2007-03-24 05:33:53 · 7 answers · asked by Ryan D 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Investing
senators from the mid west needed the money for their states (that is why they switched from copper to zince in stead of plastic like they were considering)
2007-03-24 12:48:10 · answer #1 · answered by NYC_Since_the_90s 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As many responders have replied, today copper is too expensive to make such a worthless coin from. In fact the coin is too worthless to be made out of zinc even. Cardboard might be an option.
The tradition of making low value coins out of copper goes back many years, actually millenium. The Greeks minted their low value coins from copper. I am not certain when they started this practice, but it does date back to at least the 2nd century bc. That practice has been carried on throughout the centuries until relatively recently when the governments devalued their currencies so much that copper became too expensive any longer. Some countries make their higher value coins from copper these days including the U S. All of their coins from 10c on up are make of copper-nickle alloy. I do not know how much longer that will continue, but I am certain that within the next 50 years, the government will have no other option but to stop minting coins altogether.
2007-03-24 06:43:45 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pennies are copper because they don't want them to brake. Of course copper is less stronger than medal, but they want to keep it a tradition. People say if you start making medal or gold pennies you will get sued. And pennies were the first American money, so they found copper before medal or gold.
2007-03-24 05:40:49 · answer #3 · answered by Music Girl 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In addition to the explanations above, pennys are cheap and therefore have to be made out of cheap materials. If the raw materials used to make pennys cost considerably more than a penny (they currently costs about 1.4 cents) then someone could actually make money buying up pennies and melting them down for their metals. This would force the treasury to waste money printing more pennies, which they want to avoid...
2007-03-24 08:42:33 · answer #4 · answered by Adam J 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Tradition.
Actually, they're no longer made from copper, they're only copper clad. The base coin has been made of a zinc alloy for a number of years. It is then copper plated.
2007-03-24 05:39:09 · answer #5 · answered by Bostonian In MO 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
pennies are actually zinc covered in copper, and it is just the way it is
2007-03-24 05:41:07 · answer #6 · answered by plasticmanticor 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A piece of gold or silver valued at 1cent would be too small to keep up with (I guess)
2007-03-24 05:43:01 · answer #7 · answered by Lookin&tryingAnew 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋