Because the price of copper is more than a penny is worth.
Small 1-cent coins (1856-present) have never been made of pure copper. Their highest ever copper content was 95% copper, mixed with tin and/or zinc.
The only US cents ever made from pure copper were Large Cents made up to 1857.
In recent years pennies have been made of steel plated in copper, and steel is prone to rust. Older pennies were made of pure copper, or copper and zinc, which did not rust.
Copper
It is made from Pure Copper
Pennies: zinc, with copper plating (not mixed together).Nickels: 75% copper and 25% nickel, alloyed togetherDimes, Quarters, and Half Dollars: Pure copper clad with the same alloy as nickels, for an overall content of 8% nickel and 92% copperDollars: Pure copper clad with manganese-brass alloy.
The penny was originally made of pure copper, then bronze (95% copper). However, the value of the copper in a penny eventually became more than the value of a penny. Therefore, they started making the penny out of zinc and coating it with copper because people were used to copper pennies. Second, cents and dimes are nearly the same size, so most people distinguish them by color. When zinc-plated steel cents were made during WWII people confused them with dimes because they had a similar silvery appearance. A pure zinc coin would have the same problem. Finally, zinc can be poisonous in high doses and is more easily absorbed than copper, so if a child were to swallow a pure zinc coin it would be more dangerous.
Pennies were never PURE copper. Those made before 1982 were 95% copper with 5% zinc (or zinc with tin in older ones).
The last year for 100% pure copper cents was 1857.
In recent years pennies have been made of steel plated in copper, and steel is prone to rust. Older pennies were made of pure copper, or copper and zinc, which did not rust.
No, pre-1982 pennies are 95% copper and post-1982 pennies are made out of mostly zinc with a thing copper coating
Pennies were made of pure copper until 1975, because it costed more than 100 pennies just to make a penny.
The materials used to mint pennies has changed. Originally, pennies were made of almost pure copper. Today, British pennies are made of nickel/steel blanks coated in copper, and US "pennies" (actually cents) are made of zinc blanks coated in copper.
The were no British or Australian coins made from pure copper in 1915. Pennies, Halfpennies and Farthings were made from bronze which was about 97% copper.
U.S. cents made before mid-1982, and British pennies made before 1993, were struck in a bronze alloy that was mostly copper. Some very early cents and pennies were struck in pure copper. Modern U.S. cents are made from copper-plated zinc, and British pennies are made of copper-plated steel.
There were no 1910 steel pennies ever made. The pennies made in 1910 were made out of nearly pure copper.
-In 1943, pennies were made out of steel instead of copper. A 1943 pure copper penny is a rare mint error, and is worth lots.
A penny is made of mostly zinc with a thin copper coating. Since 1982, the United States penny has been made of 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper.
From 1783-1837, a penny was pure copper. But newer pennies are made mostly of zinc.He is tottaly right