I have been wondering about this ever since I first saw that MegaPenny site.
According to that, there are currently 200 billion pennies in circulation. Also, the Mint coins 10 billion pennies per year.
Now, if you figure the Mint has been making 10 billion pennies per year from 1983 to 2006, that's 240 billion zincs that are out there. I've tried to use M1 growth rates to determine how many pennies were made in each year, and for that 200 billion figure to be accurate nearly all coppers would have had to have been melted down by now.
Has anyone done any research to see how many pennies were created in the 23 years between 1959 & 1981 and how many might still be out there?
--- In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is King!
I believe that there are still a lot of people with big cans, bottles, etc. full of pennies that they have amassed over the years. As the economy gets tighter these will be cashed in. Unless you get these that have been cashed before they get back to the mint to be redistributed the percentages of copper pennies is eventually going to diminish. I am going to get what I can while I can.
A bank is a place where they lend you an umbrella in fair weather and ask for it back when it begins to rain. --- Robert Frost
How many copper pennies are there?
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Posted - 05/21/2006 : 14:19:19
