Why should we be shocked? You were finding 30 to 40 year old cents. Go get a bag of cents today and you will probably find plenty of 30 to 40 year old cents in it too, 1970's and 80's.
On Oct. 13, 1952 Chet Krause, not yet 30, introduced himself in the first issue of Numismatic News: "....The hand which is writing this belongs to a man who is from an isolated community. He is only a collector and has long felt the need of a paper such as this. His interests are your interests. He is not a printer or a coin dealer. In fact I am only a carpenter..."