That grimy, circular piece of copper and zinc known as the penny is no longer being produced, but the tiny coin is still getting the last laugh. Less than a month after the last one was minted on Nov.

Its being called "The Federal Coin Shortage." and retailers across the country are asking folks to use cards or exact change when making a purchase. Like other shortages that happened this year, the ...

Alex Valdes from Bellevue, Washington has been pumping content into the Internet river for quite a while, including stints at MSNBC.com, MSN, Bing, MoneyTalksNews, Tipico and more. He admits to being ...