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 Replies: 25 / Views: 8,348 |
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Valued Member
United States
477 Posts |
Hi,
I recollect reading articles about the Obama administration having tell the end of this year to come up with a new composition for the nickel and the penny and that we were probably going to use steel. I have read some articles though that in May Tom Giethner said we were going to get rid of both coins completely. Is this true? Are we really going to get rid of these coins? Thanks. I'm trying to stay updated on this and would like to know if it's really true thanks.
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Moderator
 Australia
16806 Posts |
It is true that in 2010 congress gave the Mint approval to research new, cheaper alloys for striking the low denomination coins. But as far as I know they weren't given any timetable to come up with answers.
No decision or announcement has yet been made as to what if any new alloys will actually be used; however, plated steel is the most logical choice; it's cheap but at the same time doesn't look cheap (like aluminium does). Most of the rest of the world has now switched to plated steel coinage for low denominations.
Getting rid of the low denomination coins is inevitable, in the long term - you can't stave off inflation forever, and you will eventually reach a point where the cost of labour, transportation etc needed to make a coin exceeds the face value, so even if you could obtain the raw materials for free, you'd still lose money making them. Changing the composition merely delays the date at which this will happen, by a few years (or a few decades).
As for a specific date for withdrawing any denomination, no, no announcement or decision has been made. However, it seems unlikely that the government would order the Mint to research alternative compositions and then order the coins to be withdrawn before the results of the research are announced. I think the 1 cent and 5 cent coins are relatively safe for a couple more years, at least.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Moderator
United States
187544 Posts |
Quote:
...and you will eventually reach a point where the cost of labour, transportation etc needed to make a coin exceeds the face value, so even if you could obtain the raw materials for free, you'd still lose money making them. This is already true for our one cent coin. |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
Surely, the cost of EACH transaction of a one cent coin must be more than one cent!
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Valued Member
United States
264 Posts |
We could only hope a decision is made by the end of 2012!
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Valued Member
United States
228 Posts |
I can see people hording pennies already.
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Valued Member
United States
125 Posts |
TrickyxMick,
Loads of people are hoarding pennies and nickels right now. And there's no news that the metal is going to change.
We shouldn't expect anything to change with the 1 and 5 cent coins until after the elections have run their course.
Just My 2 cents.
CWS
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
937 Posts |
Up here in Canada we changed to plated steel pennies back in 2000, and then in March of this year they rolled the last pennies off the lines and announced that they had finally stopped the production of Canadian pennies altogether. And as of next February the banks will begin removing them from circulation, so sadly, no penny roll hunting up here past that date unless you hoard now to hunt at your leisure later. No word on the nickels, though, so here's hoping that they leave them alone.
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Valued Member
United States
385 Posts |
We should make the penny out of aluminum and reduce the size of the nickel down to a penny. Doing so would facilitate easier identification to speed up commerce. Our pennies are way too bulky, and they should be in proportion by weight to other coins...therefore using a aluminum material for pennies would be much more appropriate than steel.
does anyone agree with this?
ps. I really love the Japanese 1 Yen Coin, it would seem so easy to carry around in large amounts.
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Moderator
United States
187544 Posts |
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We should make the penny out of aluminum... It would still cost more than a cent to make a cent. The only viable solution is elimination. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
950 Posts |
If the cent were proportional with the dime and quarter, it would be ~0.2268 grams. a copper cent weighs about 3.11 grams, and zinc is 2.5. It would take 11 of these proportional weight pennies to equal the weight of one zinc cent, and almost 14 to equal the weight of a copper cent. You wouldnt even notice you were holding one.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
4208 Posts |
Well, in the UK, our 5p recently changed from Cupronickel to steel. The 2012 issue is magnetic, thicker and is quite hard to find because people have been keeping then. Our pennies changed a while back to copper plated steel.
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Rest in Peace
United States
1729 Posts |
That Japanese aluminum one-yen coin has all but disappeared from circulation in Japan.
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Valued Member
United States
139 Posts |
So what happens when you need 6 cents in change if we have no nickels or pennies? Do I get a dime? I doubt it. Do they get to keep my change? Strange times we live in.
@Sap - We could stave off inflation if we stopped printing so much darn money and living in a debt based system.
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Moderator
Australia
16806 Posts |
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So what happens when you need 6 cents in change if we have no nickels or pennies? Do I get a dime? I doubt it. Do they get to keep my change? For many transactions, there won't be any "change" for them to keep. Assuming that American retailers follow the lead of countries that have already abolished their equivalent of a 1 cent coin, then shops that anticipate selling just a few items (such as local corner stores or fast food outlets) will actually lower their prices down, from $x.99 to $x.95 - they would do this to maintain the "cheapness illusion" that 99ยข pricetags create. Big retailers, the supermarkets and megastores, will probably keep their prices to the nearest cent, and only apply rounding to the final total. So if your grocery bill comes out to $87.26, they'll round it down to $87.25. Quote:
We could stave off inflation if we stopped printing so much darn money and living in a debt based system. No, you couldn't. And if you don't believe me, ask the Romans. The denarius began life in the Republican period as a fine silver coin, slightly bigger than a silver dime. But as the republic evolved into the Empire, cash-strapped emperors discovered they could increase the money supply simply by diluting the coinage, making the finite amount of silver they owned go further. Merchants and foreign powers simply raised their prices to compensate, and so the inflationary spiral began. By 300 AD, the denarius had devolved to a tiny coppery shard with a silver content so low you'd need modern analytical equipment to detect it. Occasionally, an emperor was wealthy enough and the Empire prosperous enough to attempt to reverse the decline and un-inflate the denarius, but such reforms were always short-lived, undone either by that emperor's successors or by that emperor himself when he needed the cash. Granted, without paper money, credit cards and the other jiggery-pokery of the modern financial system, the whole process took longer - centuries instead of decades. But it still happened. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Valued Member
United States
139 Posts |
Quote:
No, you couldn't. And if you don't believe me, ask the Romans. The denarius began life in the Republican period as a fine silver coin, slightly bigger than a silver dime. But as the republic evolved into the Empire, cash-strapped emperors discovered they could increase the money supply simply by diluting the coinage, making the finite amount of silver they owned go further. Merchants and foreign powers simply raised their prices to compensate, and so the inflationary spiral began. By 300 AD, the denarius had devolved to a tiny coppery shard with a silver content so low you'd need modern analytical equipment to detect it.
Occasionally, an emperor was wealthy enough and the Empire prosperous enough to attempt to reverse the decline and un-inflate the denarius, but such reforms were always short-lived, undone either by that emperor's successors or by that emperor himself when he needed the cash.
Was it me or did you just make my points? |
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Replies: 25 / Views: 8,348 |
Posted 08/07/2012 10:59 am
