On: The last-ever penny will be minted today in Philadelphia

[donatj]

I've got a ridiculous question, but hear me out.

Pennies have more zinc in them than they are worth, right?

Did the penny have any sort of stabling force against inflation… a sort of "Zinc Standard" as it were?

Civil libertarians are always talking about how moving away from gold coins, and later moving away from the gold standard that backed the non-gold coins is the root of inflation.

If gold can have such an effect, why not zinc?

[connicpu → donatj]

You can't legally melt down US coins for their metals

[donatj → connicpu]

Even so, it has intrinsic value. A gold coin wouldn't become worthless just because the government stopped you from melting it. Same goes for a zinc coin.