Why Zinc?

I think the reason they stayed away from steel before is it is harder to strike. I would think a copper plated steel planchet would give you less coins per die then a copper plates zinc planchet. Again, this is just my guess.

As far as the one cent coin I could never understand why they don't just change the denomination to 2 cents. Then the rounding problem goes away because the only total bills that won't be covered is $.01 and $.03. You can pay the right amount on any other total. If the total is $.07 you can use a nickel and the Two Cent Piece. I think this would be easier for the people would want to keep the cent to swallow. They will still have there coin, it would would just be worth one cent more. Then whatever industry is supplying the material for the coin will be satisfied because they won't eliminate the coin. I just think this is a better solution than either eliminating the cent or keeping it. What does everyone here think?

IMO both are poor reasons to keep the one cent piece. I guess as collectors we look at coins in a different way than what they are intended for. The basic purpose of our coinage is for commerce. As inflation goes up small denominations become obsolete. But since we are creatures of habit we hate change. I just think the above solution is the best one for commerce.

Metalman, I completely understand the opposition to a tax increase. But if the coins were Two Cents instead of one cent then this isn't an issue. The only total you can't get is $.01 and $.03. When was the last time your total bill was $.01 or $.03? All other amounts are possible so rounding is not necessary. If the change you received with the cent was $2.06 then you would now get 2 $1.00 bills and 3 $.02 coins. No sales tax must be rounded. The one cent coin is really only needed for very small purchases or one cent vending machines and you rarely run into either of these any more. As I said before, this is just my opinion.

I can't see us bringing back a Two Cent coin. If we want to save minting costs you just eliminate the one cent piece and don't replace it with anything. The cost savings of going to a Two Cent Piece would be minimal.

With the stagflation/deflation we are going to experience over the next couple years, I can't foresee any changes being made or even proposed. When inflation kicks in hard again in 2011, the whole senario will once again recurr.

My bet is the one cent piece will be gone by 2015 and not replaced. All amounts will be rounded to the nearest $0.05. By then a loaf of bread will be $10 so it won't make much difference!

... sounds like my language .. the "kicks in hard"

Anyways, I agree because 2011 is probably when the stag/deflation ends. If the penny is not eliminated, then it would at least be made of a cheaper metal+the nickle would probably be a Half Dime or made of steel.

Anyways, here's a story. When the six dollar burger (named b/c at the time $6 for a burger was established as a well-agreed upon price for a burger at a high-class restaurant) at Carl's Jr/Hardees came out, it was $3. Now it's $6, and I don't see Carl's Jr becoming a high-class restaurant!

Back to the original question in the thread:

The reason for the change from brass (not copper, exactly) to copper plated zinc is indeed because of the cost of copper. A composition change of the Lincoln Cent first took place in 1943 when the bronze being used at the time was needed for the war effort. The result was disasterous.

After trying all sorts of metals, resin, cellulose, bakelite, plastic, and even wood, the Mint settled on steel plated in zinc. It was cheap and abundant. Problem is, they were minting steel coins with steel dies, which led to numerous problems with dies breaking, planchets rusting, and dies wearing out in odd ways well before they would have with the softer copper-based bronze.

In 1944, even though the copper was still needed for the war effort, the composition was changed back to bronze. A decision had to be made and they decided it was better to use the copper than go through the expense of continuing to produce cents made of steel.

In 1962 the tin was dropped from the composition of the cent, leaving the composition 95% copper, 5% zinc. Officially the 'bronze' cent had ended, and we went to a light alloy mixture of brass (which is copper and zinc, but usually more than 5% zinc).

In 1973 copper started to get too expensive to continue making cents, so they tested a few different compositions. A number of 1974 dated copper coated steel cents were made, but they decided against this and opted for aluminum. Early in 1974 some 250,000 aluminum cents were produced, then all but a handful were destroyed when the idea was nixed. They stayed with brass for the time being.

1982 was the year they finally went away from the brass alloy and tried copper plated zinc. It seemed to work well enough, so they stuck with it. 1982-1988 saw a large number of issues with the copper plating properly sticking to the zinc. They tried a number of different types of wash to prepare the zinc for the copper bath, and finally rested with something that worked somewhere around 1988 or 1989.

During 2002-2003 the price of copper had risen from $1.50 per pound to $4.25 per pound. Talk rose again of either changing the cent or eliminating it altogether. Obviously neither has happened to date, but two things have happened that will ultimately play a role in what happens in the future. A bill has been raised to change the composition of the cent to copper plated steel (again) and it seems to be going over. The other thing is that copper prices are way down from previous highs (mostly because of the construction bust). Copper is once again around $2 per pound.

So to sum it all up, there won't be regular changes in composition. The price of the metal isn't the only thing that goes into what the coins are made of, there are a lot of other things to consider too. And finally, the Lincoln Cent has undergone more changes than any other U.S. coin. 41 different obverse designs, at least 20 different reverse designs, and 4 composition changes have happened - mostly under the radar of the typical onlooker, and even without notice by most collectors.

What? No one else here have 1/100 cent coins?

Not really when you compare the buying power of five cents today to 40 years ago.

Using an inflation calculator...


I must state again as I have in the past, taxes are not always rounded up! The total is rounded to the nearest whole amount, and will be rounded down if that is the case. Over time, the give and take will average out.

The "tax increase" you speak of is really the inability of the Federal Reserve to keep inflation in check. Had they done their job properly, you and I would not be having this discussion right now!

My desire to see the end of the cent for circulation is not that I think it will save taxpayer money; the Federal Government will find a way to spend twice what this will supposedly save on something else. My thought is that the population in general has no respect for the cent, so why bother? I say they should just make a small quantity of "proper copper" cents (bronze, brass, whatever) for the collectors only, just as they do the Kennedy half dollar now!