Is a penny just a penny? Do you think that you are getting your penny’s worth? Absolutely! In fact, you’re even getting more than that.
With regards to producing coins, the Mint is the one who’s not getting its penny's worth. In some instances, it does not even receive half of that. Currently, a single penny costs much more than two cents to create and distribute while it would take more than 11 cents for a nickel.
Pennies aren't as cost-efficient, but as long as they are in demand, they will continue to be produced. “We produce around 6 billion pennies annually,” Dick Peterson, the acting director of the Mint, said. “Our customers want them.”
The Mint's challenge is how to cheaply make coins without altering its appearance and size and affecting its quality and durability. They have long been searching for ways to save the millions it annually spends in making coins and bills. Congressional auditors have even concluded that taxpayers could save $4.4 billion over thirty years if the government replaced one-dollar bills with dollar coins.
Another challenge the Mint has is doing all of this with the rising cost of nickel and copper, the key ingredients of all U.S. coins. Alternative metals cheaper than those two are aluminum, iron, lead, and zinc. With the exemption of lead, due to its potential health hazards, Peterson said, “There would not be any advantage shifting the penny’s composition, so we can offset that cost from other denominations.
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