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 Replies: 93 / Views: 10,238 |
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Valued Member
United States
95 Posts |
These cents, the Shield cents, are much cheaper than the pre-82 coins. Being mostly Zn they are now very very cheap: Lincoln Shield cent (2010-Present) 97.5% Zinc - 2.5% Copper 2.5 grams: the metallic (melt) value of each modern penny today is: $0.0045. So the actual cost is just the labor to make them, and a small material cost. For every cent minted the mint has a seigniorage of over .0055 cents! So they may be making a profit today on them? A billion minted cents equals a lot of gross profit! ($550,000.00). If they did stop minting them, I suspect that the hobby would expand!! There is no need to seek an alternative or cheaper substitute for the current cents, it is almost impossible to make a cheaper metallic coin, plastic may even cost more! We are stuck with this flat dishonoring portrait of the great Lincoln!  Edited by GSDykes
09/16/2015 01:37 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
997 Posts |
The half and dollar coins have the potential to be useful, they are just unpopular for various reasons at this time. The cent and (increasingly) the nickel are not other than for making change. Eliminate the cent and create a slightly different sized coin like it to replace the current Cu-Ni 5 cent coin and we should probably be set until coinage's final demise in the next 10 or 20 years.
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Bedrock of the Community
 United States
12839 Posts |
A former director of the mint (Edmund Moy) has gone on record saying that the money that could be saved annually by eliminating the cent is less than what his department wastes in the first half of every day. https://goccf.com/t/238952With that kind of rationale, the cent will live for a long, long, long time. Apparently there are bigger fish to fry. |
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Moderator
 United States
188766 Posts |
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If they stop minting pennies, will that be the end of penny collections. 100% disagree, pennies will be around for DECADES (or even centuries) after they stop minting them. Stopping production will spawn many new collectors as interest will be at an all-time high. Did people stop collecting other denominations after the various mints around the world stopped making them? Exactly. The half-cent, two-cents, three-cents, and twenty-cents collectors are still going strong. Quote:
Most penny collections were started by kids filling penny folders with coins found in change and then moving on to CRH and ultimately buying the 1914Ds and 1909Ss when they grow older and have cash to fill in those holes that have been stareing at them their whole life. Start with nickels, or dimes. Both are just as affordable to kids today as the cent was to kids fifty year ago. |
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Moderator
United States
188766 Posts |
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For every cent minted the mint has a seigniorage of over .0055 cents! So they may be making a profit today on them? A billion minted cents equals a lot of gross profit! ($550,000.00). Wrong!The labor cost on each cent exceeds one cent! Even if material were free, it is a loss. There is no seigniorage from cents or nickels. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1659 Posts |
It is a pointless coin in today's world.
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Pillar of the Community
1325 Posts |
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100% disagree, pennies will be around for DECADES (or even centuries) after they stop minting them. How? First there would be a reclamation project like gold and silver coins had. Then the law about melting pennies and nickels would likely be gone or just ignored (not heavily enforced) because they may still be money, but most places will stop using them if they can find a way since banks wont order them anymore. Pennies will be melted down and only found in old collections that will be taken and melted down by the Mint at a later date or in museums. Shield zincolns won't even last a decade whether they keep making them or stop making them. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
Quote:These cents, the Shield cents, are much cheaper than the pre-82 coins. Being mostly Zn they are now very very cheap: Lincoln Shield cent (2010-Present) 97.5% Zinc - 2.5% Copper 2.5 grams: the metallic (melt) value of each modern penny today is: $0.0045. So the actual cost is just the labor to make them, and a small material cost. For every cent minted the mint has a seigniorage of over .0055 cents! So they may be making a profit today on them? Check out the annual reports of the Director of the Mint. They have managed to bring down the labor costs over the past three years but the cost of manufacturing plus materials is currently (2014) 1.8 cents per cent produced. (a few years ago it was 2.1 cents). So a billion cents made is a LOSS of $18 million not a profit of $550,000. |
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Moderator
United States
188766 Posts |
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A former director of the mint (Edmund Moy) has gone on record saying that the money that could be saved annually by eliminating the cent is less than what his department wastes in the first half of every day. To be clear, it was not Moy's department, but a cabinet level department of an unnamed Secretary. Given Moy's background, I am guessing it was a Secretary of Health and Human Services. I also think that secretary was exaggerating a bit (but not a lot). |
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Moderator
United States
188766 Posts |
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First there would be a reclamation project like gold and silver coins had. I doubt there will be a reclamation project. |
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Pillar of the Community
1325 Posts |
Why? the government couldnt sel its copper stock back to the dime/quarter/etc people that make the sandwiches for every other coin? I mean if they want to emulate Canada, that is what Canada did.
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Moderator
United States
188766 Posts |
Yeah, but there is a lot of zinc through which to sort. The idea is to save money, not spend it on something else. Then again, who knows, we are talking about the government. So, I do not think they will, but I will admit they might.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7390 Posts |
If a certain someone "makes this country great again" I bet he'll see those numbers and cut the cent quicker than you can say budget surplus  Edited by Cascade
09/16/2015 2:58 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19958 Posts |
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How? First there would be a reclamation project like gold and silver coins had. Then the law about melting pennies and nickels would likely be gone or just ignored (not heavily enforced) because they may still be money, but most places will stop using them if they can find a way since banks wont order them anymore. Pennies will be melted down and only found in old collections that will be taken and melted down by the Mint at a later date or in museums.
Shield zincolns won't even last a decade whether they keep making them or stop making them. How? Really? How are there any Morgan dollars, Half Cents, 20-cents, left? There are TRILLIONS of cents out there now. Every house and car in American has stashes of pennies in them. Even if they started melting them down and the Mint started destroying them, there are so many, they will NEVER be gone. Shield cents won't last a decade? It's the same process they used in 1982, and, I'm sure, even better. Do you still see 1982 cents out there? I routinely pull nice, red MS Zincolns from regular bank rolls everyday. They seem to have lasted over 30 years just fine and Shield cents are no different. Lincoln Cent Lover!VERDI-CARE™ INVENTOR https://verdi.care/
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Rest in Peace
United States
2668 Posts |
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You don't need time lapse for zincolns(to disappear), just spill some Pepsi/Coke on one half the zinc will be gone before you finish drying it. Good point! Also: Do away with the cent? Right after the oil companies stop charging an extra 9/10th of a cent on each gallon. Yeah, right, and they don't have to do the Legislative maze. |
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Replies: 93 / Views: 10,238 |
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Posted 09/16/2015 01:29 am
