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 Replies: 21 / Views: 2,414 |
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Valued Member
United States
123 Posts |
This is something I've been wondering about for a while. Let's say I go through a box of nickels a week and hold them for 1 week. In addition to me there are 1,000 others who do so. Then the cycle starts all over again. If my math is correct that is 2,000,000 nickels held out of circulation. If the average nickel remains in circulation for 40 years (made up number)then that is 50,000 more nickels a year the mint must produce because of the purchase of boxes of nickels solely for the purpose of looking through them for whatever reason which may have. Plus, if we each keep 10 nickels out of the box, supposedly for the purpose keeping them forever out of circulation, then would that not be another 520,000 additional nickels the mint must produce? So now the mint must produce another 570,000 nickels a year from the mint's perspective for no valid reason what so ever. All this leads up to my question.
How much, if any, measureable impact does collecting coins have on the US Mint's production of coins? If it is measureable, any idea of the cost associated with the additional production? If it is signifcant what is the chance the mint will just quit putting dates on the coins so we lose a major incentive in coin collecting?
I can imagine the banks now wanting to add to the cost estimate how much it costs the banks to maintain us with our daily fix of coins.
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Moderator
 United States
14463 Posts |
I believe they do have to factor in part of their production released doesn't actually make it to circulation quickly or ever. But I think of it another way, all the coins being held for sorting or collecting is in essence a loan to the mint/government.
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Well you have to remember any dimes or quarters the mint has to replace they make money on so they really could care less. In fact I would bet that they are happy circulated coinage gets kept because it drives interest in collecting which leads to more people buying commemoratives/mint sets ect which again the mint makes money on.
Theres probably little to no chance of the mint removing year marks or trying to discourage collecting since in the end it is profitable for them. In another threat someone mentioned that 20+ percent of the mints profits came from collector sales so it would be foolish for them to chase that off in anyway
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
If you really think the Mint is working for collectors, just look in the Red Book. Pages and pages of all sorts of coins not ment for circulation at all. And they make and sell Proof and Uncirculated sets for collectors too. And then they ask if you want different holders and or other things for coins too. I sometimes think the Mint makes more coins and things for collectors than for regular circulation.  |
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Pillar of the Community
Philippines
1156 Posts |
yes, collectors do influence mints to produce extra coins, exclusive for coin collectors, coins known as NCLTs or Non Circulating Legal Tender, in silver. It's effective in soaking up excess cash as these NCLTs would never be circulated |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
2180 Posts |
Probably. I'm not too familiar with American coins, but I believe at one stage The Royal Mint in London struck pennies on darkened planchets to stop people from hoarding shiny new pennies. I assume that the hoarding was having some affect on the availability of pennies. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
619 Posts |
I've recently read articles that say mintages are actually going down, due to Coinstar and reduced demand for change.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3486 Posts |
The need for coins to serve commerce is dropping.
More and more people are using credit and debit cards.
Coins have no real purchasing power left.
Pennies, nickles and even a dime are routinely to be found in the "Leave a penny, take a penny" tray.
Think back to 1965:
Silver is removed from coins and the Mint churns out tons of the new coins.
"Those nasty coin collectors are hoarding coins - Let us produce mass quantities."
When in reality, vending machines were eating up those circulating coins.
Today, as more and more machines accept plastic, the need for coins to feed commerce is dwindling.
Where will it take us next?
No, I do not think that we coin collectors have a measurable impact on the Mint's output.
We are, and have always been, held to blame for circumstances beyond our control.
And although a few of us do not want to see the penny go the way of the Dodo, really, does
it make any sense at all to keep it? Well, OK, special "collector" sets, sold at outrageous prices,
aimed at the ill-informed and flipped at twice the price a week or two later after a six month wait
to receive it.
That is, until the market drops.
I do not play that game.
If a coin was not made to serve commerce, in my opinion, it is not worth collecting.
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Valued Member
291 Posts |
I doubt that coin roll searchers seriously impact the number of coins in circulation.
There must be hundreds of millions of nickels out there.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2602 Posts |
I agree with Senex. I do not believe coin roll hunting has any measureable impact on what the Mint produces. There are billions of nickels, pennies etc in circulation. The mint probably has some forumla they use to figure out how many coins they need to produce based on what goes through the Federal Reserve. If they see numbers dwindling in a certain coin denomination, they produce more that year to avoid a shortage situation.
The numbers of coins reaching the Federal Reserve drop for a number of reasons- from mutilation and melting (probably not much melted these days with the law against melting copper) to loss (like coins in fountains, lost on streets, playgrounds, rivers, streams), some left in piggy banks and accumulated for years to decades (probably more accumulation than people re-rolling and bring to bank or to Coinstar), and other reasons. A collector for roll hunting probably only holds the coins for a week or two and then end up back in the Federal Reserve eventually. So there is probably little impact on what the mint produces from collectors. There is much greater impact from everyone as a whole getting their change and sticking it in a piggy bank. The probably could go a year without minting anything at all if everyone would bring their coins back to the bank regularly.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3294 Posts |
Roll searching is a drop in the Pacific. It would only cause the mint to produce more if they were holding them long term, and most roll hunters toss 99% of their coins back.
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Valued Member
291 Posts |
I agree that more coin are held back from circulation by people putting then in piggy banks, drawers, coffee cans, etc. than by CRH.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
The real reason the mint makes as many coins as they do each year is to replace the coins lost or pulled out of circulation by the general public not collectors. The general public only has to permanently pull out one or two coins per week per household to permanently remove the Mints entire annual production.
350 million people is 87.5 million households. If each household PERMANENTLY removes one coin from circulation each week, that is 87.5 million coins gone per week. Times 52 weeks in a year is a little over 4.5 BILLION coins permanently removed from circulation per year.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2602 Posts |
Wow, Condor, thanks, you put math weight behind my suggestion that general public does far more to remove coins than collectors. That's a staggering number of coins removed every year.
Your number could be over-estimated due to so many people using plastic for transactions now, or under-estimated by cash driven transactions in which you get far more than 1 coin per week. I did all cash transactions this weekend and wound up with about 12 coins- all tossed in a piggy bank (checked first for dates!).
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
OK you got 12 coins this week. Now if you return 11 of those coins to circulation and keep, destroy, or throw away the last one, you have met my figure of one coin per week. And that one coin is for a four person household, you are just one person. Anyone else in your household get any coins this week?
Frankly I'm always surprised that there are any coins in circulation at all.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
As Conder101 said people just do things with coins every day that ends their existance. Not to long ago there was a post about all the things people do with coins. So many are thown in Rivers, Lakes, Oceans, wishing wells, etc. So many are buried for fun, melted down by jewlers and/or just kids in chem classes. Those machines that press them into something for kids. Holes drilled in to make jewlery. Shot at with guns. Put away in jars, cans, boxes for a rainy day. Placed on RR tracks and on and on with almost anything.
Yes it is amazing that there are any left at all.
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Replies: 21 / Views: 2,414 |
Posted 09/24/2012 8:46 pm
