It costs the US government more to make a penny than a penny is worth

The American penny is made mostly of zinc coated in a thin layer of copper — and yet the cost of striking one has for years regularly exceeded its own one-cent face value.

The twist: the US Mint literally loses money on every single penny it produces — factoring in raw materials, energy, and logistics, making one cent could cost two or even three times what the coin is actually worth.

Despite this obvious losing proposition, billions were minted every year for decades — mainly because pulling a coin from circulation requires legislative change, political buy-in, and getting an entire society used to rounded prices, which turned out to be harder than just eating the loss.

The stakes: this is a rare case of a government knowingly and systematically paying to keep its own currency in existence — money that's supposed to represent value ends up generating negative value with every coin struck.