The Mint!

Hey readership!  I have something to say today! (I promise I'll keep it succinct)

On Thursday the 18th (I know I'm behind, but when do I ever blog punctually) my dad and I drove down to Philadelphia.  Exciting as it was simply as a result of the fact that I got to drive most of the way there (4:15 hrs further towards having a full driver's license!), my dad and I had a lot of fun visiting Penn and the US Mint in Philadelphia.  Guess which part I'll be talking about (there's a hint in the title).

The Mint in Philadelphia (there are in fact multiple Mints around the country) is responsible for the casting of coins and medals for the US government.  I know this isn't particularly global, but I thought it might be fun to have a discussion about the penny and the nickel.  Some of you may have heard that it costs more than one cent to make a penny, but did you know that it costs more than five cents to make a nickel?  It's true!  The problem is in the formula.  Even though the penny has been reformulated a couple of times, the Mint is reluctant to change the recipe this time around for both types of coin.  They say that they're reluctant to change the feel of the money because they fear a negative reaction from the American public, but really it seems like the right thing to do to change the formula to make the minting of pennies and nickels more cost effective.  This article from the New York Times offers up some options for resolving this issue (only one of which the author thinks is reasonable), which I think are kind of interesting.  I've always found the penny a weirdly interesting issue (it began with a cutely old clip of The Daily Show someone showed me that I am currently unable to find and link to), so I'd love to hear your opinions on coinage in the comments!