The reason is that since 1913 when it was sneakily created in the shadows by the private banks that own its stock, the Federal Reserve banking cartel has been slowly sucking the blood out of all the dollars in existence. The result is the cent is now worth less, it used to be worth the equivalent of a modern dollar or a dime at various points in time.
They'd probably be happy with it costing even 3 or 5 cents to make - as long as you never awake to what's going on.
