The Government manufactures 4 billion pennies each year, which costs the US Mint over 2 cents to make a each 1 cent penny.
But, even if pennies were minted from something more representative of their true value – like plastic or lint – it wouldn’t fix the fundamental problem that pennies are bad for people and the economy. They get stored in jars, bowls, and hardly used because they are less valuable than your time. They cost too much to make, and not one machine will take them (except Coinstar). It is difficult and a waste of energy to use them, and they become dead weight on society
Follow the lead of Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Finland, Netherlands, and overseas military posts that ditched their pennies without noticeable changes in costs or charitable donations.