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Message:: [QUOTE="Conder101, post: 2846971, member: 66"]Officially we've been on the metric system since 1866.  They should have dropped the cent back in 1974 when it first became more costly to produce,  They didn't because Copper came back down in price.  Then they should have dropped it in 1982 when they had to get rid of the copper for zinc inorder to keep it from costing more than face value to produce.  And it definitely should have been discontinued some 12 years ago when the cost exceeded the face and never came back down. Current cost is closer to 7 cents, but you argument has some merit.  But unlike the cent it is still possible to change the alloy of the five cent piece to reduce it's cost to lest than face.  A nickel plated copper coin would cost less than face and still have the size, weight, and probably electrical characteristics to be usable in todays vending machines without modification.  It would also have the same appearance which would prevent hoarding because it "looks different".  Still it would only be a temporary measure.  If copper starts going back up the cost will once again exceed the face value.  But it would probably allow the elimination of the five cent piece to be delayed til several years after the removal of the cent.[/QUOTE]