Money isn't worth what it used to be, but some of your change is actually worth more. The price of copper and nickel is up three-fold since 2003, while zinc has quadrupled.

The result has been that a penny now costs 1.26 cents to produce (the good news is that's actually down from a high of 1.67 cents just a few months ago), while a nickel currently costs about 7.7 cents (also down from a high of nearly a dime). Rising commodity prices have affected dimes and quarters as well, but so far they still cost less to make than their face values.

Still, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., says the Treasury lost $100 million last year alone minting 7.4 billion pennies and 1.2 billion nickels. That got Congress thinking and the result was a bill passed by the House on Thursday that would require both coins to be made primarily of steel, a much less expensive metal.

The bill may face some tough sledding, however, because Congress flexing its constitutional authority over the nation's currency tends not to sit too well with the folks at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Mint Director Edmund Moy's reaction was tepid and there's talk of a more White House-friendly version of the legislation in the Senate.

A partial solution would be to let the penny go the way of the two-cent, three-cent, double eagle and other coins. But ending production doesn't sit well with the public, which has an almost nostalgic attachment to the pocket change they grew up with.

That being the case, changing the coins' composition may be the best solution and should be pursued quickly so that the Treasury can stop throwing good money after bad.