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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Conder101, post: 3421298, member: 66&quot;]This was the main reason for the desire to change the cent.&nbsp; The way the Mint was set up the public could bring their gold or silver to the Mint and have it converted to coinage free of charge. Copper was coined on the governments account and the expenses of the Mint were to be paid for from the seigniorage profits of the copper coinage.&nbsp; By the early 1850&#039;s though, rising copper prices had resulted in the cent sometimes having more than a cents worth of copper in it. In which case the government was issuing the copper coinage at a loss and there were no seigniorage profits from which to fund the Mint. (This same problem was why the weight of the cent was reduced in 1795 which eliminated the lettered edge coinage.)</p><p><br /></p><p>First thought was a reduced size and weight.&nbsp; This resulted in the 1854 and 1855 &quot;flying eagle&quot; cents that were thinner and just a little larger in diameter than the current half cent.&nbsp; I suppose it was thought there would be too much confusion with the half cent though and eventually the coppernickel composition was selected.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The thickness was an attempt to still provide a coin with an intrinsic value somewhat close to the face value.&nbsp; the metal value of the coppernickel cents was just about .66 cents apiece, evenly divided in value between the two metals. (the 4.1 grams of copper was worth .33 cents as was the .56 grams of nickel, nickel being much more costly than copper.&nbsp; At the time copper was about 37 cents a pound, nickel was $2.68 a pound.)[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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