[talkgold]

This gives a whole new meaning to that old saying, "A penny saved is a penny earned." Kids, start saving those pennies now because an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago says a potential shortage of coins in the United States could mean the penny will have the same worth as a nickel. That's some investment return!
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Reuters reports that the idea for changing the penny's valuation is due to sharply rising prices of certain metals, including copper and nickel. Because of this, the face value of a penny and a nickel are actually worth less than the material from which they are made. That increases the risk that speculators will melt the coins and sell the copper and nickel for a profit. That very risk prompted the U.S. Mint to issue new regulations in December that limit the melting and exporting of coins.

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Now Francois Velde, senior economist at the Chicago Fed, says in a recent research note these prohibitions by the Mint are unlikely to deter serious speculators who already have piled up the coinage. He claims the best solution is to "rebase" the penny, changing its value from one cent to five cents. This increases the amount of five-cent coins in circulation since both the penny and the nickel would have the same value and eliminates the almost worthless one cent coin. "History shows that when coins are worth melting, they disappear," Velde wrote in his research note. "Rebasing the penny would...debase the five-cent piece and put it safely away from its melting point," he added.