Copper Pennies: Which Years Are Copper, What They're Worth, and Why You Can't Melt Them

Somewhere in your kitchen there is a jar of change, and in it, if the jar is old enough, are coins that each hold about four cents of copper. The law says they are worth one cent. The law also says you may not melt them to find out otherwise.

US pennies dated 1982 and earlier, except 1943, are 95% copper and weigh 3.11 grams. At September 2026 prices each holds about 4.3 cents of metal. Pennies from 1983 on are 97.5% zinc with a thin copper coat, weigh 2.50 grams and hold about 1.1 cents. 1982 pennies come in both kinds. The 1943 penny is steel. Melting or exporting pennies has been against the law since December 14, 2006, so the copper is worth more than the coin and you still cannot get at it.

Think of a copper penny as a gift card with $4 on it that every store in the country will only take as $1. You can keep it, give it away or spend it at a loss. The one thing you cannot do is get the other $3 out.

What years are pennies copper?

The penny has changed metal seven times since 1793, and each change happened for the same reason: the metal inside was getting close to the number on the front. The early cents were nearly pure copper and about the size of a modern half dollar. In 1856 the Mint shrank the cent and mixed in nickel; in 1864 it settled on bronze, and the 3.11-gram copper penny lasted, with one wartime break, until 1982.

Copper $14,474, nickel $16,324 and zinc $4,021 a metric ton, World Bank September 2026 averages. The tin in bronze cents is left out because the mix of tin and zinc was never fixed; it adds well under a cent. For today’s figures, the coin melt value chart uses the live copper price.

The 1944 to 1946 pennies are a small piece of wartime recycling: the Mint made them partly from spent cartridge cases, which were brass. Collectors call them shell-case cents. They look and weigh the same as any other copper penny.

How to tell a copper penny from a zinc penny

Start with the date. Anything 1981 or earlier is copper, apart from 1943. Anything 1983 or later is zinc. That sorts all but one year.

For 1982, and for anyone who would rather not squint at dates all evening, use a scale. A copper penny weighs 3.11 grams and a zinc one 2.50, a difference of about a fifth. A kitchen scale that reads to a gram cannot see it reliably on one coin; a cheap pocket scale that reads to a tenth of a gram can. Ten coins at a time works on a kitchen scale too: 31 grams is copper, 25 is zinc.

The old trick of dropping a penny on a table and listening also works, once you have heard both. Copper rings with a higher note; zinc lands with a dull clink, like a coin that has given up. Old zinc pennies also show their metal when the copper skin wears through, as gray patches and bubbling.

What is a copper penny worth?

As metal, about 4.3 cents at September 2026 copper prices, so a pound of copper pennies (about 146 coins, $1.46 in face value) holds about $6.33 of metal. A full $50 bank box of 5,000 copper pennies weighs about 34 pounds and holds about $217 of metal.

As money, one cent. And because you cannot legally melt it, one cent is the price anyone will pay for it in a shop. A copper penny’s metal crossed one cent when copper went past about $1.54 a pound, which it did in the mid-2000s, around the time the Mint wrote the melting ban. Copper was about $6.60 a pound in October 2026.

People who sort and keep copper pennies are betting, in effect, that the ban will one day be lifted. Nothing in the rule says it will be. A jar of sorted copper pennies is a jar of pennies that happens to weigh more.

Is it illegal to melt pennies?

Yes. The Mint’s rule, 31 CFR part 82, says no person shall “export, melt, or treat” any US one-cent or five-cent coin without the Treasury’s permission. It took effect on December 14, 2006, and the penalty set by the statute behind it is a fine of up to $10,000, up to five years in prison, or both.

There are three exceptions, and you have probably used one:

• Novelty and souvenirs. Treating pennies “for educational, amusement, novelty, jewelry, and similar purposes” is allowed, as long as the amount and the method make clear you are not after the metal. The penny-squashing machine at the zoo is legal.
• Travel. You may leave the country with up to $5 in pennies and nickels in your pocket, or $25 if they are clearly for your own collecting or amusement.
• Shipping. A shipment with a face value of no more than $100 may leave the country if it is going to be used as money or by collectors, not melted.

Silver and gold coins are not covered. The guide to melting coins has the full rules, and the equivalents in Britain, Canada and Australia.

The 1943 penny: steel, and the rare copper one

In 1943 the army needed copper for shell casings and wire, so the Mint struck the year’s pennies on steel with a zinc coat. More than a billion were made. They are gray, they stick to a magnet, and as metal they are worth almost nothing. Worn ones sell for a few cents to collectors.

A few 1943 pennies were struck by mistake on leftover bronze blanks from 1942. Estimates of how many survive run from about ten to two dozen, and they sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars. One that a 16-year-old got in his school cafeteria change in 1947 sold at auction for $204,000 in January 2019. So if you have a 1943 penny that does not stick to a magnet, show it to a reputable coin dealer before you spend it. Most turn out to be steel pennies plated with copper, or a 1948 with the 8 filed into a 3. One might not.

The end of the penny

In fiscal 2025 each penny cost the Mint 3.02 cents to make and ship, the twentieth year in a row it cost more than it was worth. In February 2025 the President told the Treasury to stop making them, and the Mint struck its last circulating penny in Philadelphia on November 12, 2025. Pennies are still legal tender and still in circulation; stores may round cash prices to the nearest five cents, but nothing requires them to.

The Mint keeps making pennies for collectors’ sets. Your change jar is now, in a small way, a closed edition.

Outside the US

Several countries dropped their smallest coin before the US did, mostly for the same reason. New Zealand withdrew its 1-cent coin on April 30, 1990, Australia on February 1, 1992, South Africa on April 1, 2002, and Canada on February 4, 2013; cash totals there are rounded. Several euro countries, including Finland, the Netherlands, Ireland and Italy, round cash payments to five cents, though 1- and 2-cent euro coins remain legal tender.

Britain still uses the 1p. Its 1p and 2p coins were bronze until 1992 and copper-plated steel since, so a newer one sticks to a magnet, which is the quickest way to sort a British jar. The US rule on melting covers only US coins; other countries have their own, and the melting guide lists them.

Wheat pennies, Memorial pennies and the rest

The design tells you roughly when a penny was made, which narrows the date when it is worn. Wheat pennies, with two ears of wheat on the back, run from 1909 to 1958 and are all copper except 1943. Lincoln Memorial pennies run from 1959 to 2008 and switch to zinc during 1982. The 2009 pennies have four designs from Lincoln’s life, and the shield on the back has been used since 2010; all of those are zinc.

For most wheat pennies, a collector pays a few cents more than face, which is still less than their copper. The handful of rare dates, such as the 1909-S VDB and the 1914-D, are worth far more, which is the other reason to look before anything goes in a bag.

Sources

• Penny metal and weight by year, the 1974 aluminum trials and the end of production: Penny (United States coin), Wikipedia, and the US Mint’s penny page.
• The melting and export ban, its exceptions and limits: 31 CFR 82.1 and 82.2; penalties, 31 USC 5111(d).
• Fiscal 2025 cost to make a penny (3.02 cents) and the twentieth year above face value: the US Mint’s 2025 annual report, as quoted by Greysheet.
• The last circulating penny, Philadelphia, November 12, 2025: Associated Press.
• The 1943 bronze penny sold for $204,000: CBS News; survivors estimated at one to two dozen, Greysheet.
• Copper, nickel and zinc prices, September 2026 monthly averages: World Bank Commodity Price Data (Pink Sheet), October 2026 release.
• When other countries withdrew their smallest coins: Withdrawal of low-denomination coins, Wikipedia.

Derived on this page: metal values (weight × share of each metal × its price per gram), pennies per pound (453.6 g ÷ coin weight), and the copper price at which a copper penny holds exactly one cent of copper (about $1.54 a pound).

Questions people actually ask

What years are pennies copper?

US pennies dated 1982 and earlier are 95% copper, except the 1943 penny, which is zinc-coated steel. Pennies from 1983 on are 97.5% zinc with a thin copper coat. 1982 pennies were made both ways, so they have to be weighed: 3.11 grams is copper, 2.50 grams is zinc.

How much is a copper penny worth in metal?

About 4.3 cents at September 2026 copper prices. A copper penny holds about 2.95 grams of copper. A zinc penny from 1983 on holds about 1.1 cents of metal. Neither can legally be melted in the US.

Is it illegal to melt pennies?

Yes. Since December 14, 2006, US Mint rules (31 CFR part 82) ban melting, treating or exporting pennies and nickels, with penalties of up to $10,000, up to five years in prison, or both. Novelty uses such as souvenir penny presses and jewelry are allowed.

How much is a 1943 steel penny worth?

As metal, almost nothing. Worn ones sell to collectors for a few cents and uncirculated ones for more. A 1943 penny that does not stick to a magnet may be one of the rare bronze errors, which have sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars, so have it checked by a reputable dealer.

How do I tell if a 1982 penny is copper or zinc?

Weigh it. A copper 1982 penny weighs 3.11 grams and a zinc one 2.50 grams. A pocket scale that reads to a tenth of a gram tells them apart on one coin; on a kitchen scale, weigh ten at once (about 31 grams for copper, 25 for zinc).

How many copper pennies are in a pound?

About 146 copper pennies make a pound, or $1.46 in face value. Zinc pennies are lighter, about 181 to the pound. A $50 box of 5,000 copper pennies weighs about 34 pounds.

Can I take pennies out of the US?

Only a little. Under 31 CFR 82.2 a traveler may carry up to $5 in pennies and nickels, or $25 if they are clearly for personal collecting or amusement, and a shipment of up to $100 face value may be exported for use as money or by collectors, not for melting.

Are pennies still legal tender?

Yes. The US Mint struck its last circulating penny on November 12, 2025, but existing pennies remain legal tender. Stores may round cash prices to the nearest five cents; nothing requires them to.