Is it legal to melt U.S. coins?
The actual regulation, which coins it covers, and which it does not.
Short answer: melting U.S. silver and gold coins is legal. Melting U.S. cents and nickels is not.
- 31 CFR Part 82 prohibits melting, and bulk export of, U.S. one-cent and five-cent coins. Violations carry up to five years' imprisonment and a $10,000 fine, plus forfeiture.
- The rule was adopted in December 2006, when rising copper made a cent's metal worth more than one cent.
- No current federal rule prohibits melting U.S. silver or gold coins. The 1967-1969 silver melting ban was revoked in May 1969.
What the rule actually says
The Treasury regulation ("Prohibition on the Exportation, Melting, or Treatment of 5-Cent and One-Cent Coins", 31 CFR Part 82 at eCFR.gov) bars melting or treating cents and nickels, exporting more than $5 of them in carried change, or shipping more than $100 for legitimate coinage purposes. Exceptions exist for novelty use (pressed pennies remain legal) and numismatic sales.
Silver and gold coins
Pre-1965 silver coins and pre-1933 gold coins may be legally melted, sold, or refined. In practice almost nobody melts them: 90% coin trades as recognized bullion exactly because it is authenticatable as coin, and melting destroys any collector value. Refiners do melt heavily worn or damaged pieces.
Why the distinction exists
The melt ban protects circulating coinage from being consumed as scrap when metal prices exceed face value - the situation cents and nickels are in today. Silver and gold coins left circulation decades ago, so no such protection applies.