Editing Penny (United States coin) (section)

===Metal content and manufacturing costs===
The price of metal drives the cost to manufacture a cent. The Secretary of the Treasury has authority to alter the percentage of copper and zinc in the one-cent coin if needed due to cost fluctuations.<ref name="United States Mint" /> For years, the Mint's production and shipping costs for cents have exceeded the face value of the coin (the Mint's fixed costs and overhead, however, are absorbed by other circulating coins).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Staff |date=April 17, 2012 |title=Statement of Rodney J. Bosco Navigant Consulting, Inc. on "The Future of Money: Coin Production"" Before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Domestic Policy & Technology United States House of Representatives – April 17, 2012 |url=http://financialservices.house.gov/uploadedfiles/hhrg-112-ba19-wstate-rbosco-20120417.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916062843/http://financialservices.house.gov/uploadedfiles/hhrg-112-ba19-wstate-rbosco-20120417.pdf |archive-date=September 16, 2012 |access-date=September 10, 2012 |publisher=[[U.S. Congress]]}}</ref> As a result, the U.S. Treasury loses tens of millions of dollars every year producing cents. For example, the loss in 2013 was $55 million.<ref name="news.coinupdate.com" />

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: right;"
|+Cost to manufacture and distribute a penny, in cents
!Fiscal year
!2010 <ref name="United States Mint">{{Cite web |last=United States Mint |author-link=United States Mint |date=December 4, 2010 |title=U.S. Mint 2010 Annual Report |url=http://www.usmint.gov/downloads/about/annual_report/2010AnnualReport.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514064318/http://www.usmint.gov/downloads/about/annual_report/2010AnnualReport.pdf |archive-date=May 14, 2011 |access-date=January 16, 2011}}</ref> 
!2011
!2012<ref>{{Cite web |last=Unser |first=Mike |date=May 24, 2019 |title=Penny Costs 2.06 Cents to Make in 2018, Nickel Costs 7.53 Cents; US Mint Realizes $321.1M in Seigniorage |url=https://www.coinnews.net/2019/05/24/penny-costs-2-06-cents-to-make-in-2018/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200712021139/https://www.coinnews.net/2019/05/24/penny-costs-2-06-cents-to-make-in-2018/ |archive-date=July 12, 2020 |access-date=July 11, 2020 |website=Coin News |language=en-US}}</ref>
!2013 <ref name="news.coinupdate.com">{{Cite web |date=January 20, 2014 |title=US Mint Cost To Make Penny and Nickel Declines in FY 2013 |url=http://news.coinupdate.com/us-mint-cost-to-make-cent-and-nickel-declines-3113/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428121222/http://news.coinupdate.com/us-mint-cost-to-make-cent-and-nickel-declines-3113/ |archive-date=April 28, 2019 |access-date=January 21, 2014}}</ref>
!2014 <ref>{{Cite web |title=About &#124; U.S. Mint |url=http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/PDFs/2014-rd-biennial-report.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170414013850/https://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/PDFs/2014-rd-biennial-report.pdf |archive-date=April 14, 2017 |access-date=April 24, 2018 |publisher=Usmint.gov}}</ref>
!2015 <ref name="http://coincollectingenterprises.com/information/cost-to-make-a-penny/penny-production-cost">{{Cite web |title=US Mint Cost To Make Penny |url=http://coincollectingenterprises.com/information/cost-to-make-a-penny/penny-production-cost |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150812160120/http://coincollectingenterprises.com/information/cost-to-make-a-penny/penny-production-cost |archive-date=August 12, 2015 |access-date=June 30, 2015}}</ref>
!2016 <ref>{{Cite web |last=Unser |first=Mike |date=February 21, 2017 |title=Penny Costs 1.5 Cents to Make in 2016, Nickel Costs 6.32 Cents; US Mint Realizes $578.7M in Seigniorage |url=https://www.coinnews.net/2017/02/21/penny-costs-1-5-cents/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200713155254/https://www.coinnews.net/2017/02/21/penny-costs-1-5-cents/ |archive-date=July 13, 2020 |access-date=July 11, 2020 |website=Coin News |language=en-US}}</ref>
!2017
!2018 <ref>{{Cite web |last=Unser |first=Mike |date=May 24, 2019 |title=Penny Costs 2.06 Cents to Make in 2018, Nickel Costs 7.53 Cents; US Mint Realizes $321.1M in Seigniorage |url=https://www.coinnews.net/2019/05/24/penny-costs-2-06-cents-to-make-in-2018/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200712021139/https://www.coinnews.net/2019/05/24/penny-costs-2-06-cents-to-make-in-2018/ |archive-date=July 12, 2020 |access-date=July 11, 2020 |website=Coin News |language=en-US}}</ref>
!2019 <ref>{{Cite web |last=Unser |first=Mike |date=February 7, 2020 |title=Penny Costs 1.99 Cents to Make in 2019, Nickel Costs 7.62 Cents; US Mint Realizes $318.3M in Seigniorage |url=https://www.coinnews.net/2020/02/07/penny-costs-1-99-cents-to-make-in-2019/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200712041543/https://www.coinnews.net/2020/02/07/penny-costs-1-99-cents-to-make-in-2019/ |archive-date=July 12, 2020 |access-date=July 11, 2020 |website=Coin News |language=en-US}}</ref>
!2022 <ref>{{Cite report |url=https://www.usmint.gov/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2022-USM-Biennial-Report_P5_FINAL.pdf |title=2022 Biennial Report to Congress as Required by the Coin Modernization, Oversight, and Continuity Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-302) |date=April 2023}}</ref>
|-
|Cost (cents)
|1.79
|2.41
|2.00
|1.83
|1.70
|1.67
|1.50
|1.82
|2.06
|1.99
|2.72
|}

When copper reached a record high in February 2011,<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 20, 2012 |title=METALS-Copper falls on euro zone disappointment, China worry |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/markets-metals-idUSL6E8JK8AM20120820 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181207040910/https://www.reuters.com/article/markets-metals-idUSL6E8JK8AM20120820 |archive-date=December 7, 2018 |access-date=November 18, 2012 |work=Reuters}}</ref> the melt value of a 95% copper cent was more than three times its face value. As of January 21, 2014, a pre-1982 cent contained 2.203 cents' worth of copper and zinc, making it an attractive target for melting by people wanting to sell the metals for profit. In comparison, post-1982 copper-plated zinc cents have a metallurgical value of only 0.552 cent.<ref name="coinflation.com">{{Cite web |title=Current Melt Value Of Coins – How Much Is Your Coin Worth? |url=http://www.coinflation.com/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160617065505/http://www.coinflation.com/ |archive-date=June 17, 2016 |access-date=January 21, 2014 |publisher=Coinflation.com}}</ref>  Prior to 1982, the fluctuating price of copper periodically caused penny shortages, as people hoarded them for their perceived metallic value.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bradley |first1=Paul |title=On the scent of a shortage: A penny saved is a penny out of circulation |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_boston-phoenix_1982-04-20_11_16/page/n34/mode/1up |access-date=19 August 2024 |work=The Boston Phoenix |date=20 April 1982}}</ref>