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In an effort to gain acceptance for the new composition, the Mint distributed approximately three dozen examples to various members of the [[United States House Committee on Financial Services|House Banking and Currency Committee]] and the [[United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs|Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee]]. Nine congressmen and four senators received examples, along with some Treasury officials.<ref name=BowersRedBookLincoln/> Additional specimens were given out by then Mint Director [[Mary Brooks]].<ref name=Judd285 /> Ultimately, the proposal was rejected in [[United States Congress|Congress]], due mainly to the efforts of the copper-mining and [[vending machine]] industries,<ref name="coinageb">{{cite news |first=Tom |last=DeLorey |title=Certified: '74 Aluminum Cent |publisher=[[COINage (magazine)|COINage]] |page=35 |date=November 2005 }}</ref> which felt the aluminum coins would jam machines and cause other mechanical problems.<ref name="ped">John P. Dorst MD, Thomas E. Reichelderfer MD, and Roger C. Sanders MA, BM, BCh, MRCP, FRCRP. [http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/69/2/224?ijkey=f7e7c79819e1b677d00096fed7116b46cc569845 Radiodensity of the Proposed New Penny], [[Pediatrics (journal)|Pediatrics]] Vol. 69 No. February 2, 1982, pp. 224–225. Retrieved 2008-04-17.</ref> Opposition also came from pediatricians and pediatric radiologists who pointed out if children ingested the aluminum pennies, they would be difficult to detect using [[X-ray]] imaging because the [[radiodensity]] of the metal inside the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts was similar to that of soft tissue.<ref name="ped"/> In addition, the price of copper declined enough that making copper cents would again be economically viable and, conversely, made hoarding pointless. The idea of changing the cent's composition was not explored again until the 1980s, when, in 1982, the composition of the coin was changed to the current 99.2% [[zinc]] and 0.8% copper core alloy with a plating of pure copper, resulting in a 20% weight reduction.<ref name="RedBook60">Yeoman, Pg 119</ref>
After the setback, the US Mint recalled the coins, but about 12<ref name="facts">{{cite web |url=http://www.coinfacts.com/small_cents/lincoln_cents/memorial_cents/1974_cent.htm |title=1974 One Cent |accessdate=2006-12-23| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20070203161553/http://www.coinfacts.com/small_cents/lincoln_cents/memorial_cents/1974_cent.htm| archivedate=February 3, 2007 | url-status= live}}</ref> to 14<ref name=BowersRedBookLincoln/> aluminum cents were never returned to the mint. No oversight, record keeping, or statement that the coins had to be returned was made by the US Mint as examples were handed out.<ref name=BowersRedBookLincoln/> When the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] and other government law enforcement agencies were called in to investigate, however, some congressmen either feigned ignorance or completely denied getting examples.<ref name=BowersRedBookLincoln/> The coins, which are considered government property, have been subject to seizure by the [[United States Secret Service|Secret Service]],<ref>[http://financialservices.house.gov/media/pdf/071906bd.pdf Exhibits of ''Coin World'' Articles] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061228004516/http://financialservices.house.gov/media/pdf/071906bd.pdf |date=December 28, 2006 }}, Testimony of Beth Deisher, Editor, ''Coin World'', to U.S. Congressional Subcommittee. URL accessed 2007-01-01. ()</ref> although the legality of the cent is questioned by numismatists.<ref name=BowersRedBookLincoln/><ref name=Judd285 /> One aluminum cent was donated to the Smithsonian Institution for the [[
While there are no Mint records of the 1974-D aluminum cent being struck at the Denver Mint, in an interview with ''[[Coin World]]'', Benito Martinez, a die setter at the Denver Mint in 1974, stated he struck fewer than 12 of the experimental 1974-D Lincoln cents under the supervision of Harry Bobay, a Denver Mint production foreman. The strikes were made using regular production dies on aluminum blanks supplied from the Philadelphia Mint.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.coinworld.com/news/us-coins/2015/04/federal-judge-rules-against-government-in-1974-d-aluminum-cent-c.html|title=California federal judge rules against government in 1974-D aluminum cent case|last=Roach|first=Steve|date=April 3, 2015|website=Coin World|publisher=Amos Media Company|access-date=May 28, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.coinworld.com/news/us-coins/2014/06/Mint-asks-court-to-dismiss-1974-D-cent-suit.html|title=Mint asks court to dismiss 1974-D cent suit, contends aluminum striking was unauthorized|last=Roach|first=Steve|date=June 6, 2014|website=Coin World|publisher=Amos Media Company|access-date=May 28, 2016}}</ref>
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