Penny Shortage is a Possibility

from Fox News

A potential shortage of coins in the United States could mean all those pennies in your piggy bank could be worth five times their current value soon. Sharply rising prices of metals such as copper and nickel have meant the face value of pennies and nickels are worth less than the material that they are made of, increasing the risk that speculators could melt the coins and sell them for a profit.

Such a risk spurred the U.S. Mint last month to issue regulations limiting melting and exporting of the coins. Some economists have suggested making the penny worth five cents rather than one cent. Doing so would increase the amount of five-cent coins in circulation and do away with the almost worthless one cent coin.