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October 31, 2007
US Mint considering cheaper coins
Is copper expensive? Or is the value of the dollar crashing?
Noticed what's happening to the price of gold and silver?
The rising price of copper has prompted the US government to consider making coins with cheaper metals.
The US Mint says it is now costing as much as 1.7 cents to produce a "penny" (1 cent) and 10 cents to produce a "nickel" (5 cents).
At the moment, only the US Congress has the power to change the metal composition of US coins.
The proposal by members of the US Senate and House of Representatives would give these powers to the US Treasury.
Greg Hernandez, Deputy Director of Public Affairs for the US Mint says change is on the cards:
"If the world demand continues to be high for copper, nickel and zinc, then if this legislation is approved, the metal content for the penny and the nickel will be quite different from what it is today."
Any wide-spread withdrawal of pennies and nickels could cause coin shortages
Greg Hernandez, Deputy Director of Public Affairs for the US Mint
In April, the US government finally passed a law to make it illegal to melt down US coins, or export them in any quantity abroad.
Anyone doing so now faces a fine of up to $10 000, in conjunction with five years in prison.
Greg Hernandez says action was taken after the US Mint started receiving enquiries from the public as to whether it was illegal to melt down US coins.
"It was to safeguard against a potential shortage of these coins in circulation, because any wide-spread withdrawal of pennies and nickels could cause coin shortages, and that would be extremely costly to replenish, given the prevailing metal prices and production costs"
Economy | By doctormatt | 02:23 PM