Copper price today: $6.35 per pound
US dollars, live from the copper futures price
Copper is $6.35 per pound, or $13.99 per kilogram. Live · updated 19:00 UTC
What the copper price is
The number above is the price of copper futures in US dollars per pound. The feed uses the symbol HG, the code for copper futures on the COMEX market. It is the price of refined copper, not of scrap or of the copper in a wire or a coin.
Copper is priced per pound in the US and per metric ton in most other places. A metric ton is 2,204.62 pounds, so a price of $6 per pound is about $13,228 per metric ton.
Lustre keeps a price history for gold, silver, platinum and palladium. It does not keep one for copper, so this page has no chart.
Copper price by weight
| Weight | In pounds | Price |
|---|---|---|
| 1 pound | 1 | $6.35 |
| 10 pounds | 10 | $63.47 |
| 100 pounds | 100 | $634.72 |
| 1 kilogram | 2.2046 | $13.99 |
| 1 ounce | 0.0625 | $0.40 |
| 1 short ton (2,000 lb) | 2,000 | $12,694.39 |
| 1 metric ton | 2,204.6226 | $13,993.17 |
Ounce here is the regular (avoirdupois) ounce, 1/16 pound. Copper is not sold by the troy ounce. 1 pound = 453.59237 g exactly.
What your copper is worth
- Scrap copper prices: what a yard typically pays for bare bright, No. 1 and No. 2 copper, as a share of the price above.
- Copper penny value: the copper in pennies dated 1982 and earlier, per coin and per roll.
- Indian Head cent and Lincoln wheat cent: copper coins with a collector value above their metal.
Source: gold-api.com (symbol HG, US dollars per pound), your browser checks for a new price about every minute while the page is open, and the saved price history updates every 15 minutes. If the feed is down the page shows its last reference price.
What the sources say
- Market The USGS ranks copper third after iron and aluminum by quantities consumed among industrial metals.
- Market The USGS says electrical uses account for about three quarters of total copper use.
- Market The USGS says building construction is the single largest copper market.
- Specification Britannica says pure copper is second only to silver in thermal and electrical conductivity.
Sources for these notes
U.S. Geological Survey: “copper has become a major industrial metal, ranking third after iron and aluminum in terms of quantities consumed.”
U.S. Geological Survey: “account for about three quarters of total copper use.”
U.S. Geological Survey: “Building construction is the single largest market, followed by electronics and electronic products, transportation, industrial machinery, and consumer and general products.”
Britannica: “The pure metal is second only to silver in thermal and electrical conductivity.”
Copper price questions
What is the price of copper per pound today?
Copper is $6.45 per pound at the reference price on this page. The live price at the top of the page updates from a market feed.
How much is a pound of copper worth?
A pound of copper is worth the price per pound shown above. Scrap yards pay less than that for scrap, because they have to sort, ship and resell it. See scrap copper prices for the typical share.
How much is copper per kilogram?
One kilogram is 2.2046 pounds, so copper is about $14.22 per kilogram at the reference price. The live number is at the top of the page.
What is the difference between the copper price and the scrap copper price?
The copper price is the market price of refined copper. A scrap yard pays a share of it that depends on the grade: clean bare bright wire pays the most, and mixed or coated copper pays less.
Is a pre-1982 penny worth its copper?
Yes, in metal. A penny dated 1982 or earlier holds about 2.95 g of copper, which is worth about 4.2¢ at the reference price, more than its 1¢ face value. You cannot legally cash that in by melting: 31 CFR part 82 bans melting US cents and nickels and limits exporting them. See the penny page.