When will a penny be worth something?

For a long time now, I’ve been a vocal advocate for the abolishment of the penny, but the US mint continues making them, despite the fact that they cost more to make than they are worth. Perhaps they have considered something I haven’t?

Coins throughout history have been made of precious and semi-precious metals, because there is actual value in gold, silver, nickel and copper. Take the silver dollar, or the $20 gold piece for example. Just like the penny, they were made of metals that actually had value, namely gold and silver. but not any more.

Today’s penny only contains roughly 2% copper, the rest is a zinc based alloy, but even still, the alloy in a present day penny is worth more than the penny itself. Add to that the costs of labor and machinery it takes to make a penny, you wind up with each penny costing around 1.3 cents to make.

Back in the day, gold and silver coins were quickly discontinued when the metals used to make them cost more than the coin was worth, so why not the penny ? What does the government know that I don’t? Are they hoping the value of the dollar will drop so low that manufacturers and retailers will lower their costs? Do they plan to start lowering federal and state mandated minimum wages?