins (2p's and 1p's) to obtain the Copper. Copper has increased in value to such an extent that on the metals market the Copper is worth worth twice as much as the coins face value.

Reading between the lines, if the Royal Mint has issued a release then presumably they have actually caught someone trying to melt down coins. I have previously heard of people stealing Copper wire, but melting down coins for the Copper.

Will Copper become the new gold?

They go on to point out that it is actually illegal and that on such a small scale it is impractical for most people.

"Even if it were legal, the practicalities involved in melting down such huge quantities of coins would seem to us to make it a highly improbable task for the average consumer"
- unnamed source at Royal Mint

The price of Copper on the London Metals Exchange stands at 8619 US $/ tonne or approx $8.61 / kg.

Tags: Copper, Royal Mint, coins