Senate committee report recommends killing the penny

[gcclarke]

What is the material & production cost of a nickel or dime?  Pennies don't need to be copper or even particularly counterfeit-proof.

They're not even copper anymore. They're copper plated zinc, which is much more economical. Were they still pure copper, the cost to make them would be much higher than the 1.5 cents they cost now. It would even be economical to get pennies, melt them down, and then sell the copper.

 

[McG]

They're not even copper anymore. They're copper plated zinc, which is much more economical. Were they still pure copper, the cost to make them would be much higher than the 1.5 cents they cost now. It would even be economical to get pennies, melt them down, and then sell the copper.

I wonder what the cost would be if they were reduced in size to something comparable to the euro cent.  Is most of the cost of a penny in material or production?