The main reason why I said those costs, is that is what it really costs. Like others have said, even if the metals were free, it would still cost above face value to make the cent and nickel, so I don't see why just the cost of the metal means anything? It really should be total cost.
And I hope Conder isn't right that it takes them another 5 years to make a decision. It shows that hundreds of millions of dollars in losses isn't that big of a deal to them.
But as this gets discussed more and more, I totally agree now that it is time to stop minting the cent at the very least. There are billions of cents floating around businesses/banks and stored in people's homes, so there are more than enough to circulate for a few years. Yeah, people will hoard them and once we run out, then we don't have any to use, unless people cash them in. So be it.
The choice will be to hoard them or to spend them and let the people decide if they really want to use them. If they circulate, then obviously people want to use them.
It would be an interesting experiment for the Mint to try, while they are deciding on what to do. And after a year or so, then do the same for the nickel. I think it would be too much of a shocker to the general public to stop minting both in the same year.
Much better than waiting 5 years to do something!
First Page
Posted 02/13/2012 3:36 pm
