One of the pleasant side affects of the Coin Modernization and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2008, which would change the metallic composition of pennies and nickels to steel, is the revelation of current and past costs in minting coins.

Figures of coin production expenses are interesting in themselves, but charting their trends is another reminder of the volatility of metals within coins, like that of copper, zinc and nickel.

The cost of minting each penny and nickel today are:

• Penny at 1.26 cents
• Nickel at 7.7 cents

As a side note, the U.S. Mint also provided recent costs to mint the dime, which is 4 cents, the quarter at 10 cents and $1 coins at 16 cents each.

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The emergence of Internet on-demand videos has not only provided the excitement of action-packed movies that can be viewed straight from your computer, but the availability of interesting, educational and free video content.

While coinage related video content is somewhat scarce in the numismatic world, there are indeed a few gems out there. The History Channel website through History.com has an example of one such gem.

The History Channel is known as a leading provider of exceptional content that won’t put you to sleep. For anyone - not just new or experienced coin collectors - their video production on how coins are made will intrigue you while keeping your interest.

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