the value of a penny then is about a dime now.

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

No, no. What you could buy for 1c in 1948 costs 10c now.

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

They already did that in 1982, making pennies mostly out of zinc
rather than the more expensive copper. But even so, they now cost 2c
to make.

R's,
John