I saved $50 worth of pre 1980 pennies and I thought I could cash them in to a copper recyler when the prices were high......but found out you can't destroy US coins or paper ......
I pick up pennies too. I'm not sure how much I've actually picked up but it was more than I woke up with. Just like tax returns. If they were cut by 0.0001% that's 0.0001% more that I get to keep.
I read the legislation prohibiting the melting of coin or specifically 1c coins was rescinded after the switch to zinc in 1982. And then, there are those crafty folks who mutilate pennies with the state-fair machine (elongated pennies) To claim this manna from heaven tho, one will need something like 155 or so to make a pound, and then somehow transport this to the nearest smelter. Scrap dealers or local legislation are setup to discourage folks from bringing in manhole covers or transformers for $$$. One bad sideline is that a lot of folks get zapped to death trying to ripoff CU.