How much does your pocket change cost? More than a pretty penny, it seems
According to the U.S. Mint, each one-cent coin costs 3.69 cents to manufacture. This means that for the 19th year in a row, the penny’s production and distribution costs have exceeded the actual monetary value, a trend that has persisted since 2006.
Our five-cent piece isn’t doing much better considering the $27.8 million it took to make the 202 million nickels in circulation—nearly three times their collective worth.
There are many reasons for the increased cost, from anti-counterfeiting measures to the increasing price of materials like copper, zinc, and nickel.
Luckily, the other coins in the U.S. Mint’s change purse (dimes, quarters, and 50-cent pieces) remain cost-effective to produce, largely because their value exceeds their manufacturing costs.
