I am writing you today to share some concerns I have about the production of your coined currency. I've been reading up some on the work that goes into the manufacturing of pennies and nickels, and have learned that the current production and shipping cost of both the 1¢ and 5¢ coins exceeds their declared value by a fair amount. Each penny costs the taxpayers somewhere around $0.0167, and a nickel is costing us $0.0953 per.
Reading a bit further, I'm finding that the value of the metal that comprises a nickel is actually worth closer to $0.06, which makes me think that the buying up of your 5¢ piece is a surefire investment plan... although I discovered that back in 2007, the U. S. Mint enacted a rule that criminalizes the melting down and export of the metal used that comprises my coins, resulting in a fine of up to $250,000 and/or 5 years imprisonment.
I may not be a math genius and I may not be the most financially responsible person out there, but continuing the production and distribution of these coins on the scale that you do seems to be a very poor game plan by our government, and a poor use of our Tax Dollars. Maybe having higher production costs than the declared value isn't as big an issue since the coin can be used many times over, but knowing that the 37 nickels I have on my desk right now has a U. S. Mint value of $1.85, but to a Metallurgist the value increases to $2.22... well, I feel like you just cheated me out of 20% by using the fear of law.
I'd like it if you can justify this loss of value to me somehow.
With anticipation,
Daniel
