"Lincoln Log" heatsink 3/4" copper bar for $0.20 an inch? What?

Even the smelting DIY sites quote the US Mint as having passed a law in 2007 making it illegal to melt pennies or nickels. Defacing government property is still illegal, fines up to $10,000 and/or 5 years in jail can accompany the crime.

The thing is, when the law is interpreted it’s not up to US to do the interpretation but Uncle Sam. What the US Government calls educational or amusement may or may not be even remotely similar to what we ourselves would call it.

Just saying. Anyone using pennies for the copper content does so at their own risk.

Understood. But I’m not selling these and if they really want to come after me for $0.20 I say go for it. This is a budget forum after all, is it not?

If you fear Uncle Sam sand them bad boys flat. Or I hear Canadian pennies have a higher copper content. Think they’re gonna send Mounties down for us if we use those?

I’ve actually been to museums where I’ve seen sculptures made from soldered together pennies. I wonder if the artists are doing prison tats these days…

Resourceful mod! If anyone’s actually “at risk” I’ll eat my hat.

I’m not scared bro, but if you’ve got a hookup for some of that Canadian tender let me know. LOL.

BLF Rule #6:

Please don't even think about using this forum for illegal activities. Criminals will be prosecuted.

Does a copper grounding rod work for this kind of thing?

You better not be trying to send my pup to the pound. He was the mastermind behind this whole thing.

Absolutely.

Nice trick!!! I like it!!! BTW The pics are HUMONGOUS!!! :SICK:

Uncle Sam will get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!

You guys can always go look at the big plumbing repair shop scrap piles and try to buy some large copper scrap like the common 1&1/2 inch copper pipe, or just buy a foot of new stuff from them, that should be easy to slice length wise and tap down flat for cut outs.

Talk to the owners, they know a lot about copper and have a lot of it around.

Also after doing a little research my dog has done nothing wrong. Defacing currency applies to altering its value. (Let’s say trying to make a $10 into a $100 with a sharpie. I’ve essentially bought every penny I have and therefore they are my property and I am free to do as I wish with them.

Only exception to the rule is melting them down and selling them for scrap. And who has that kind of time?

Also. Does just about every amusement park or landmark in the country not have one of those crank operated penny rolling machines? 2 quarters and a penny gets you a medallion of sorts.

US coins and currency belong to the Federal Government- you do not actually own it, you own it’s value but not the instrument itself. And you’re not legally allowed to alter or damage it in any fashion. I’m not aware of anyone ever being prosecuted for such as this- they generally only go after those altering values and mass coin melters so we’re probably safe.

They are getting the copper pennies out of circulation as fast as they can because at those quantities there is considerable money to be made by melting, even when you factor in the cost of it’s replacement. There is also a move afoot to eliminate the penny as several other nations have already done with their smallest coinage. While it’s also technically illegal to hoard coinage or currency, for those so inclined you ought to get going with that for in a few more years copper pennies will probably be almost all gone. Being that we don’t need many better grab them while we can.

Phil

Please add this modifier to your picture in the OP.

!picture link!

Otherwise it makes the entire page all massive for mobile users.

So as long as we justify breaking the law it’s ok?
Geesh officer, my house note was due and there was that armored car just sitting there loaded with money, figured I could grab some and take it inside the bank for em, pay my note… just trying to be helpful after all right? Pretty sure we all know self justification is a great way to cause one’s self great disaster.

This forum reaches a LOT of viewers. One guy stacking a few pennies is not the end of the world, obviously, but a thousand guys stacking pennies (and hoarding for the next mod) turns into some hefty losses to the government. OUR government, everyone seems to forget that when you scam the government your’e scamming yourself and your neighbors. You’re scamming ME! This is why we have laws, although the way people break laws these days it’s no wonder our country is sliding down the tubes…

My grandmother always told my mom and her sister that a job worth doing is a job worth doing well. Striving to get something right, as best it can be, is how things are invented to begin with. It’s my understanding that to have a proper thermal path one needs as few interruptions to the heat as possible. Stacking pennies is a lot of joints, not sanding them fully flat is a lot of solder and/or air pockets. A lot of rosin in place of solder maybe. A solid copper bar conducts heat far more efficiently. So if one is going to the trouble at all, why not aim for the best possible result?

I once saw a thermal image of the LED emitter process in action. The heat coming out the base of the light actually transfers in much the same conical pattern as the light coming out the top. Being able to conduct heat away from the emitter and disperse it as quickly as possible is key to having the emitter survive “overclocking”. Does solder equal copper in it’s thermal characteristics? Electrically, I am under the understanding that it works well enough but it’s still a good idea to keep solder to a minimum in an electrical situation. Solder does NOT come close to the thermal characteristics of copper, it’s really simple, look at what it’s made from.

So, whether it be for legalese or common sense (cents?) stacking pennies to make a heat sink is a lot of work for a poor result. (poor being relative to what COULD have transpired had the work been aimed properly.)

Cute dog, my husky never would have held still like that, he probably would have tried to eat the pennies then spat them out and ran across the back of my couch sideways like a berm. Lol at the “Lincoln Log” name, clever title for it.

I grabbed this from an article about cutting coins for jewelry. It looks like it’s not illegal to modify the coins as long as you have no fraudulent intent. In other words, you aren’t altering the value or presenting the coin to be something it isn’t, and you aren’t melting it down to sell as metal. Regardless, I think it’s borderline paranoia to worry about the Feds showing up over $0.20 worth of currency.

U.S. Code is 18 U.S.C. §331 reads: “Whoever fraudulently alters, defaces, mutilates, impairs, diminishes, falsifies, scales or lightens any of the coins coined at the mints of the United States, or any foreign coins which are by law made current or are in actual use or circulation as money within the United States; or whoever fraudulently possesses, passes, utters, publishes, or sells, or attempts to pass, utter, publish, or sell, or brings into the United States, any such coin, knowing the same to be altered, defaced, mutilated, impaired, diminished, falsified, scaled or lightened - shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. [Emphasis added.]”

Section 331 of Title 18 of the United States code provides criminal penalties for anyone who ’fraudulently alters, defaces, mutilates impairs, diminishes, falsifies, scales, or lightens any of the coins coined at the Mints of the United States. This statute means that you may be violating the law if you change the appearance of the coin and fraudulently represent it to be other than the altered coin that it is. As a matter of policy, the U.S. Mint does not promote coloring, plating or altering U.S. coinage: however, there are no sanctions against such activity absent fraudulent intent. (Source U.S. Mint)

Ok, seriously, bustin your chops over the use of pennies. Any pennies worth using were taken out of circulation long ago and don’t actually fall under law pertaining to current use coinage. :stuck_out_tongue:

BUT, numismatic value could possibly have you breaking a sweat.

This penny was sold for $4,500

Potentially, a stack of pennies pre ’81 could be worth a small fortune, almost assuredly they’re worth more than .20.

Sounds good to me.

Hopefully our fledgling member OP doesn’t get scared off from posting other tips in the future. :beer:

hmm because it doesn’t have a mint code?

My guess is that it has a manufacturing defect. (The bump below and to the right of the last “t” in Trust) That would make it quite unique.