The explosion in prices of nonferrous metals means that it costs more for the U.S. Mint to manufacture pennies and nickels than the face value of the coins—1.7¢ to produce a penny and 8.2¢ to stamp out a nickel. That's because the penny is made mostly of zinc, which cost $1.36/lb in August, up from a 67¢ average for the previous five years. The nickel is heavily copper, which cost $3.17/lb in August, up from a $1.52 average for the previous five years.

The USA Today newspaper has reported that a measure recently proposed by members of the Senate and House would give the Mint the power to alter the metal composition of coins to make them cheaper. Only Congress can change coin compositions, which happens only rarely. The penny has been 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper since 1982. The nickel has been 75% copper and 25% nickel since it was first produced in 1866 except for a brief period during World War II.

Bills in the House and Senate were proposed that would give the Treasury Department the power to decide, without congressional approval, the type of metals used for all coins. Roughly eight billion new coins of each denomination are placed into circulation annually. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., says a change in the composition of the penny and nickel could save the government more than $100 million each year.