The House debated on the legislation and finally voted yesterday to change the metallic composition of the penny and 5-cent nickel to a less expensive copper-colored steel.

Although the prices of copper, zinc and nickel metals in coins have declined in recent months, the penny and 5-cent nickel still cost more to make than what they’re worth—resulting in a reported loss of about $100 million every year, or $1 billion over a decade.

It now costs about 1.26 cents to make the penny and about 7.7 cents to make the nickel.

House bill “H.R. 5512, the Coin Modernization and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2008” would seek to change those manufacturing costs by using copper-colored steal, which could cut the cost of making pennies down to about 0.7 cents each. But its recent passage in the House is no guarantee it’ll make its way to the White House for signing.

H.R. 5512 must still go through the Senate and then the President, and not everyone is happy with the current legislation.

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The debate to change the metal composition of U.S. coinage was waged on the House floor Tuesday.

With the surging prices of metals like zinc and copper, it now costs more than a penny to make a penny and about 7.7 cents to make a nickel.

A new House bill entitled "H.R. 5512, the Coin Modernization and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2008" would seek to change that and it was that bill, which was in debate.

The proposed legislation would give the Treasury Secretary the power to change the composition of coins and use less expensive metals. It also would require the United States Mint to produce steel pennies within six months of the bill’s enactment.

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House and Senate members have been cracking the whip when it comes to introducing commemorative coin legislation. This year alone there have been a half dozen bills thrown into the mix that would create commemorative silver dollar coins. And that’s with just a few months into the year.

To place some perspective on the quantity of bills, only two commemorative coins may be released in a single year. As such, there is an underlying competitive aspect to each commemorative coin bill.

Outside commemorative coin talk in Congress, legislation has been introduced that would change the composition of coins to make them less expensive to mint. With the price of copper, the cost to produce the penny and nickel has exceeded their face value for some time.

There is also a new proposal to recreate the famous Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle coin in palladium, a precious metal that is less expensive than gold.

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A new House bill recently introduced to celebrate the centennial of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) with the minting of a commemorate silver dollar has exceptionally strong bipartisan support.

Rep Pete Sessions [R-TX] introduced the new bill on April 22, 2008. The bill looks to be soundly popular with an already 296 cosponsors lined up to provide their early signature for the "100 Years of Scouting" commemorative coin.

Rep. Sessions commented,

“Boy Scouts are a significant part of American culture, shaping the values, citizenship, and skills of millions of young men,” Sessions stated. “As an Eagle Scout with four generations of Boy Scouts in my family, I strongly value the Boy Scouts’ history of instilling a sense of duty to God, country, and self.”

Not altogether surprising, in the 110th Congress, 248 members of the House of Representative and the Senate have participated in Boy Scouts of America as Scouts or adult leaders.

The bill, H.R. 5872, is entitled the Boy Scouts of America Centennial Commemorative Coin Act and calls for 350,000 silver $1 coins to be minted in 2010. The collector coin would contain 90% silver and 10% copper.

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If two U.S. senators have their way, in a few years you may be giving your mother a silver coin for Mother’s Day rather than the traditional card, flowers or candy. They propose a commemorative silver dollar to celebrate the event.

Senator Jay Rockefeller [D-WV] and Senator Robert C. Byrd [WV], the longest serving senator in history at age 90, introduced a new bill on April 17, 2008 that seeks the creation of a commemorative silver dollar to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Mother’s Day.

The bill, S. 2883, is entitled the Mother’s Day Centennial Commemorative Coin Act and calls for 400,000 silver $1 coins to be minted in 2014 — six years into the future.

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New legislation has been introduced in the House by Rep. Denny R. Rehberg [R-MT] that would create a commemorative coin to mark the 100th anniversary of Glacier National Park.

The $1 coin would be composed of 90% silver, limited to a production run of 200,000 and minted for release in 2010.

The sale of each collector coin would include a $10 surcharge going to the Glacier National Park Fund, a non profit organization focused on projects devoted to wildlife, natural resource conservation, park preservation, and education and visitor experience.

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Last month U.S. Mint Director Ed Moy announced plans to recreate the famed Saint-Gaudens coin in 24-karat gold for 2009. That gold coin could potentially be supplemented or even replaced by the creation of a less expensive palladium version.

There is new legislation on the table to recreate the coin in palladium—a silver-white precious metal that is directly above platinum and to the left of silver in the Periodic Table of Elements.

The Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ designed coins are thought by many to be the most beautiful ever minted in the U.S. At the time of the announcement for the planned gold recreation of the coin, Mint Director Moy commented,

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United States Mint Director Ed Moy will testify before the House Financial Services Subcommittee tomorrow, March 11. A CoinNews article Friday discussed House bill H.R. 5512. It is that bill for which Mr. Moy will testify.

H.R. 5512, named the ‘Coin Modernization and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2008‘, seeks to change the composition of metals in coins in order to maintain or bring back their profitability - the penny and nickel, for example, cost more to produce than what they are worth. The penny costs approximately 1.7 cents to make and the nickel about 10 cents.

In regards to the hearing, U.S. Representative Luis V. Gutierres commented:

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The cost to manufacture pennies and nickels exceeds their face value. A newly introduced House bill would change the metal composition in coins to make them profitable again.

The newly introduced bill is not a new concept. A similar bill received attention late last year. The ‘Coin Modernization and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2007‘ failed to get through the gates when a mini firestorm erupted. Mostly because the bill contained more than what its name implied - a provision that would allow citizens to melt pennies.

That portion of the bill proved to be controversial. Why? The U.S. Treasury implemented a ban on melting 1-cent and 5-cent coins that went into effect just months earlier with a stated objective to save money.

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While Congressman Ron Paul [R-TX] is running for President, he is also attempting to create new law. On February 13, 2008, Mr. Paul introduced a bill titled, the Tax-Free Gold Act of 2008.

Should the bill become law, it would eliminate taxes and fees on certain coins and bullion.

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