It just doesn’t pay to make money these days. This is especially true for officials running the U.S. Mint, producer of America’s coined currency. Due to price increases in raw materials like copper and nickel, it costs more to manufacture a penny or nickel than the actual value of the coins themselves. Last year, the Mint spent 1.38 cents for every penny it manufactured, and five-cent nickels cost 8.83 cents. In 2007, the federal government lost $31 million producing 6.6 billion pennies and $70 million on the production of nickels. Fortunately, not all U.S. coins are proving to be a loss. Ten-cent dimes only cost 4.36 cents to make in 2008.