Billions annually; each cent costs the Mint roughly 3 cents to make — production was suspended in 2025-26 budget debates.
By 1982 copper had made the one-cent coin a money-loser, so the Mint switched to a copper-plated zinc core — 97.5% zinc. The zinc cent's melt value sits under a penny, making it the rare US coin worth less than face in metal. Its economics have kept the kill-the-penny debate alive for four decades.
Zinc cents corrode dramatically if the plating is breached — collectors call the bubbling failures 'zincolns.'
Check these before treating any coin as melt. Think you have one? Check recent auction records before selling, and read the grading basics first.
Never clean a coin. Ever. Cleaning permanently destroys collector value — dark original toning is worth more than shiny damage.
Gear that settles it: an electromagnetic verifier, a calibrated scale and calipers — counterfeit basics.
A scale: 3.11 g = copper, 2.5 g = zinc. The rare small-date copper combination is the one collectors hunt.
Error coins - doubled dies, off-centers, wrong planchets - can be. The 1992 Close AM and 1995 doubled die are the famous ones.
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