05.09.2008 11:04 am
You may get steel in your spare change
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The House of Representatives has endorsed a steel penny, as well as a nickel made mostly of steel, to save $1 billion over a decade. Production costs currently exceed the face value for both the penny, made of zinc and copper, and the nickel, made of copper and nickel.
The U.S. Mint opposes the bill, according to the Associated Press, because it provides too little time to make the change. Another point against the bill: Steel costs also are rising.
Here’s a better idea: As I’ve said before, we should just retire the penny, and maybe the nickel too.
(1 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
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David Nicklaus has covered St. Louis business for more than 25 years. His column appears three days a week on the Post-Dispatch business page. 
I agree with eliminating the penney, but with it gone the nickel would assume greater importance and should be retained.
I’m sure that the long-term savings to the overall economy would be greater still by totally replacing the dollar bill with a dollar coin. That would allow vending machines (including parking metering systems) to go back to operating on much less sophisticated machinery that works on coins. Having a $2 coin would be another change worth considering.