A Penny For Your Thoughts

I heard a news story that the penny is costing our government almost 2 cents to mint. So, is a penny really just worth 1 cent?

Is it insulting to use the phrase, "A penny for your thoughts"? Maybe the person asking the question was hoping their pensive pal wouldn't really tell them their entire thought process so it would only be worth a penny.
Maybe we should say, "$5.65 for your thought if you succinctly communicate it in 30 seconds or less".

(Note...the first notation of the phrase, "A penny for your thoughts" was seen in a book written by John Heywood book in 1546.
1 penny invested in a bank in 1546 until 2007 at 5% interest? $43 million dollars!)

I don't know why we have to mint as many new coins to re-circulate as they do. It is a HUGE budget that costs a lot of this freshly minted money. I wonder if they could just not mint the money that it costs to pay the bill of printing the money and say it was an even exchange?

This makes me feel guilty that I have a change jar ~ or that every kid in America has a piggy bank. (with inflation, wouldn't it be more appropriate to have an elephant bank?)
Now I'm thinking here...I've never known any bank or merchant to not have the change needed for my transaction.

I remember when my nephew, Griffin was just 3 or 4 yrs old, he swallowed a quarter. When I was talking with him last week, the now mature 7 yr old remembered the incident in detail. When I asked him if he recalled why he swallowed a quarter, he thought a second and explained, "It was worth more than a penny!"
and, he continued pensively, "I thought the "change" would do me good...just to "coin" a phrase"

Everyone has to be a comedian.