From the file of “I never woulda known that” comes news that the government wants to change the metal composition of 2 United States coins. The penny and the nickel are under scrutiny for the amount of money it costs to manufacture them. Currently it costs the U.S. Mint 1.3 cents to produce a coin that is only worth 1 cent.
This article states that the bill voted on by the House of Representatives would bring back the steel penny. It would still look like today’s penny because it would be copper-plated steel. The coins that are currently in production are a zinc-copper alloy. The bill also recommends phasing in steel nickels within the next 2 years. Nickels are currently made of copper and nickel and cost 7.7 cents to make.
In 2007, the Mint produced 7.4 billion pennies and 1.2 billion nickels, according to the House Financial Services Committee.
Other coins still cost less than their face value, according to the Mint. The dime costs a little over 4 cents to make, while the quarter costs almost 10 cents. The dollar coin, meanwhile, costs about 16 cents to make, according to the Mint.
The U.S. Mint hasn’t messed with the composition of the penny since 1982 when the cost of copper prompted them to change a penny from being almost entirely copper to almost entirely zinc. This move is expected to save the country $100 million a year…assuming the cost of steel doesn’t skyrocket in the next few years.
I agree with this editorial in that it’s probably time to simple eliminate the penny from the lineup. I rarely use them, I have a bunch in my car, a bunch at home and every once in a while I have to put them into those paper coin wrappers just to get some useable money. Heck, with the widespread use in this country of debit and credit cards I rarely get my hands on actual paper money, never mind coins.
Other news articles on this proposed change.
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