yeah but what do you DO with the pennies?....no one will take them to melt, at least that I know of...
It is illegal to melt down US coins/money.
Loop Coins is presently selling 100 Wheat Pennies for $4.25 per bag.
I called and asked if they were buying pre-1982 copper pennies by weight for the copper content. They said that they'd just had a meeting on that subject but have not reached a decision yet.
Two weeks ago I sold 129 pounds of scrap copper pipe for $451.50.
Saving nickels is your best choice at present. Your every day nickel is worth about seven cents presently...that's because it is 75% copper and 25% nickel. I have thousands of them.