Some people see a penny on the ground and pass it by without a second thought. But if you knew the history of the one-cent piece and the metal content of certain pennies, you might think twice about stepping over a penny.
According to Joe Henry in an ABC News article:
The copper [penny] has such a different sound than zinc pennies do . . . Real money has that definite sound of money and if you listen to a modern zinc penny, they don’t sound the same, they sound sort of tinny.
Pennies these days are 97.2% zinc. But before 1982, penny composition was mostly copper. This, in conjunction with the value of copper bullion staying well above average since it’s spike in 2005, has made the penny a potential investment opportunity for metal investors.