16-01-2011, 04:39 PM
How much does it cost to make a US penny?
As you're aware, a US penny is made from two metals, 2.5% copper and 97.5% zinc. But I bet you didn't know that it costs 1.62 cents to create a 1 cent coin.
Why does it cost so much!?
Metals, including copper and zinc have risen in price as of late and if you were to melt a 1 cent coin the materials would be worth 1.62 cents - more than the actual cost of a penny. Apparently, this isn't a recent find either and that it's been this way since 2006.
The director of the Mint got his initiative shut down by Congress after trying to make the penny cheaper to manufacture. Wouldn't this loss in manufacturing make for a good reason to kill off the penny?
This is when it hit me that I don't know what a US cent looks like, here's an educated guess.
![[Image: 1-US-cent.png]](http://markwood.co.cc/donotdelete/articles/1-US-cent.png)
As you're aware, a US penny is made from two metals, 2.5% copper and 97.5% zinc. But I bet you didn't know that it costs 1.62 cents to create a 1 cent coin.
Why does it cost so much!?
Metals, including copper and zinc have risen in price as of late and if you were to melt a 1 cent coin the materials would be worth 1.62 cents - more than the actual cost of a penny. Apparently, this isn't a recent find either and that it's been this way since 2006.
The director of the Mint got his initiative shut down by Congress after trying to make the penny cheaper to manufacture. Wouldn't this loss in manufacturing make for a good reason to kill off the penny?
This is when it hit me that I don't know what a US cent looks like, here's an educated guess.