They came for our pennies and we said nothing...

 Now there are mummerings that ole' Jefferson's - not George's - 

mug may be next on the chopping block...

 

Say it ain't so, Tom. According to a report this afternoon, the nickel may be on t short list. “If only I had a nickel” could take on a brand-new, more wistful meaning.

The death of the penny - which President Donald Trump ordered late last year after the coin began to cost approximately four times more to make than it’s actually worth in US currency - has some wondering if the nickel, which has been in circulation since 1866, could soon get the same fiscal farewell.

While penny preservationists once cautioned that eradicating the 1-cent coin had the potential to cause monetary mayhem, the only real-time consequence to date has been scattered penny shortages, according to USA Today. 

 

Now, some are wondering if the nickel could be next on the chopping block of change - being that they are even “bigger losers” in terms of production cost-to-worth ratio. In 2024, each nickel made cost the United States Mint 13.78 cents, a loss of nearly 9 cents a coin. Added up, that equaled a $85 million loss. Meanwhile, each penny made in 2024 cost the US government 3.69 cents to make that year, adding up to an $18 million loss.

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