House OKs Changes To Pocket Change

Published: May 9, 2008

WASHINGTON - The House voted for cheaper change Thursday, the kind that would make pennies and nickels worth more than they cost to make and save the country $100 million a year.

The unanimous vote advances the legislation to the Senate, but its prospects are muddled by objections from the Bush administration and some lawmakers.

The bill would require the U.S. Mint to switch from a zinc and copper penny, which costs 1.26 cents each to make, to a copper-plated steel penny, which would cost 0.7 cents to make, according to statistics from the Mint and Rep. Zack Space, D-Ohio, one of the measure's sponsors.

It also would require nickels, now made of copper and nickel and costing 7.7 cents to make, to be made primarily of steel, which would drop the cost to make the five-cent coin below its face value.

Advocates say that such actions would push back against surging metal prices and save taxpayers about $1 billion over a decade.

However, the Mint opposes the House-passed measure.

Mint Director Ed Moy said that the 270 days the legislation grants to convert the nation to a steel penny is too short for the metal industry to weigh in and could incur additional costs. In addition, steel may be as vulnerable to surging costs as the metals currently used.

The legislation directs the Treasury secretary to suggest a new, more economical composition of the nickel and the penny; however, the Constitution gives Congress final say.