Coin Clipping

The penny is worthless because of inflationary spending by our government.

Story here

It's worthless because we inflate our money causing it to be worth - less.

The fact that it costs more "money" to make a penny than what it's currently worth is a symptom, not the cause.

Dishonest governments love coin clipping, it's been going on for 2,000-3,000 years, nothing new here.  Steal from the population via inflation, then raise taxes, then confiscate the real money (gold/silver), etc.... nothing new here.