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In 2022 pennies cost 2.72 cents to make and nickels cost 10.41 to make. Well I personally do not think they are going to keep losing money. They are not in this business. Sooner or later they will have to make a decision.
Interesting, last I checked into it that I posted on the forum was with these 2020 numbers along with info regarding the composition changes and an interview with Ventris Gibson on the info you may find interesting.
The Fiscal Year 2020 costs were 1.76 cents for the
Lincoln Cent which is actually less than in 2018 at 2.06 cents for the cent.
Heres what I could find. The Mint's current research has resulted in discovery of a number of potentially seamless alloys that could be used instead of whats used now for several coins (substitutions that would require little or no modification to coin-accepting equipment) but they offer only incremental material savings, and several other "co-circulating" alternatives that could enter circulation with existing coinage.
While these potential alternatives that are likely to happen through legislation could lower costs for the cent, none is identified that would bring overall costs below face value. The U.S. Mint conducted more-focused research into five potential compositions, including one for the cent. U.S. Mint researchers identified a copper-plated steel cent as an alternative to the copper-plated zinc cent. The option would be seamless, with the same dimensions and weight as the current cent, but a different electromagnetic signature. One of the remaining four actually is fully ready for implementation pending congressional authority (for the 5-cent, dime, quarter dollar and half dollar compositions) so those may change first.
https://www.coinworld.com/news/us-c...nal-approvalAnd I just found confirmation from an interview with Mint Director Ventris Gibson on this information:
Ventris: Well, everyone talks about the
Lincoln Cent or the penny, as we affectionately know it as. Right now, there is no discussion about what happens to the penny. There's no interest Congressionally about that at this time. As to me and as to the Department of Treasury, the penny is our currency. You would be amazed that dependency penny actually fills the gap when other coins are not available. And when you think about circulating coins and the value of coinage, especially for the
Lincoln Cent, it is so important to recognize that those who are unbanked or underbanked, we have vending communities, we have so many others that utilize coin as a method of survival. And thus, at this time, there is no thought to doing anything other than producing the penny as we have come to know it. There's no appetite for me to introduce legislation to do anything different with any of the elimination of the coins or reduction in it.
Robert: However, we are looking at different metals.
Ventris: Alternative metals.
Robert: Alternative metals that will reduce the cost. So, that is in the picture. We have a coin studies group inside the Mint, that analyzes all of that data.
Ventris: That's right.
....Ventris: But the Secretary of the Treasury has legislative authority to do research and development on alternative metals. And that's what we've been doing within the Mint, looking at that, and looking at other mints and whether what they've done is relevant to changes in some of the makeup of the raw materials for circulating coins. We continue to look at that, and what would be best to replace that penny with but the broader range of the alternative metals is not just about the penny, but about all of the circulating coins, what we can do different. The difference that we must always be mindful of is our coinage lasts for many, many years. A penny, what, 50 years ago, still looks like a penny, and feels like a penny. So, anything we do, we want to continue that legacy, that it will last.
https://coinweek.com/us-mint-news/m...-roundtable/
Posted 04/05/2023 7:40 pm
