No, the 1 cent coin is NOT the precursor of the copper wire.
The tug-of-war tale is just somebody's foul joke.
"The major applications of copper are in electrical wires (60%), roofing and plumbing (20%) and industrial machinery (15%).
Copper is mostly used as a metal, but when a higher hardness is required it is combined with other elements to make an alloy (5% of total use) such as brass and bronze.[15]
A small part of copper supply is used in production of compounds for nutritional supplements and fungicides in agriculture.[28][60]
Machining of copper is possible, although it is usually necessary to use an alloy for intricate parts to get good machinability characteristics."
So, think about copper not as the subject of a foul joke, but as an antibiofouling element:
"Antibiofouling applications
Copper has long been used as a biostatic surface to line parts of ships to protect against barnacles and mussels. It was originally used pure, but has since been superseded byMuntz metal. Bacteria will not grow on a copper surface because it is biostatic. Similarly, as discussed in copper alloys in aquaculture, copper alloys have become important netting materials in the aquaculture industry for the fact that they are antimicrobial and prevent biofouling even in extreme conditions[68] and have strong structural and corrosion-resistant[69] properties in marine environments. Copper doorknobs are used by hospitals to reduce the transfer of disease, and Legionnaires' disease is suppressed by copper tubing in plumbing systems."
