brass vs. insulated copper

I read a post a while back, and a member talked of pulling the brass plug end ends off of cords, and putting the cord into insul. copper pile. Isn't insul. copper usually higher than brass? and if so, wouldn't it make more sense for that brass weight to go to that, then brass alone? Every little bit adds up. We had a yard that took copper tubing with a brass flare nut as #2 copper, even if there was more brass than copper, so we'd cut the tubing off just pass the nut and turn it in that way, we were getting $2.50 at the time for #2 copper and $1+ for brass. Just a thought.