Where the hell did the cent sign go?

Remember the cent sign? The lower case "c" with the vertical line through it? It's not on my keyboard; it is on that mysterious chart of other signs you can make like the copyright which I can never access without tying up an hour looking for it, but why? What does that mean? I know a copper penny is worth more than the new ones, which are made of zinc, I think, and being thought of by the US Treasury as useless (just what can you buy for a penny and I think that alone is awful).

Anyway...It just came into my cluttered mind today, and I thought I'd just needle you a bit.