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Article: Pennies: Do they still make cents?
- Article from:
- Chattanooga Times/Free Press (Chattanooga, TN)
- Article date:
- June 12, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Chattanooga Times/Free Press. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Herman Wang
Jun. 12--Surging prices of zinc and copper have made the cost of manufacturing pennies more than they're worth in currency for the first time in history, according to the U.S. Mint. Nickels, which are made of copper and nickel, also cost more to make than they're worth. "Producing pennies and nickels using metal purchased at current prevailing prices... and assuming all other factors are unchanged, would result in a unit cost for the penny of approximately 1.4 cents and a unit cost for the nickel of approximately 6.4 cents," the Mint wrote in a letter to members of Congress in May. Those estimates include processing, labor and ...