F*#$@ing pennies!
I know for sure that the minty stopped making them of 90% copper because it cost more than a penny to produce them.
Wait one, and let me check spot copper prices…
OK, currently ranging between $1.24 and $1.35/lb. Now, how many pennies in a lb.?
OK, 100 old 90% copper pennies weigh 282 grams. At 28.34 grams/oz., 100 old 90% copper pennies weigh 9.95 oz., or 0.62 lbs.
OK, 0.62 lbs of 90% copper pennies is 0.56 lbs. of copper.
OK, 0.56 lbs of copper is worth (at the median rate of $1.30/lb.) 73¢.
So, 100 copper pennies are worth, at current copper prices, 73¢, so one old 90% copper penny is worth 0.73¢, or about 3/4 of a penny.
Now, that’s commercial rates, for pure copper, and you can expect to get far less from recyclers.
One recycler pays maximum 54¢/lb for #2 scrap copper, copper alloy would be less, perhaps in the range of 30¢/lb.
Hmmm, further research claims pennies are made from , variously, 95%, or 97% copper. Still not enough to push a copper penny to being worth more than a penny; we go as high as 4/5[sup]ths[/sup] of a cent, or 0.8¢.
With recyclers paying about 30¢/lb. and one penny weighing .0062 lbs., we can expect to get about 0.2¢ (two-tenths, or one fifth of a cent) for pennies being recycled for copper, i.e., recycle five pennies and get a penny for them.
So, that said, I wouldn’t rush down to the recyclers just yet, I’d wait till spot copper goes up to at least $5-$6. 
S¬
…V
You realize that if we do away with pennies, a revered college prank will become too expensive to do. I speak, of course, of “pennying someone into their room.” 
Students were probably doing that when a penny was worth a quarter.
How many of the Wartime (1941-45) steel pennies are still in circulation? I used to see them frequently…I don’t recall seeing one in years, however.
I say we keep the penny, and we push the “re-set” button on the economy. Give the penny its value back by declaring that $100 US will henceforth be equal to $10.
It’s just crazy enough to work! 
No, that was just for my snack - a large Pepsi and a Twix. 
The movie cost me $8.50 Canadian. That’s the regular adult price on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. It’s $5.50 on Tuesday (“Cheap Night”) and weekend matinees, and $9.00 from Friday to Sunday.
Yes, those are great prices compared to most other places. It’s not a chain theatre, and the owners are trying to keep it as cheap as possible to keep the place open. For a long time, there was no theatre here, and we’re the largest city on the Northern coast of the province.
Unfortunately, in trying to keep prices low, they’ve had to make some concessions. The place is somewhat under-staffed and, most annoyingly, but understandable, is that most movies are delayed at least a week or two in getting here. Only with surefire sellout films like Spider-Man or Harry Potter does “opens everywhere” include here.
Movie studios get at least three-quarters of ticket sales from films in their first week. Depending on the film and the studio, that percentage will go down as the weeks go by. People complain about the seemingly absurd price of food at theatres, but if they didn’t charge so much there, they wouldn’t be able to stay in business.
Anyhoo, what were we talking about? 