Mint Stopping Dollar Coin Production - Washpost

Just before the Dollar coin announcement, production of Quarters had ramped up dramatically.
U.S. Mint: 2011 America the Beautiful Quarter Production
The mintages were limping along in the 30 million (from each Mint) until the Chickasaw issue, which is now up in the 70 million (from each Mint) range.

Have Americans finally run out of coin jars to empty, or is this a case of "keep the coin presses running"?
After all, the 2011 business strike Pres. Dollar issues each had mintages in about the same range (around 37 million from each Mint) as the gain in Chickasaw Quarters from the previous 2011 Quarter issues.

The George Washington OBW rolls are fetching about $30 on ebay, and one auction $47 for a single roll!

Since making the original post on this I have gone back on forth on whether this is a net positive or negative for collectors. I have the pres dollar dansco up to date and have kept a couple of new bank rolls of each issue as they have come out so will have to wait and see I guess. It'll be a shame if future issues are only in mint sets or high premium mint only rolls.

One thing this did confirm for me (again) is that we cannot rely on individuals to make rational financial decisions for the larger group. It's just such a no brainer that coins save money over paper if you spend even two minutes thinking about the issue. And yet everyone puts their own interests of not 'liking' the dollar coin over the national interest of not wasting yet more tax dollars. This is where leadership not pandering is needed from our elected officials. Much larger ticket issues exist of course but it's just so symptomatic of a populus getting the government they deserve. Sigh.

I ran the numbers as well and it shows a brief increase in the CPI over the average starting two years after the introduction of the dollar coin followed by a major decrease the following year. There is no increase in the index after the introduction of the two dollar coin.

Of course the question is whether or not you can trust their CPI figures, or if the CPI has been manipulated like they do here in the US

BTW - please - if this post, or my others, is coming across as negative or argumentative - I do NOT mean for them to be.

I have time to kill and am enjoying researching this more and having a discussion. I actually statred to do the math on this whole situation but am still working on it.

So far the dollar coin usage IS edging out mathematically ahead as far as saving money goes - just not quite as far as has been claimed. I am planning on doing more just to see what the websites/combined info gives as to actual savings.


trdhrdr said:



This is very interesting indeed! So I wonder which camp to go with on this now? jbuck knew of the increase and said:



I cannot find the Wikipedia page I got when I Googled Canadian Loonie the other day. It mentioned (as a side note) the initial price increases which is why I posted previously that it was not hard to find. Maybe the reference was edited since then?

Whatever the case, there obviously is confusion b/c the link you posted says one thing and experience/and other websites (mainly all I can refer to are comments from Canadians on numerous blogs) say another.

Canadian responses on these sites claim there is/was price increases b/c of retailers taking advantage of what they term "impulse buying." I saw one comment saying how much they hated salesmen b/c of this (I think they meant retailers?). The comment authors say it is easier now to spend the money from a psychological standpoint since their dollar (and now the Twoonie!) are just pocket change.


BTW - Here is just one article at about.coins.com with both US and Canadian comments.

http://coins.about.com/b/2008/07/22...ar-coins.htm

Note the people not living in the country with "forced" dollar coins like the idea. Note the people living with the dollar coins in Canada mention actually having to put up with the exact problems/dislikes that US-promoters of dollar coins are denying will/do exist.

The Canadians mention the banks' dislike of the coins - increased costs of handling them; the weight issue is mentioned numerous times; and there is even one saying they wish they could go back to paper. There also is a post citing the initial issuing of these coins by quoting a saying of that time, "we used to have currency in Canada now we have loonacy."

Another interesting thing I see is that other Canadians who are not caring about the weight are telling others to just spend them to get them out of your pockets!

Hmmm...

Oh no - conspiracy theory - its really to make us all into spendaholics!


Having seen this transition to coins happen (very close to) first hand 25 years ago (I could escape it!), I know my experiences are different than what jbuck said he experienced. I do not know why.

Seeing what people in a coin-only system post makes me feel that I would rather take advice from eye witnesses than from paper/electronic figures. I guess this is why I was not appreciating the coin implementation to start with. I felt most Americans had no idea of the true ramifications. When you get even a few hundred miles from the border, most Americans cannot even list the Provinces and their capitals let alone know what a Loonie is.

...Of course this can also be an advantage - I now live around 250 miles south from where I was before and got a V nickel out of some change b/c the locals were saying it was "just a Canadian coin b/c their Queen on it." I tried to tell them what it was. But they were not interested.

I don't see anything negative about having a civil discussion.

The link I posted seems to come from a reliable source but I have no way of knowing if it is, or if the CPI in Canada is manipulated due to politics. I am sceptical of any eye witness account that doesn't have any empirical evidence to support it. It's been my experience that people's perception of reality isn't always accurate.

I can certainly understand that there are Canadians that dislike the dollar coins. I can also see where handling costs associated with coins as opposed to bills could be higher.

On a personal note, I like to deal in cash but don't like to carry around a pocket full of change. I start the day without any coins & any I receive I dump in my change jar when I get home. I wouldn't be extremely happy with dollar coins. If the change was made I'd probably use my credit cards more & carry a maximum of 3 dollar coins, dumping any extras in the change jar every evening.

Anecdotes, particularly second-hand anecdotes, don't really stand up to actual facts and data.

trdhrdr


Another truly enlightened individual

Or is this just how you and I perceive it?

Seriously, you make a very valid point on the need for empirical evidence. I am not sure if jbuck was saying he was close to Canada back in 87 or if he meant he had been associated with Canada within the last 12 years (based on his comment on almost marrying a Canadian girl).

If he was saying he experienced it in '87, since his information is diametrically opposed to what I experienced, I am left not knowing if my/his experience was regional or not. If he was 13 years later, then I know attitudes changed up there by then. Granted my experiences around '87 and later was mainly around the Western shores of Lake Ontario (Toronto, MIssissauga, Hamilton, Kitchener, Niagara Falls - and 1200 km North of Toronto in Chibougamou, QC for Walleye!). I did most of my traveling trips from Newfoundland to BC back before the Loonie was introduced. After the Loonie, I spent most of my time in the aforementioned places.

I noted that one of the Canadians commenting said he didn't like using them b/c of the weight, but he DID like them b/c he always put them in a change jar - Loonies and Twoonies add up quickly this way.