In for a penny?

So I rarely notice pennies, other than the fact they clog up my change compartment in my purse. Today while at the store, I pulled out a handful of change, and one caught my eye. So me being me, I grabbed it up to look more closely, rather then spending it.
It was a U.S. 1957 penny, rather unique looking.

Of course what captured my attention, other then the fact I am easily amused, is one I'm in Canada, and while US coinage flows through our system without any real notice or comment, it was worn looking enough that I spotted it.

I found myself thinking about it while I was driving home. 1957. It's been around a long time, older then my mother. I wondered how long it'd been floating around in Canada, had it just been brought up, or had it been stuck in a variety of Canadian stores and pockets and purses for 60 odd years. And just how many pennies are out there?

According to snopes.com it costs more then a penny to make a penny. And more than 7 million pennies were minted in 2007 alone. Pretty impressive numbers for the coin that spends most it's time being flung into coffee cans and considered barely worthy of carrying about in our wallets.

The variety of metals used to mint pennies has sparked quite the cottage industry. Where pennies are melted down and the different metals are sold off, since they are worth more then the coin itself.
The U.S governemt has fought back and made it illegal to melt down pennies. (Who knew) and such a horrific crime can land ones arse in prison up to 5 years.