[Citizen Zed]

He lost out on the copper pennies for sure.

[fieldmarshaldj]

True. The pre-1982 pennies are copper. They’re worth more melted down than the face value.

[dragnet2]

Now he’s got enough for a new set of tires and couple bags of groceries.

[Theoria]

500lbs pre 1982 melt value @ $1,223.98..

[kvanbrunt2]

yes melt the stuff down

[SamAdams76]

I’ll probably get some crap for this but I just toss my pennies in the trash or out on the street when I get them as change. If there’s a penny jar at the counter, I’ll put them there but otherwise, they are out on the street or in the trash before I get to my car.

[Star Traveler]

Sorry Ben Franklin ... a penny just isn’t what it used to be!

[Jet Jaguar]

Ping.

[martin_fierro]

[Squawk 8888]

If he was saving them for that long he probably lost out on the collectors’ value of a lot of them.

[editor-surveyor]

He goofed.

Pre-1959 pennies tend to be in demand. He could have put up an add and gotten way more.

.

[Husker24]

That’ll buy you a nice gun.

[xp38]

Canada has pretty much eliminated their penny because it cost more to mint than it was worth. There are still some strays around and they are still legal tender but since it has stopped being minted and those in circulation are being turned in the cent is going the way of the dodo bird.

[LucyT]

The value of a 1909 S VDB penny is around $700-800 in Good condition, and upwards of $1,800-2,000 Uncirculated.

[smokingfrog]

An Alabama service station owner saved 4-1/2 tons of pennies over 38 years.

[coloradan]

Wheat pennies were made 1952-1958, and can be sold for 2-5 cents each without even selecting better dates or conditions.

[W.]

I can’t walk past coins people throw away, they don’t want it, I do. It adds up. I’d empty my pockets in a pan on the dresser each night, when it got full of change, I’d roll it and stash them on top of one of my bookcases. After a few years, I had $800 in rolled coin up there! Nice little stash, not to mention the pile of aces under the blue plastic 100 round box of .44 mag in my ammo drawer...