The Zinc Lobby and the Penny, the Nickel Lobby and the Nickel

From a surprising source, espn.com, Gregg Easterbrook discusses efforts by the zinc and nickel lobbies to save the penny and the nickel:

Eliminate the Dime, Too: The U.S. Treasury is seeking to save $100 million per year by removing nickel from the nickel; nickel lobbyists are fighting this in Congress. The International Zinc Association is lobbying to maintain the existence of the penny, which is mostly zinc. If the United States, at a time of record mega-deficits, can't even get rid of pennies because members of Congress fear the loss of donations from the zinc lobby, how will fiscal sense ever be established?

The quarter is the smallest unit of currency that bears meaning in modern society: pennies, nickels and dimes merely clog the national pocket, at a cost to taxpayers. Pennies mean so little they possess negative value . . .

(Read more--oh, and you'll need to scroll way down)