Save your pennies 100 of them are worth more than dollar in copper melt value, also save the one made before 1982 in a separate container they are almost pure copper and worth a lot more than the paper dollars are or were ..... DON'T MELT THEM just save them, you may need them in the future

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=aOW6mzz__AbA

Oil Advances to Record $105.97 as Dollar Drops to All-Time Low

By Grant Smith

March 6 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose to $105.97 a barrel, the third day this week New York prices have reached a record, as the U.S. dollar fell to its lowest ever against the euro.

Gold and copper also advanced to all-time highs as the sinking dollar made commodities priced in the U.S. currency cheaper. Oil closed at a record yesterday after U.S. crude inventories fell for the first time in eight weeks and OPEC refrained from raising production.

``The reason we've gone above $105 is that the market is still focused on the weakness of the dollar,'' Olivier Jakob, managing director of Petromatrix Gmbh in Zug, Switzerland, said. ``It's going to take more signs of demand destruction around the world before oil stops gaining on the dollar.''

Crude oil for April delivery rose as much as $1.45, or 1.4 percent, to a $105.97 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest since futures began trading in 1983. The contract traded for $105.08 at 1:52 p.m. in London

Brent crude for April settlement rose as much as $1.31, or 1.3 percent, to match the $102.95 a barrel record previously set on March 3. The contract was at $101.91 on London's ICE Futures Europe exchange at 1:52 p.m. local time.

The euro climbed to $1.5358, the highest level since the single currency's debut in 1999, as the European Central Bank held its key interest rate at a more than six-year high as the Federal Reserve keeps cutting its benchmark rate.

``If you think the dollar will weaken then you may choose to sell the dollar and go long commodities,'' said Harry Tchilinguirian, senior analyst at BNP Paribas SA in London. ``Robust fundamental outlooks, as in the case for oil, present potential to strongly offset the decline in the nominal value of the dollar.''

Colombian Rebels

Besides dollar-led buying, oil rose after Colombian rebels bombed the Transandino Pipeline yesterday, escalating a cross- border dispute with Ecuador. Tensions in the region flared up after a Colombian military strike at the weekend prompted Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to order tanks to move to the Colombian border.

In the U.S., crude oil supplies fell 3.06 million barrels to 305.4 million in the week ended Feb. 29, according to the Energy Department. A 2.4 million-barrel gain was forecast, according to the median of responses by 15 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

The 13 members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which supplies over 40 percent of the world's oil, decided at a meeting in Vienna yesterday to maintain quotas at 29.67 million barrels a day, on the grounds that supply and demand are balanced.

To contact the reporters on this story: Grant Smith in London at gsmith52@bloomberg.net


Here is a metal story based on 2006 prices

http://accounting.smartpros.com/x55842.xml

Dec. 15, 2006 (AFX News Limited) — WASHINGTON (AFX) - Given rising metal prices, the pennies and nickels in your pocket are worth more melted down than their face value and that has the government worried.


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U.S. Mint officials said Wednesday they were putting into place rules prohibiting the melting down of 1-cent and 5-cent coins. The rules also limit the number of coins that can be shipped out of the country.

"We are taking this action because the nation needs its coinage for commerce. We don't want to see our pennies and nickels melted down so a few individuals can take advantage of the American taxpayer," Mint Director Edmund Moy said in a statement.

Officials said they had received a number of inquiries from the public in recent months concerning the value of the metal in the coins and whether it was legal to melt them.

The new regulations prohibit the melting of 1-cent and 5-cent coins, with a penalty of up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 for people convicted of violating the rule.

The rules also require that shipments of the coins out of the country be for legitimate coinage and numismatic purposes and cap the size of any one shipment to $100 worth of the coins.

Because of the prevailing prices of copper, zinc and nickel, the cost of producing pennies and nickels exceeds the face value of the coins.

A nickel is 25 percent nickel and 75 percent copper. The metal in one coin costs 6.99 cents for each 5-cent coin. When the Mint's cost of producing the coins is added, the total cost for each nickel is 8.34 cents.

Modern pennies have 2.5 percent copper content with zinc making up the rest of the coin. The current copper and zinc in a penny are worth 1.12 cents. The cost of production drives the cost of each penny up to 1.73 cents.

Pennies made before 1982, which are still in circulation, would be even more lucrative to melt down because they contain 95 percent copper and only 5 percent zinc. The metal value in those coins is 2.13 cents per coin, Mint officials said.

The new regulations are being published in the Federal Register and will go into effect as interim rules which will not become final until the government has a chance to consider possible modifications based on public comments. Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be