Chapter 1, Problem 18P

Owing to the rising cost of copper, in 1982 the U.S. Mint changed the composition of pennies from 95% copper (and 5% zinc) to copper (and 97.5% zinc) 2.5% to save money. Your favorite aunt has a collection of 5,000 pennies minted before 1982, and she intends on gifting the collection to you.

1. a. What is the collection’s value based on metal content alone? Copper sells for $3.50 per pound and zinc for $1 per pound. It takes approximately 130 pre-1982 pennies to add up to one pound of total weight.
2. b. If it cost the U.S. Mint $0.017 to produce a penny in 2012, is it time to eliminate pennies and round off all financial transactions to the nearest 5 cents (nickel)? As a matter of interest, it cost the government almost 10 cents to produce a nickel in 2012.