“It cost 2.4 cents to make one penny in 2011 and about 11.2 cents for each nickel. Given the number of coins that the mint produces — 4.3 billion pennies and 914 million nickels last year alone, those costs add up pretty quickly: a little more than $100 million for each coin. But even though the Treasury has been studying new metals since 2010, it has yet to come up with a workable mix that would definitely be cheaper, and it has no details yet as to what metals should be used or how much it would save to do so” (source)
Stand in line at a supermarket and you’ll find that such things matter a lot. “The average American earns a little more than one penny for every two seconds of work. Unfortunately, when there’s a penny involved in the transaction, it takes a couple extra seconds to fumble around for the coin and complete the purchase. Thus, for many people, time is more valuable than this money, and increasingly we throw away pennies, lose them, don’t bother to collect them to return to the store, or let them pile up in jars” (source).
Pennies made from 1909-1982 contained 95% copper but were replaced in 1982 with those made of 97.5% zinc. Both copper and zinc are essential elements in our diet, although both can be toxic to humans and to animals in certain forms and concentrations. Furthermore, “Using pennies means an increase in zinc and copper mining, an increase in energy use and pollution at these mines, and an increase in energy use and pollution as the government, banks, and businesses put rolls of pennies into sacks and lug them from place to place” (Ibid.). “Red Dog Mine, which is the largest zinc mine in the U.S., is by far the #1 polluter on the EPA’s list, because of large quantities of heavy-metal and lead rich mining tailings. The process of refining both metals can release sulfur dioxide (SO2), lead, and zinc into the environment” (source).
Still, most coins circulate for about 25 years before they become too worn to be used anymore—not bad compared to a dollar bill that, on average, lasts only 18 months. So, should we “drop the penny” because it’s supposedly useless and bad for the environment? Flip a coin. Mind, if it’s a 1943 copper wheat penny, you might want to put it back in your pocket. According to current coin collector valuations, it’s worth between $70,000 and $100,000.
Article by Bill Norrington
