Does Making Cents Make Sense? | 60 Minutes Archive
In a compelling segment from 2008, Morley Safer delved into a critical debate surrounding the future of the U.S. penny. As the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia struck its last circulating copper penny this week, Safer’s exploration remains relevant, raising questions about the economic and practical implications of continuing to produce this small denomination.
“Does Making Cents Make Sense?” examines whether maintaining the penny is worth the costs associated with its production. With rising manufacturing expenses and the evolving nature of currency in a digital age, viewers are invited to consider if the traditional penny still holds value or if it has become a relic of the past.
“60 Minutes,” a pioneering program in investigative journalism, has been delivering powerful stories since 1968, consistently ranking among the most-watched broadcasts. This segment not only highlights the financial ramifications of the penny but also reflects the broader discourse on currency in modern America.
To catch this fascinating report and more from “60 Minutes,” be sure to subscribe to their YouTube channel for full episodes and updates. Join the conversation on social media and stay in the loop with the latest in hard-hitting journalism.
Watch Now
For more insights and to explore the significance of the penny, check out the full segment on our YouTube channel.
Watch the video by 60 Minutes
About 60 Minutes
“60 Minutes,” the most successful television broadcast in history. Offering hard-hitting investigative reports, interviews, feature segments and profiles of people in the news, the broadcast began in 1968 and is still a hit, over 50 seasons later, regularly making Nielsen’s Top 10.
Video “Does making cents make sense? | 60 Minutes Archive” was uploaded on 11/13/2025 to Youtube Channel 60 Minutes





































We need to bring back the rotary phone!
Why not revalue the $
They could make pennies out of recycled metal.
Pennies and nickels can be made into washers for construction … steel rusts where zinc and copper won't …
Canada learned this problem with paper money – the $1 and $2 cost more to produce and wore out way to fast. So they switched completely to coins – the Looney and the Two-ney. It's rough walking around with a pocketful of Canadian dollar coins. Honestly, the only people who miss the paper $1 and $2 in Canada is probably the strippers that have to carry a change purse on stage. I'm sure they ask the patrons to not throw coins at them.
Does outlawing the gold backed dollar make cents?
Regarding collecting pennies for charity, it costs more in terms of labor to count the pennies and convert them to the practical cause of the charity than their value. Even if the labor is voluntary, more would be derived for the charity if the volunteers' time was spent doing other things for the charity.
I am an American who travels to the UK frequently. Pound notes no longer exist. Its pound coins only. I find this very convenient. When going through the checkout counter in this country and paying with cash, I always round up to the nearest nickel or dime, pay that amount, and tell the cashier to keep the extra. I figure the few seconds it saves me and the few seconds it saves for those in line behind me is cheaper than collecting a few cents.
The penny was retired as production wound down, yet it remained legal tender—so old change still spent just fine. The bigger story was behavior: people rarely used them.
I unpacked this in Use Your Copper Cents: The Stackers Blueprint for Building Wealth One Penny at a Time. It is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, eBay, and Walmart. Links in my pinned comment.
DMs welcome if you want a quick summary.
#ConsumerBehavior #Coinage #Payments #Economics
I have several Penny are My feelings.
THE PENNY DOESN'T HAVE TO GO AWAY!
While the cost of making copper (coated) pennies is indeed cost prohibitive, steel pennies are an option.
During World War II, all copper was needed for the war effort, so penny production stopped, but then steel pennies replaced them.
Steel is far cheaper than copper, it's plentiful, strong and durable so steel pennies can last decades.
If it worked then, why not today?
People still use Cash!
The over-under on when this debate will apply to one dollar bills is 100 years.
If the coins were only used once, and discarded, the cost would be an issue. But they can be in circulation for many, many, many years.
"People are generally in the business of trying to make money". Gee, ya think so?
RIP Penny 2025
It's going to be harder for poor people to get by this decision. I counted and scavanged for pennies everywhere for 10 years. I rolled coins forever for about 20 years. Never be too proud to throw them away. I bought lots of stuff with coins. Kinda a dumb decision. At the rate we're going, we need to bring back the 500$ bill. Midaswell not count from 1 to 4 How do we teach children cents without it.
Nickels cost 13 cents to make – we lose the most money per unit on nickels.
Need to stop making $1.00 coins and $2.00 bills. No one uses them.
1982 we still have half penny's
We should consider making a few changes with respect to our currency and coin and for different reasons, but never will because it would require a complete redesign of all currency notes and coins:
1. Redenominate by moving our decimal point one digit to the left. Yesterday's $100 is tomorrow's $10. The effect of this would likely be psychological more than anything else, but it'd still be a good idea if for no other reason than to place greater psychological value on the dollar itself.
2. Take a page from the Canadian playbook and eliminate the $1 and $2 bills, replacing them with coins. Paper currency allegedly lasts around 2 years, while I routinely see 50 year old coins floating around.
3. Resize coins in a manner directly proportionate to their value: make a penny 15 mm, nickel 17.5 mm, dime 20 mm, quarter 23 mm, half dollar 25 mm, dollar 27.5 mm and add a two dollar coin at 30 mm.
100 pennies still makes a dollar. get rid of the pennies and Nickels prices will go up may seem little it will add up over time..
SMES Tiers and Levels Exception APPLICABLE, RECONCILABLE and APPROVED for MANUFACTURING. REASON:TRIAL BALANCES REPORTS DATE________DATED_________TO DATE 2025. TIERAGES, THE USE OF ALTERNATIVE COMPOSITE METALS, IS IMPORTANT, IN ORDER TO OBTAIN PRECISE RECONCILIATION. FEDERAL and TREASURY BOARD AT PAR WITH ADJUSTED TAX RATES and LESSER FEES, SINCE TANGIBLE STANDARDS ARE MAINTAINED, WITH RESPECTS TO THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES, THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS AS COMPLIANT, WELL INFORMED REGARDING SUMMATION OF INVESTMENTS, FORECAST EXPENSE COST and REALiZABLE ASSETS and ASSETS EQPMT SUPPLIES TO WARRANT PRODUCTION, INCREASED PERCENTAGE OF MATERIAL QUALITY-LONGER SHELF LIFE and LESSER FORECAST COSTS DATE________DATED _________TO DATE 2025 PER EXECUTIVE ORDERS and RESPECTIVE SEALS OF OFFICE, OATH. ∆ THANK YOU ****IMPORTANT******NON DELETION, FORFEITURE, REVERSALS, BYPASS, NON DIGITAL EULOGY, NON ALGORITHM PROTOCOLS FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE©™® ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.*******
How much cost the cashier time counting pennies? 18$/hr makes 5nickels/minute, wasting 5 seconds to give change for a penny already costed 2,5 pennies.
I think to replace the penny with the $5.00 coin.
So what is next the nickel or the dime
Use a cheaper metal.
Anyone worried about cost increases should go into their cups and bins and storage banks that has hundreds or thousands of these and start using them.
There was no math presented here showing the many enormous costs involved in flashing over our fleet of untold millions of cash registers to newer models that don't handle pennies. Every store, restaurant, bar…everywhere. All the time to train all the employees on the new devices and customer time wasted during that learning process. So the fed can print a $20 bill for $0.06, a 33333% profit, and we're supposed to feel sorry for them that they lose a penny making a penny? I cry a single tear!! Oh, no!!! Newsom just spent upwards of $300,000,000 in Californian's tax money to steal elections there indefinitely, and I'm worried about the Federal F-ing Reserver's 60M in frickin' pennies?? This subject needs to die. Stop changing stuff, like what coins we use, until you've solved the REAL problems like the $37,000,000,000,000 in U.S. debt and the bazilions in interest payments we're forced to spend for the honor of owing it.
Took a leader with balls to pull the plug on this subject….Trump.
Consider the live of a penny about 30 years, and I seen some well over 50, to a dollar around 6 years.
SUPER VIDEO
How about stores prices should end with a nickel then at the register rounded down to the nearest nickel reducing the amount of tax.
GET RID OF THE MINT fire all americans and cut every job. what will it hurt? half cent's were made obsolete and then prices rose- nothing cost under a few dollars
it's the COPPER silly.. do the math . anthropocene ' heat .. AC .. LOTTA COPPER
??
The government pays face value for cents
So much false information here
Thats with all currencies world wide
Why do the U.S.A Government Treatrury 🤔 Department keep on making coins 🪙? Most people are using digital marketing to pay their bills or going shopping 🛍. December 1 , 2025 .
Yes…And So Does Disposing Of Rubbish…Known As Trump…
It makes sense as a coin with a cost of 2 cents for 1 cent value will be used by thousands of people while shopping – 1 cent cost divided by thousands of people is not much (!) and that helps people not rising cost and prices of goods by the superior 5 cents or more… 😇😇😇
In other words if the cashier rings up the total $4.73 they push a button to charge me $4.75 which is ripping me off for my much needed 0.02.
stop making 1 cent and make 5, 10, 25, 50 cent coins smaller and replace 1 and 2 dollar bills with coins and replace 5, 10, 20,50 cent and 100 dollar bills in different sizes and colours 5 dollar smallest bill and 100 dollar larger (longer).
The US has never produced a penny in history!
If our retail pricing was rounded off to the nearest nickel? Everything is 99 cents….A modern keyboard does not even recognise the symbol. Retail SCAM.