Cost of Making US Currency and of What They are Made

The U.S. mint does, in fact, make a profit as most coinage and paper money cost far less than their face values.  A few other coins, such as the penny, represent  a loss.  After restricting my search to the last three months and relying only on government or well-regarded financial sites I compiled the following information.  The prices and compositions are for general circulation coins & bills and not collector kits, some of which are made of solid silver.



Penny
Cost:: 2.41 cents.
Composition:Since 1982 penny's have been made of 97.5% Zinc and 2.5% Copper.



Nickel
Cost: 11.18 cents.
Composition: 25% Nickle and 75% Copper.



Dime
Cost: 5.65 cents.
Composition: 8.33% Nickle and 91.67% Copper



Quarter
Cost: 11.14 cents
Composition: 8.33% Nickle and 91.67% Copper



Dollar
Cost: 18.03 cents
Composition: 88.5% Copper, 6% Zinc, 3.5% Manganese, 2% Nickle



Paper Currency
Cost: 9.6 cents regardless of the denomination
Composition: 25% Cotton and 75% Linen with some silk threads



Values can change daily, weekly, monthly by wild amount but these are pretty close.