The numbers just don't add up, as coinflation so adeptly illustrates. The mint pays more to make cents and nickels than their face value. Efforts have begun to remedy the situation. The first pass at a bill is to create steel cents with a copper coating and to use steel in the nickel as well.

Mint Director Edmund Moy is not pleased with the demands the bill places on his organization so it's not likely to happen just yet. However it's encouraging to see progress being made in this direction.

Creators of the bill estimate savings of over $1 billion in 10 years.

Read more.