As we mentioned earlier, Obama proposes a new rule that would let the Treasury use cheaper metal in the production of coins.

We might be able to save some money this way, due to the fact that it actually costs more than the face value of some coins to produce said coins.

The budget notes:

The Mint's primary cost driver is the price of metal, a factor over which it has no control. Daily spot prices of copper and zinc, the Mint's two main metallic materials, have fluctuated in excess of 400 percent, and the price of nickel by 500 percent over the past 10 years. This contributes to volatile and negative margins on both the penny and nickel: recently, the penny has cost approximately 2.4 cents, and the nickel approximately 11.2 cents to produce.

By the way: This is why Kyle Bass has horded $1 million worth of nickels.