Special interests don’t want the penny to go away

[Copper Catcher]

This includes Jarden Zinc of Greeneville, Tennessee, which has spent $140,000 on lobbying to convince policymakers that the country still needs its penny.

Last year alone Jarden Zinc received $48 million in federal contracts to provide zinc (the primary metal in pennies) and other coin-related services. The company is a subsidiary of the New-York-based Jarden Corporation.

[Pennysaved]

Did the copper lobbyists fight the composition change back in the 80's?

Just curious how hard or easy it was for the composition to be changed from copper to zinc.

I know all the talk now is changing the composition to another metal.

[Copper Catcher]

I'm sure there was some push back 80s but I can't find any report on it. The Mint apparently felt pressure to act to make the change but they sure are slow this time around it seems!

The reason is.....it makes such a little difference no one really cares. Sad but true!

"One good idea in the budget is to change the way we make those expensive pennies and nickels (which cost 11.2 cents each), using cheaper metals to do the job. Pennies are now made mostly of zinc, and nickels have more copper than nickel. If we switch up the raw materials—perhaps to an aluminum alloy, like other advanced economies, or else industrial porcelain—the Treasury Department estimates we could save about $100 million a year."

Of course, $100 million a year sounds awesome, but in budget terms it’s a tiny amount of money—less than one-100th of 1 percent of the entire $3.7 trillion the president proposes spending next year.

Source: What the 2.4-Cent Penny Says About America's Budget Problem
http://www.good.is/post/what-the-2-4-ce ... t-problem/