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In 1982, the U

Economics

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In 1982, the U.S. Mint decided to change the composition of pennies from about 90% copper (and 10% zinc) to 2% copper (and 98% zinc) to save money due to the rising cost of copper. Your recently deceased grandpa had a collection of 2,500 pennies minted before 1982, and he left them to you in his will.

What is the value of the pennies based on their metal content alone? Assume that copper sells for $4.50 per pound and zinc for $1.60 per pound, and that it takes 120 pre-1982 pennies to add up to one pound of total weight. Provide your answer in terms of dollars, rounded to the nearest cent (i.e., the hundredths decimal place).