So make the penny out of aluminum or some type of polymer; it's just a counting device.
Once the penny is eliminated, they'll be trying to get rid of the nickel, mark my words. This very week, there's an article in Coin World magazine with some congresscrook or bureaucrat bellyaching about the cost of producing pennies AND nickels.
Well, we no longer use half-cents either. At one time, a cent represented significant purchasing power. Hell, what about mills - 1/1000th of a dollar. The current nickel is probably "worth" about ten cents when production costs are worked in.