Seigniorage:
Seigniorage is the difference between the face value of money, such as a $10 bill, and the cost to produce it. In other words, the economic cost of producing a currency within a given economy or country.
If the seigniorage is positive, the government will make an economic profit; while a negative seigniorage will result in an economic loss. [Investopedia]
Noted in “US Mint Cost To Make Penny and Nickel Declines in FY 2013,” Michael Zielinski, Coin Update:
Despite the losses generated by the cent and nickel, the US Mint has generated positive seigniorage across all circulating denominations for each of the years. This is the result of the gains from the higher denominations, which are produced for less than their face values, more than offsetting the losses from the lower denominations.
