As a numismatist since I was a young child, I recognize the significance and history of minting and coinage.
The facts don't lie however; minting a penny costs 2 cents and minting a nickel costs 10 cents, putting this country further into debt to create coins that have very insignificant values. In the past 6 years, the net loss of production vs. circulation has been nearly half a billion dollars.
Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the Netherlands, Norway, Finland, and Sweden have already stopped production of pennies, why shouldn't the US cut it's losses and do the same?



