If a coin is minted the material might cost less or more then the monetary value on it how are the governments assigning values to it?

Question

If a coin is minted the material might cost less or more then the monetary value on it how are the governments assigning values to it?

In: Economics

Answer 1

Pennies used to be over 90% copper with a little alloy to make it harder so it lasts longer. Now, they are famously 98% zinc, with just a copper coating.

I dont know exactly when nickels went to playing, but when I was looking at how to DIY home nickel-plating, I read that some guys are trying to find older Canadian nickels, which were almost pure nickel. Cheaper than buying new nickel for the plating process.

US dimes, quarters, and half-dollars from before the 1960’s were very high in silver. Of course now they are played. I have a couple of silver dollars from before WWII, and they contain one ounce of silver, but weigh 1.2 oz., because there is 0.2 oz of alloy to make them harder…