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The 1974 aluminum cent was a one-cent coin proposed by the United States Mint in 1973. Composed of an alloy of aluminum and trace metals, it was intended to replace the predominantly copper–zinc cent due to the rising costs of coin production in the traditional bronze alloy. None of the 1,571,167 coins struck were released into circulation. The coin depicted here was donated to the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.Coin design credit: Victor David Brenner and Frank Gasparro; imaged by the National Numismatic Collection