Yeah, the penny thing is annoying. 100 years ago a penny was worth about a dime ...

warfangle · on June 25, 2011

The weirdest thing about the penny is that it costs more than one cent to manufacture. Given, they last for quite a while.

That's why it's illegal to melt them down, and the US restricts exporting them.

rkowalick · on June 25, 2011

According to Wikipedia:

1982-present US pennies, which weigh 2.5 grams, are 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper (coated over the zinc) by weight and have a metallurgical value of 64.376% of the face value

So, while the production costs are more than 1 cent, the actual value of the metal inside is still below 1 cent.

epochwolf · on June 25, 2011

I think the quarter should be the smallest unit. And phase out dollar bills for coins.

_3u10 · on June 25, 2011

So what you're saying is that the penny got nickel and dime'd to it's current value?