For the past four years, it has cost the United States Mint more than face value to produce the penny and the nickel. The cost of the coins was recently 1.62 cents to produce each penny and 5.79 cents to produce each nickel. The United States Mint produces and issues coins for circulation, which are distributed through the Federal Reserve Banks in quantities needed to replenish inventories and meet the needs of commerce.
http://news.coinupdate.com/us-mint-cost-to-produce-the-penny-and-nickel-0137/
Since 2006, it has cost more than face value to produce the cent and nickel due to the increased costs of base metals. The current composition of the cent is 2.5% copper and 97.5% zinc. The current composition of the nickel is 75% copper and 25% nickel.
http://news.coinupdate.com/us-mint-cost-to-produce-the-penny-and-nickel-0137/
Pennies will remain legal tender, but you will be hard pressed to find stores willing to accept them after April, 2015, because the US Mint will impose additional handling fees for purchasing rolls of pennies and they will institute a penny buy back incentive.
http://cashmoneylife.com/us-mint-cease-penny-production/
Production costs for all four major coin types fell in fiscal year 2014 due to the falling price of copper, one of the primary metals used to make coins. The Mint estimates it saved $29 million this year compared to last year on account of lower copper prices. But it continues to lose money on pennies and nickels. It now costs $1.62 to make a dollar's worth of nickels, and $1.66 to make a dollar's worth of pennies. By contrast it costs only 36 cents to make a dollar's worth of quarters, and 40 cents for a buck of dimes. Paper dollar bills are even more cost-effective.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/12/15/it-cost-1-7-cents-to-make-a-penny-this-year-and-8-cents-to-make-a-nickel/
The announcement follows years of speculation regarding when the US would stop minting pennies, as it actually costs more than 1 cent to produce a penny. On average, pennies cost 1.4 cents to make, making penny production a losing proposition, especially when the US Mint produces billions of pennies annually.
http://cashmoneylife.com/us-mint-cease-penny-production/
A collapse in metals prices means U.S. coins, including the penny, are less expensive to make. The penny has reached its lowest cost in seven years. Each 1-cent coin, made almost entirely of zinc, now costs the taxpayer much less to produce and its likely to stay that way for the foreseeable future.
http://www.pennies.org/index.php/penny-the-economy/penny-profitability
The Death of the Penny – US Mint to Cease Penny Production in 2015. The US Mint announced this morning that they will phase out the production of new pennies beginning in late 2014, and mint the last batch of pennies on April 1, 2015.
http://cashmoneylife.com/us-mint-cease-penny-production/
In the most recent fiscal year, the US Mint lost a combined 22 million on production of the cent and nickel. The gains from other denominations more than made up for this amount. Last year, the United States Mint shipped a total of $777.6 million in circulating coins, which earned $427.8 million in seigniorage.
http://news.coinupdate.com/us-mint-cost-to-produce-the-penny-and-nickel-0137/
Plus, there is $17.7 million in Mint overhead allocated to the penny that would have to be absorbed by the remaining denominations of circulating coins without the penny. Second, under current Mint accounting, the nickel costs eleven cents to manufacture. In response to a 2006 question from the Subcommittee, the Mint put forward a scenario where nickel production doubled without the penny. It's hard to see how you save money by making more nickels that are losing more money. The data bears this out. Applied to FY 2011 cost and shipment data, the Mint would have incurred an additional net cost of $40.4 million without the penny last year.
http://www.pennies.org/index.php/penny-the-economy/penny-profitability
1 It costs more than 1 cent to make a penny – Snopes. 2  It is illegal to melt US coins to sell for scrap metal – US Mint. 3  Composition of the US Penny – US Mint. 4  US Penny – Wikipedia. 5  Efforts to eliminate the US Penny – Wikipedia.  A Penny Saved is Worth More Than a Penny Earned – Cash Money Life.
http://cashmoneylife.com/us-mint-cease-penny-production/
how much does it currently cost the us mint to produce a penny
It does currently cost 1.62 cents the USA mint to produce a penny. To produce a penny the United States mint currently cost 1.62 cents.