Copper pennies weigh 3.11 grams. Copper is currently US$10987 per tonne https://www.metal.com/en/prices/LME_CA_3M so a copper penny is worth 3.4¢. This is a surprisingly low number to me; I would have expected it to be closer to 10¢ or 20¢, since presumably it was about 1¢ of copper when it was still copper.

By comparison, a silver dime (90% silver, 10% copper) is 2.268 grams, and silver is US$1486.77/kg https://www.metal.com/en/prices/201102250392, so the dime contains about US$3.03 worth of silver. From the point of view of an 18th- or 19th-century person, for whom the purpose of the mint was to certify the value of the precious metal in the coin by stamping it, the dollar has lost 29/30 (97%) of its value since minting of silver coins ended.

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anamexis 7 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> From the point of view of an 18th- or 19th-century person, for whom the purpose of the mint was to certify the value of the precious metal in the coin by stamping it

Was that the purpose of the mint? That would imply that the relative value of silver vs. copper was static.

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kragen 6 hours ago | parent [-]

It was, yes. The varying relative values of metals was in fact a huge problem for mints for many centuries. The problem was sometimes resolved by refusing to mint any but the priciest metal, and at other times by the values of different coins such as shillings and sovereigns varying relative to one another.

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anamexis 6 hours ago | parent [-]

Ok, but the US mint in the 18th and 19th centuries?

	▲	kragen 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Yes, this was one of the major political controversies around the US mint in the 19th century and even the early 20th century: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_silver

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darknavi 8 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Pennies are not 100% copper any more. Mostly zinc.

	▲	kragen 7 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I know. The non-copper pennies also don't weigh 3.11 grams. Dimes aren't silver anymore either.