§ 19. Mr. Liptonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much it costs to mint a penny and halfpenny coin, respectively.
§ Mr. BarberIt would not be in the public interest to disclose these figures.
§ Mr. LiptonIs it correct to assume that it costs more than a halfpenny to manufacture a halfpenny and probably about a penny to make a penny? Is it not very strange and most suspicious that the Treasury is not willing to disclose how much it costs to make these coins?
§ Mr. BarberNo. The answer is a very simple one, namely, that the Mint's foreign competitors do not reveal their production costs, and I therefore do not think that it would be right to expect the Mint to reveal its production costs.