John Levine writes:
the value of a penny then is about a dime now.

Is the value in the material or the labor/etc for making them?

If the former, and they don't want to get rid of pennies, maybe they
could make a new money using cheaper material.

Japanese yen coins are made of aluminum, which is about 1/3 the cost
of copper per unit weight, and 1/4 the weight per unit volume, so
you'd get a factor of 12 drop in material cost per coin -- and then
you could even make the coin smaller!

I don't know the somewhat softer metal would have any significant
effect on durability in normal use, but I haven't noticed any obvious
difference from other Japanese coins in terms of wear or average age.

[I like these small aluminum coins because they're very easy on the
pockets and very easy to identify by touch.]

-miles

--
Faith, n. Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without
knowledge, of things without parallel.