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 Replies: 46 / Views: 6,753 |
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Valued Member
United States
403 Posts |
It used to be that all forms of currency were valued as money - heck, we still believe our valued brain output to be worth at least Two Cents. But now with our beloved coinage, a troubling trend is upon us. In particular, a recent study estimates that Americans discard $62M in coins every year http://www.cbsnews.com/news/america...s-each-year/ According to the data, this is due to overzealous vacuuming of couches and car seats, laundry mishaps, and a general disrespect for the lowly penny. Others state factors such as people dropping change into sewers to assuage Pennywise the evil clown, adults saving up for skateboards they will never use, and misguided attempts to corner the zinc/copper markets. But now there's hope: coins are being reclaimed from our trash by companies such as Covanta. However, with the mint no longer buying back such coins, might they show up on ebay?  |
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Pillar of the Community
Norway
1358 Posts |
$62M sounds like a lot, but it's still less than one quarter per American, so if you lose a quarter somehow, you already are above average. And trust me, Americans lose a lot of quarters. I always find some 'roadkill' coins when in the US.
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Rest in Peace
United States
18456 Posts |
There's a park near me with 4 lakes and 3 water falls . on any given day at the bottom of the falls you can see pennies , nickels ,dimes and even a few quarters . Yes , people do throw coins away .  |
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Valued Member
Canada
496 Posts |
No idea how much Canadians toss away.I tend to walk around scanning the ground for whatever may have been lost or discarded.It use to be mainly pennies.Now that they have been discontinued ,I find that dimes are the most common find.
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Moderator
 United States
187702 Posts |
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a recent study estimates that Americans discard $62M in coins every year A big chunk of that goes away shortly after we quit minting the cent and nickel.  |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
4588 Posts |
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A big chunk of that goes away shortly after we quit minting the cent and nickel. So never? -----Burton 50+ year / Life / Emeritus ANA member (joined 12/1/1973) Life member: Numismatics International, CONECA Member: TNA, FtWCC, NETCC, EveryCountry (online) coin club Owned by three cats and a wife of 40+ years (joined 1983) Author: 3rd Edition of the Sample Slabs book, https://www.sampleslabs.info/ |
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CCF Advertiser
United States
1533 Posts |
I toss pennies on the street. It is not worth my time to even accumulate and roll them up.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
790 Posts |
LOL. The other day a cashier gave me a wheatie in change after a purchase. Silly but it made my day. I always look forward to getting change, and searching for that rare little "treasure."
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Valued Member
United States
372 Posts |
I received (2 ) Date less Buffalo nickels in change this Past month. They must have been lonely, Now I think I will start a Herd |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
693 Posts |
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I toss pennies on the street... Zinc and copper are not particularly environmentally friendly are they? |
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CCF Advertiser
United States
1533 Posts |
Hey, maybe there will be someone excited to find money...
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
There was a post some time ago about all the things people do to and with coins. Should find that one someday.
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Moderator
Australia
16808 Posts |
Not since the Late Roman Empire have we seen a Western society produce such a vast amount of coinage with so little actual buying power. And even the late Roman nummus was worth something in everyday trade; in AD 320, a loaf of bread was worth 2 nummi, a pound of meat 6 to 8 nummi. So the nummus was not particularly valuable, but you'd still have bent down to pick one up.
If the 1 cent denomination is still deemed essential, perhaps the American government should consider following the example of Hong Kong back in the 1950s, and issue tiny, single-sided one cent banknotes. If people are going to treat them like single-use coupons, you might as well make them out of paper.
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
408 Posts |
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It used to be that all forms of currency were valued as money That was until we started minting coins and currency to the extreme. The value of these coins is nothing in today's world. It is a created market for coin collectors. I only purchase old coins because there is value in them. Even if they were made of copper, they have a history behind them and the amount of mintage creates an acceptable higher price on the items. What person would spend 100x over face value for a coin that has a mintage of 400 million? Even 100 years from now that coin will be worth nothing. It is a created market to get gullible people to pay more for something that is mass produced. With very very very very limited exceptions, none of these coins today are worth anything equal to their face value. Any savvy collector better think twice before spending extra on these coins. As far as throwing coins of today away. Too bad. People should save their money. They shouldn't just throw it away. It could be only a matter of time before we go the way of the Romans. |
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Valued Member
New Zealand
292 Posts |
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Valued Member
New Zealand
292 Posts |
Hi Everyone it's the same here in New Zealand we used to have 1 and 2 cent coins back in the 1960s up to 1989 and still they are every where and people find them metal detecting too. Also we just got rid of our 5 cent coin I think in 2013 and it's the same as them also we have a new 10 cent, 20, 50 cent too. They are smaller to the ones we had back from the start 1967 to 2013 and they are made of steel coated in and thin layer of nickel but the 10 cent is also steel coated in copper  so really history is repeating itself from the Romans and now. |
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Replies: 46 / Views: 6,753 |
Posted 10/31/2016 12:36 pm
