Irony...money costing more to make than it's worth...

Recommended article from the Washington Times:

As Democratic Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez of Illinois explains it, pennies are made mostly of zinc and have a copper-plated surface. Nickels are made up of an alloy of 75 percent copper and 25 percent nickel. Since 2003, world demand for core metals has driven up the price of copper and nickel by 300 percent and of zinc by 450 percent.

"At the current specifications for these coins, it costs the government 1.7 cents to make a penny, and 10 cents to make a nickel," he notes.