Note this is not an offer to sell, just a question. So who does buy copper pennies and if so how much do you pay. I have about $50 face that I want to get rid of and I want to see if their is a market before I dump them at the bank.
My guess your best bet would to be to sell to someone local if you can find a buyer. Copper isn't very high right now and the shipping charges could hurt your profit if you were to use something like eBay.
I would say you have to find a local buyer. Shipping, like Rocky said, would kill most economics for such a deal IMHO.
This isn't to say that everyone agrees, but they're a waste of money, and those who buy them do so without understanding that just because cents contain an amount of copper presently more valuable than the coin's face, this does not mean it's worth the sum of its parts, and is because of the alloy. To put it simply, cents are not grade A (what quoted copper prices are for) so they're not "worth" grade A prices in their present composition. Now, if there's someone willing to pay you an above-face premium, I see nothing wrong nor questionable about taking it, but just as was the case with the wheat cents you were selling, and has already been said, shipping costs must be considered. Perhaps, if you can get your father to accompany you, offering locally would be your best bet, or at least an option before turning them into the bank.
For plain pre-1982s? I could see that for wheats, but cannot begin to fathom that amount for everyday "copper" cents. Where's the upside?
Sorry - that is wheat cents only. When I think copper I still think wheat cents. My bad. Of course they might take anything in exchange for gold or silver - of course I would call them first.
