Since 1982, US pennies have been made of zinc with a thin copper coating. The specific percentages are 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper.
The new pennies have less mass because they are now mostly made of zinc with a thin copper coating, while the old pennies were made of bronze. The change was made to reduce production costs and to make the coins more affordable to produce.
pennies these days are not completely made of copper they are just dipped in copper giving them that finished look
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The US never made silver pennies. In 1943 the US made steel pennies. These are often mistaken for silver pennies.
Please post a new question with the country or countries you're interested in. Pennies (or cents) are used in about 5 dozen different countries.
You can use a metal polish to get pennies back to looking new.
Yes, in the 1970s pennies were made of 95% copper while in the 1990s they were made of about 97% zinc.
1860 The last copper pennies were made in England, and the same year the first bronze pennies were made.
Pennies today are made of 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper.
According to the US mint, 6015.2 million pennies were made in 2012.
Pennies produced in 2004 were made from copper-plated zinc. Pennies with 95% copper metal have not been produced since 1982.
Pennies were made of pure copper until 1975, because it costed more than 100 pennies just to make a penny.