A Solution in Sight to the Continuing Rise in US Coin Costs

For the 17th year in a row, the cost of producing the US penny (1 cent) and nickel (5 cents) has exceeded their face value, and is now running at an all time high, according to the United States Mint’s latest annual report.

The perennial gap between costs and face value prompted the Coin Modernization, Oversight, and Continuity Act of 2010 to be passed, which requires the Mint to conduct R&D on alternative materials for all circulating coins and provide biennial reports to Congress on the status of production costs, trends and possible new materials or technologies for coin production. The latest report, the sixth, was presented to Congress shortly after publication of the US Mint’s annual report.

The objective is to find alternative compositions that will be less costly and seamless to the general public, coin handling industry, and vending machine operations.