The nickel has been issued since 1866. Industrialist Joseph Wharton had a near-monopoly on the mining of nickel in the United States, and sought to promote its use in coinage.^[17] He was also highly influential in Congress. Mint director James Pollock prepared a bill authorizing a five-cent coin of the same alloy as the three-cent piece, with a total weight not to exceed 60 grains or 3.9 grams.  At the committee stage in the House of Representatives, the weight was amended to 77.19 grains or 5.00 grams, ostensibly to make the weight equal to five grams in the metric system but more likely so that Wharton could sell more nickel. During fiscal year 2020, it cost more than 7 cents to produce the nickel. The Mint is exploring the possibility of reducing cost by using less expensive metals. In 2018, over 1.26 billion nickels were produced at the Philadelphia and Denver mints.