[Nateman]

The old pure copper pennies now have 3 cents worth of copper in them.

[Leaning Right]

And a pre-1965 US quarter now had around $5 worth of silver in it.

An older relative told me that Las Vegas casinos once used old American silver dollars in their slot machines. So the smart play would have been ignore the slots, and just gather up those silver dollars.

Here’s a little discussion about that.

https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/951207/slot-machines-and-silver-dollars