In 1982 the US Mint responded to rising copper prices by starting to make pennies out of zinc - and plating them with copper. Recently, zinc has become more popular (maybe due to a rise in production of those nasty-tasting throat-lozenges?). As a result, pennies now cost 1.4 cents to make.
What? Pennies? I thought those were outdated
Pennies may seem like they are no longer of much use - given the modern use of credit cards and debit cards to pay for things - but in reality the US Mint has been cranking these pennies out at 7.7 Billion per year last year, and is on pace to put out 9 billion this year.
Is everyone hoarding them - hoping that they can melt them down and make throat lozenges? Probably not. One explanation for the rise in penny demand is that states are raising sales taxes slightly - which results in retailers needing to give pennies out for change. Retailers ask their banks for pennies, and banks ask the mint for pennies… and the mint makes more pennies…
I think that the real reason is that kids these days are realizing that social security may not be a good retirement plan - and are starting to plan early for their golden years by putting pennies in piggy banks.
If my summary isn’t good enough for you, you can go ahead and read the New York Times Article.
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