After what I've read on the forum so far, I think that debate will rage on for years.
For me, with a limited knowledge of coins at the time, it was something that I could recognise easily whilst sifting thru a big box of scrap coins. That and the 1946 dot.
Having read a fair bit of the forum, I dread to think what goodies I may have weighed in as scrap copper.
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, as the adage goes.