The weirdest thing about the penny is that it costs more than one cent to manufa... | Hacker News

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warfangle on June 25, 2011 | parent | context | favorite | on: Bank of Canada: The New $100 Note

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.

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