I know it's a cost cutting move as the government was spending 2.4 cents to make every penny and 11 cents to make nickels. The government changed the materials it used in the coins and the paper quality of the bills. Both feel extraordinarily cheap. Maybe it was time to look at getting rid of the penny and nickel all together as the country was losing $200 million in production costs alone on these two coins vs. it's entire 700+ million currency production budget.
