My local coin dealer just tells me Ike's are face value spendable money. Unless they are in BU mint sets, but otherwise are still pocket change ^_^ The dealer here just takes these to the bank for cash whenever someone sells them.
The only way I can figure to get copper bullion at less than twice spot is to pick out the British Pennies out of the world coins bin at the coin shops. They weigh 1/3 an ounce which is around 6 cents worth of copper. You can usually get them for 10 for a buck, or 10 cents each. Or you can keep pre-82 pennies and double your money.