Penny saved is a penny earned?

Here is everything you ever wanted to know about pennies. Well maybe not EVERYTHING, but some interesting facts you can use at your next party!

How much does it cost to produce a penny?
According to the U.S General Accounting Office, it cost 0.8 cents to produce each penny. The cost is 0.7 cents each according to the U.S. Mint. (U.S GAO, July 1996)

How many pennies are issued annually?
There are 132 billion pennies in circulation today. Ten to fourteen billion pennies are produced each year. That's fifty pennies for each Americans. Two-third of these pennies will end up stashed in a drawer or jar somewhere by the end of the year, out of circulation.

What is a pound of pennies worth?
Approximately two hundred pennies ($2) equal one pound in weight. (US News and World Report 1/17/97)

Wouldn't a flood of pennies ruin the market price for copper?
No. The copper content of a post-1982 penny is 2.5 percent (the jacket). 97.5 percent of a penny is made from zinc, and penny production makes up a very small percentage of world zinc sales each year. Penny production accounted for less than three percent of U.S. zinc consumption in 1995.

If hoarders released their pennies into circulation, and the U.S. Mint stopped producing pennies for a year, who would lose?
According the U.S. GAO, penny production accounts for $1.2 million in truck driver wages, $700,000 in chemical sales, and 356 jobs in zinc refining and smelting. Copper coated zinc blanks are manufactured in Tennessee and Illinois. They are then minted in Denver or Philadelphia.

When was the first penny produced?
The U.S. Congress authorized production of the penny in 1792.

Does penny production cause pollution?
According to the U.S. GAO (Federal News Service, July 16, 1996), the mining of zinc causes metal leaching into the water system. Zinc smelting results in air pollution. But the elimination of penny production would have an insignificant effect on overall pollution. According the Garbage Project at the University of Arizona, household threw out only 3 pennies per year during 1980 - 1986. This had an insignificant effect on landfills.