Steel is cheap. Copper, zinc, nickel, brass and especially silver are rather expensive.
Many world coins up to about 10-50c are steel plated copper or similar.
Most of the world considers it unacceptable to have a coin that costs more to manufacture than it is worth, let alone have just the raw materials cost that much. Smaller coins have often been simply removed.
In the US, on the other hand, apparently the zinc industry is able to force the continued expensive existence of the penny.
Steel is cheap. Copper, zinc, nickel, brass and especially silver are rather expensive.
Many world coins up to about 10-50c are steel plated copper or similar.
Most of the world considers it unacceptable to have a coin that costs more to manufacture than it is worth, let alone have just the raw materials cost that much. Smaller coins have often been simply removed.
In the US, on the other hand, apparently the zinc industry is able to force the continued expensive existence of the penny.