<P> The U.S. Mint's official name for the coin is "cent" and the U.S. Treasury's official name is "one cent piece". The colloquial term penny derives from the British coin of the same name, the pre-decimal version of which had a similar place in the British system . In American English, pennies is the plural form . (The plural form pence--standard in British English--is not used in American English, except in reference to British currency .) </P> <P> Although the coin's abolition has been proposed because it is now worth very little, there are currently no firm plans to eliminate the penny . As of 2015, based on the U.S. Mint Annual Report released for 2014, it costs the U.S. Mint 1.67 cents (down from 2.41 cents in 2011 and 1.83 cents in 2013) to make one cent because of the cost of materials, production, and distribution . This figure includes the Mint's fixed components for distribution and fabrication, as well as Mint overhead allocated to the penny . Fixed costs and overhead would have to be absorbed by other circulating coins without the penny . The loss from producing the one cent coin in the United States for the year of 2013 was $55,000,000 . This was a slight decrease from 2012, the year before, which had a production loss of $58,000,000 . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Th> Years </Th> <Th> Material </Th> <Th> Weight (grains) </Th> <Th> Weight (grams) </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1793--1795 </Td> <Td> ~ 100% copper </Td> <Td> 208 grains </Td> <Td> 13.48 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1795--1857 </Td> <Td> ~ 100% copper </Td> <Td> 168 grains </Td> <Td> 10.89 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1856--1864 </Td> <Td> 88% copper, 12% nickel (also known as NS - 12) </Td> <Td> 72 grains </Td> <Td> 4.67 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1864--1942 </Td> <Td> bronze (95% copper, 5% tin and zinc) </Td> <Td> 48 grains </Td> <Td> 3.11 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1943 </Td> <Td> zinc - coated steel (also known as 1943 steel cent) </Td> <Td> 42 grains </Td> <Td> 2.72 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1944--1946 </Td> <Td> brass (shell case copper) (95% copper, 5% zinc) </Td> <Td> 48 grains </Td> <Td> 3.11 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1947--1962 </Td> <Td> bronze (95% copper, 5% tin and zinc) </Td> <Td> 48 grains </Td> <Td> 3.11 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1962--1981 </Td> <Td> brass (95% copper, 5% zinc) </Td> <Td> 48 grains </Td> <Td> 3.11 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1982 </Td> <Td> brass (95% copper, 5% zinc) </Td> <Td> 48 grains </Td> <Td> 3.11 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> copper - plated zinc (97.5% zinc, 2.5% copper) </Td> <Td> 38.6 grains </Td> <Td> 2.5 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1983 - present </Td> <Td> copper - plated zinc (97.5% zinc, 2.5% copper) </Td> <Td> 38.6 grains </Td> <Td> 2.5 </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Th> Years </Th> <Th> Material </Th> <Th> Weight (grains) </Th> <Th> Weight (grams) </Th> </Tr>

What years were us pennies made of copper