British slang for police officers, or referring to coins or objects made of copper metal.
From 'copper,' the reddish metal. The slang term 'copper' for police likely comes from the large copper buttons on old police uniforms, or from the sound of their badges. In British English this became 'coppers' as a term for cops.
Police in Britain have been called 'coppers' since the 1840s, but nobody is 100% certain why—the best guess is their uniform buttons were made of shiny copper, which would have been very visible and memorable to the public!
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