It cost 2.41 cents to manufacture a penny and 11.18 cents to manufacture a nickel. This is for coins that often get thrown away and are rarely used anymore.
When the Lincoln Cent(the current penny design) was introduced in 1909 its value was equivalent to $.26 in 2011 dollars. YES, you read that right the PENNY was the value of a QUARTER in today's money. A nickel was more than a dollar. So why then are we still using them? Many if not most of today's transactions are digital in nature, eliminating these monetary coins would not affect most transactions. Cash transactions could easily be rounded up or down to the Dime or Quarter and over time a person would break even.
It's time that we stop the wasteful manufacture of the penny and nickel, it will make out live easier!