1 and 2 cent coins are worth less than the scrap metal they contain

The metal in 1 and 2 cent coins won't even buy you a coffee

A tin box in the dresser drawer. Inside, hundreds of one and two cent coins that clutter your wallet and that, according to popular belief, will one day gain value because of the metal they contain. The idea sounds reasonable: copper-plated steel, and copper is a traded metal. The problem is that the copper layer is so thin that the recovery value amounts to crumbs. A one cent coin weighs 2.30 grams; according to a widely circulated calculation, at current scrap prices its metal content is around 0.069 cents. In other words, less than a tenth of its face value.

How much is the metal in a 1 cent coin actually worth?

The breakdown is merciless. The 1 cent coin is 2.30 grams of steel with a copper plating; the 2 cent coin, 3.06 grams of the same material. If you take one to a scrapyard, according to a widely circulated calculation, steel scrap pays 0.30 euros per kilo, and copper scrap 0.10 euros per kilo in the most conservative scenario being considered. Applied to the small coin, that works out at 0.0069 euros, or 0.069 cents. The two cent coin is no better: its metal value is negligible.

There's a detail that settles the matter: steel rusts. Bury the coins for just one year and the ultra-thin copper layer breaks down, leaving the coin unrecognizable. It's not a safe-haven asset; it's scrap with an expiry date.

The 10, 20 and 50 cent coins: Nordic gold does yield a bit more

Interest then shifts to the mid-denomination coins, made from the alloy known as Nordic gold: 89% copper, 5% aluminium, 5% zinc and 1% tin. With the prices of those metals —copper at 6.71 euros per kilo, zinc at 1.64, aluminium at 1.84 and tin at 22.31— the calculation changes scale, though not sign. According to a widely circulated calculation, a 10 cent coin contains metal worth 2.6 cents; the 20 cent one, about 3.7; the 50 cent one, around 5. The most advantageous in terms of metal-to-face-value ratio is the 10 cent coin, and even so it loses more than two thirds of its nominal value.

Even the euro, with its combination of cupronickel and nickel brass, falls short. A rough calculation on the 2 euro coin, assuming 55% copper in its composition, gives 0.024 euros of metal. Even if it were one hundred percent copper it wouldn't come close to its face value.

Is it legal to melt down coins to sell the metal?

The question hovers over the whole conversation and the answer is not unanimous. Some argue that destroying money is illegal, though it's admitted that this belief is more urban legend than proven rule. What is clear is that money is legal tender and that its face value cannot be exchanged for the value of the metal. The issuing authority doesn't buy scrap at gold prices.

What's more, the manufacturing process costs more than the face value of the coin itself. That doesn't miccionan an individual can pocket that extra cost: what it costs to mint a coin is one thing, and what anyone would pay for the resulting piece of scrap metal is quite another.

The closing twist: a curiosity that catches you off guard

The 1 and 2 euro coins contain nickel, a material the European Union restricts in products in prolonged contact with the skin. The paradox is a fine one: the same metal that's banned in an earring circulates daily through millions of pockets. And meanwhile, the tin box is still in the drawer. Hoarding small coins doesn't make anything more valuable; it just moves the clutter from your wallet to your dresser.