Is a penny worth a penny?

[Cider Andy]

Or a 2p worth 2p? Or what about the other coins? What does it cost to mint them?

[Silent1]

no, their balue is <2p
Although a few years back when copper went up, they were worth more as scrap metal. Then the changed the alloy.

[JohnnyJones]

Take a magnet to them.

If it sticks put the penny back in your pocket. If not put it in a jar. These ones are copper I think, and worth more than a penny.

[mel]

Bloody hell, scrap yards get in a whole world of bother if they're caught with Aluminium beer barrels, I dread to think of the poo they'd be in if they were weighing in boxes of pennys!

[Flippin' Kipper]

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/bargains-and-rip-offs...

Intresting article on the subject.

[planetdave]

We used to have much bigger coins - they saved a lot when they shrank them.



Historically it was common for a bit of inflation to make the coinage worth more than it's face value but since we stopped making coins from precious metals it hasn't been as common.

However.......

Italy had a coin famine in the mid 70's (it got so bad the banks started issuing the equivalent of 5 and 10p notes and shops gave you small change in chewing gum) which some people suggest originated from the coins being worth more as scrap.

Argentina is having a coinage crisis right now but that might be politically driven (the mint being run by people unsympathetic to the government and a coin shortage is destabilising).

There is a rumour that the US penny costs 1.7cents to make but this doesn't make it worth 1.7c since there's more to it than the value of the copper coated zinc it's made from. But it's got to be close.