The US Treasury recently announced it will stop making the penny. Producing one penny cost almost four cents, costing the US Mint $85 million a year. This isn’t the first time this has been considered by Congress. The Cato Institute said that the penny should have been jettisoned long ago, but previous efforts in Congress failed in part because a special interest benefits from its continuance.

The penny was originally made of copper, now it’s made of zinc and it has been the lobbying efforts of zinc producers that has kept Congress from acting.

They say the nickel too should be eliminated – or the government should let the private sector make those coins if they want. It costs the government 13.8 cents for every nickel it makes. It costs 5.8 cents to make a dime and 14.7 cents to make a quarter.

Another interesting trend is that transactions done with cash are becoming less and less. Last year cash transactions of less than $25 declined by 16 percent.