Collectors

U.S. Mint is making cents, but at a price far more than a penny ...
Mar 12, 2008 ... The fact that it costs 1.7 cents to mint a penny

USATODAY.com - A brief history of the penny
The Mint projects that the annualized cost for the penny in 2006 will be about 1.23 cents, and the annualized cost for the nickel will be about 5.73 cents. ...

http://www.usmint.gov/index.cfm?flash=yes