Comments on: A penny for your thoughts?

Question: A penny for your thoughts?

1f2frfbf — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 08:01:43 -0800

What's a really good looking copper coin?

I'm looking for a copper coin that I can polish up and give to a friend as a present. I don't want anything rare or valuable since I'm going to be polishing it using methods coin collectors would frown upon. Bonus points if it was minted in 1979.

By: Lucinda

Lucinda — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 08:15:46 -0800

it's copper, tin and zinc, but I have always liked the Irish penny.

By: jedicus

jedicus — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 08:17:49 -0800

I recommend the British two pence. Looks like over 260 million were minted in 1979, so it shouldn't be too hard to find one on the cheap. They're just over an inch in diameter, so they're nicely sized for gift-giving. It is technically bronze, but I would've guessed copper to look at it, especially if you polish it up.

By: mdonley

mdonley — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 08:26:30 -0800

Here's a previous MeFi post on beautiful/unusual money.

By: ian1977

ian1977 — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 09:41:53 -0800

You can find old Roman coins for waaaay less than you might think.

By: fearfulsymmetry

fearfulsymmetry — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:17:42 -0800

I like the old pre-decimal British Pennies because they were huge compared ot modern coinage

There's also the 5 Yen coin which has a hole in it; it's a copper/zinc mix.