High costs of raw materials needed for producing coins are forcing US officials to consider the removal of the penny (one cent).
The United States are trying to find solutions for cheaper coins, in the actual conditions production costs are exceeding their real value, according to AFP. So, for the production of a zinc penny (one cent) are payed 1.3 cents, and the production from nickel alloy o a "nickel" (5 cents), costs 7.7 cents. Mint representatives, the organization which produces and releases the monetary pieces of the USA, sustain that the situation is similar in other cases as well.
Under these circumstances, US officials don't rule out the replacement of the actual coins with other made by cheaper materials. The House of Representatives already adopted a law which imposes the reinsertion of the steel penny. Steel coins hadn't been used in the USA since World War Two, but this solution could be accepted in the conditions of yearly losses of 100 millions dollars recorded by the US Treasury, according to members of the US Congress.
Heated debates
More, some representatives of the US financial system sustain even the idea of withdrawing the penny. On the other side, the coin supporters are saying that it must be maintained, especially for charity actions.
"The use of electronic money becomes more popular every year, what makes this little old iron to be less useful and necessary", writes "Chicago Tribune" in its yesterday edition. Mark Weller, executive director of Americans for Common Cents, organization for the cent salvation, sustains that he doesn't want to make a debate from the problem of the materials that will be used at the coins production and that he will leave Mint to decide. "We are entering a debate over the existence of coins", said Weller, quoted by AFP.
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