because they wanted them to become gold
Pure copper has not been used to make British coins for about 150 years. From 1860, British "copper" coins were made from bronze which consisted mostly of copper varying from 95 to 97% copper. From 1992, British "copper" coins were made from copper plated steel. Ironically, copper is used to make modern "silver" coins (cupro-nickel) consisting usually of 75% copper and 25% nickel.
Copper
Depends, Some countries use steel coins with copper or nickel plating making them ferrous (New Zealand 10,20,50 cent coins for example). Most countries use non ferrous alloys in coins. The usual ones are copper coated zinc for copper coins. Copper-Nickel alloy for silver coins and Aluminium-Copper for gold coloured coins.
British coins of copper appearance, the 1 and 2 Pence coins, are made from copper plated steel. British coins of silver appearance, the cupro-nickel 5, 10 and 50 Pence coins, are made from 75% copper and 25% nickel. British 20 Pence coins, are made from 84% copper and 16% nickel.
because the old copper coins are made of pure copper but they had to make them out of different matierials because the copper the coin was made of was worth more than the coin itself, therefore people were melting down copper coins and selling the copper. the new coins are now made of a small percent of copper and more iron.
To make copper harder for use in 2p coins in 1991, the Royal Mint began adding nickel to the alloy. The addition of nickel increased the coin's durability and resistance to wear, making it suitable for continued circulation.
Up until recently, copper coins contained very small quantities of tin, zinc or even aluminium, and were perhaps more accurately referred to as bronze coins. Currently, due to the increasing cost of copper, there is a trend away from minting copper coins, and many, what were previously copper coins, are now being made from copper plated steel.
ALL coins are "minted" coins because they're made at a mint.They are never pure silver or gold. US silver coins used to be 90% silver with some 10% copper added to make them harder so they wouldn't wear out as quickly.Now coins like quarters or dimes are clad. That means they are like a sandwich. They have a layer of copper and nickel on the top and bottom, and copper in the middle. If you look at the side of a quarter, you can see the copper.
Copper was a relatively cheap metal to make low denomination coins from, but due to inflation and the rising price of copper, it became less economical to continue making one and two cent coins.
Not a mineral but a metal- copper.
If you refer to the scrap value of the copper, there is no copper in British "copper" coins these days.
Today in 2012 the series of coin that we presently use is the contemporary coins where coins are made up of copper+nickel (cupro-nickel alloy).