For the last decade, the U.S. Mint has spent more money producing and distributing nickels and pennies than the coins are worth due to increasing metal prices, reports PYMNTS. The solution, the source suggests, would be to get rid of both pennies and nickels, which would save the government $40 million per year.
Using cheaper metal is not an option, PYMNTS says, and using different coins would cost businesses, like those in the vending industry, money. And lots of it. In fact, changing the composition of nickels, dimes and quarters would have a significant cost to the industry and its consumers, with some estimates as high as $3.4 billion, NAMA CEO Carla Balakgie said in a statement last year.
