BALL <BLL> TO SUPPLY PENNY BLANKS TO MINTS Ball Corp said it was awarded a one-year 12,750,000 dlr contract to supply copper-plated zinc penny blanks to the U.S. mints in Philadelphia and Denver. The new contract, effective in June, calls for shipping 23,200,000 pounds of blanks to the mint in Philadelphia and 7,600,000 pounds to Denver. It said the blanks will be manufactured in Greenville, Tenn. Ball began supplying blanks to the San Francisco and West Point mints in 1981 when the penny's content was changed to zinc from copper.