What is 'Arcade Copper Mining' ?

It's the latest craze. Everybody's doing it. Well, it's just me and my friend doing it actually. In fact, we're probably the only people in the country doing it. Basically, we're going to arcades to get 2p coins. We're mining copper ..on the 2p drop machines.

To understand why you first need to appreciate the (rather underappreciated) 2p coin.

In modern Britain, 2p and 1p coins are thought of as little better than trash. People will often throw them away even. Or just discard them on the counter as they receive their change at the store (that's if they're still using physical cash). However, it really is a case of people knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing. As these coins are actually rather special. There's a certain dying romance that very few people see ..yet.

Let me explain..

Firstly, the 2ps that were minted before 1992 are solid copper, and thanks to inflation the actual copper in these coins is now worth more than the nominal value of the coin. So a copper 2p is actually worth about 5p in raw copper terms.

[This is just going by the general market price for copper. Obviously, in actuality, things aren't quite so simple. It costs money to transport and refine copper. People - in particular businesses - want to buy it at scale and in a form that's useful to them. So the copper in a handful of copper coins isn't going to be much use to anyone in reality.

Also, it's illegal to melt coins down in the UK. Even if the cost, effort and time wasn't prohibitive ..but we don't want to melt them down anyway - see the next point.]

Secondly, these coins are old. They're becoming historic. The first ones were minted way back in 1971 - that's over fifty years ago. They have the face of a now dead monarch on them. Queen Elizabeth II.

Now again, you aren't going to make much money holding onto these coins. They're not exactly rare - there are literally billions in circulation. Still, they're physical objects in an increasingly digital age. How much longer will they be in circulation? Are they one of those things that people will only begin to appreciate once they're gone?

When you think about it it's actually quite incredible that we can receive a physical piece of art that's over fifty years old in our change when we pop to the shops.

The post-1992 2p coins are just copper-plated steel. So they're little more than tokens really. Pretend 2ps. Likewise on the continent, where they have their new and modern Euro, the smaller denomination coins are just copper-plated steel. So our big copper 2ps are already something of a relic.

And none of our other coins are quite so old either. The 5p, 10p and 50p coins we now have are all smaller imitations of their original counterparts (like me, you may be old enough to remember the big ol' 5ps we used to have). The pound coins have changed too. The only other coin remaining in circulation in its original form is the 20p - and they were first minted later, in 1982. So the 1p and 2p coins are the cheapest, but, conversely, also the oldest.

And the best place to find these 2ps in large quantity is another place of nostalgia .. The Sea-front Arcade.

The arcades in British seaside towns also hold a certain dying romance. Like our pubs and decaying highstreets there's a feeling of decline. That the modern world is making them increasingly redundant. We all remember the 2p drop/coin pusher machines from our childhood. (They're actually still quite popular if my recent trips are anything to go by.) They're something we all have a certain fondness for. They've always been there - there, by the sea. With the fish 'n' chips, and the ice creams, and the teddy-pickers, and all the other arcade games.

But if (presumably when) the 1p and 2p coins are taken out of circulation they'll get taken out of circulation too. There'll be no 2ps to put into the slots. So they'll have to go as well.

Arcade Mining

So me and my friend travel to the various local coastal towns. We get a few pound worth of 2ps from the change machine. Then we keep hold of the pre-1992 copper ones and disperse the rest with relish into the slots. If we win any more copper 2ps we keep them too - the copper-plated token 2ps we win then going back into the slots, in the hope of winning more.

(I won a duck)

It's a little hobby; a little trip out. We get the fun of playing the 2p drops while we still can. And we get to mine some physical precious metal - well, semi-precious base metal - at the same time. Some little pieces of history. Complete with the little old Queen of England in relief. Like little vinyl records - only appreciated once obsolete.

So get yer-self to the seaside. Get a few seashells from the beach ..and get a handful of copper from the arcades. A few memories from the coast to take home.