Two things are surprising to me. One is that copper pennies still circulate. I'd have expected most of them to end up in hoards. Gresham's Law (also observed b

Two things are surprising to me. One is that copper pennies still circulate. I'd have expected most of them to end up in hoards. Gresham's Law (also observed by Maimonides centuries earlier) states that "bad money pushes out good." When a new batch of gold coins is minted with less gold, very quickly only the bad coins circulate. I guess this is a minor violation. The second thing that surprises me is that the law actually stops the coins from being melted. Isn't someone somewhere willing to commit this hard to detect crime? Is it legal to sell 100 pennies for more than $1? If so, 99% of these penny hoarders need not break any law. Just sell them onto someone who will.