This is a somewhat dated topic, but I remembered it suddenly and deemed it worthy of discussion/debate.
The cost of buying the metal for making pennies and the cost of the process itself has actually risen above one cent.
In other words, it now costs $0.0123 (or more; the source I referenced is dated to 2006) to make a penny.
Fortunately/unfortunately (depending on your perspective), it is still relatively impractical to melt down the metals in pennies and resell them...the metals aren't worth that much...
So, here's the debate...should the government slow/halt/terminate the process of making pennies? Are pennies inconvenient/useless, or are they collectible/important/worthy?
Source: http://www.usatoday.com/money/2006-05-09-penny-usat_x.htm
BTW: The metals/process in nickels has also risen to above nickels' face value; the cost to make a nickel is $0.0573.
The same problem ocurred in Australia a while back. The raw silver became more valuable than their face value. the government simple changed the coins from a mostly silver alloy into a mostly tin alloy (i think it was tin or another cheap metal). another solution would be to either decrease the size of the actual coin or increase the value of a penny. eg make a penny the value of a nickel and a nickel the value of .... i dunno what the next peice is as im from Australia however you get the picture. i havent actually seen a penny but if there is a value in the face the value could just be changed.
oh and to answer your question the penny probably isnt very inportant in a soceity where credit cards are becoming a must have item. If production stopped they would still be a collectable coin though it would take many many years before they became valuable enough to be worth re-selling
