Posted on 02/13/2012 3:01:22 PM PST by GlockThe Vote
The Budget proposes to provide the Mint with greater flexibility in the material composition of coins to reduce its losses on some coins and the production costs associated with volatile metal prices. Additionally, the Budget increases the Mint's flexibility to match customer demand and supply by eliminating the provision requiring the Mint to produce Native American dollar coins in an amount equal to 20 percent of all dollar coins produced. Justification
The Mint's primary cost driver is the price of metal, a factor over which it has no control. Daily spot prices of copper and zinc, the Mint's two main metallic materials, have fluctuated in excess of 400 percent, and the price of nickel by 500 percent over the past 10 years.1 This contributes to volatile and negative margins on both the penny and nickel: recently, the penny has cost approximately 2.4 cents, and the nickel approximately 11.2 cents to produce.2
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Like nobody has ever thought of this before.
It’s the same as saying you’re going to cut government waste and save boatloads of money. An old idea, that keeps cumming around. And, every time it comes around, it’s announced like they had a great, original idea.
Are there no FReepers old enough to remember when silver coins were really silver?
1964? Was it that long ago?
Yep...and other ancient cultures as well. One of the beginnings of the end. Of course, we really don’t consider our coins to be valuable based on their content. At least I haven’t in about 30 years.
Too late on the cent.
“Are there no FReepers old enough to remember when silver coins were really silver? 1964? Was it that long ago?”
I remember. The government said that there was no reason to hoard the old siver coins because they would stay in circulation and be replaced by the steel coins very slowly. They said that if you hoarded the silver coins you would not make a profit. What a crock that turned out to be. Thank you LBJ.
Have to also say this though: I almost never carry cash or coin
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BOOO!
you are the servant of the devil!
Besides Gold and silver, stockpiling pre 1980’s pennies is a good idea.
He'll be able to spend the recycle value right after he serves his sentence at Leavenworth for defacing US currency.
We’re not on a metal coin standard but if we were, this would be an easy way to devalue the currency without a Fed.
[ They’ll probably end up making them out of polymer with a metal core to add weight. ]
Why not outsource their production to china, so they can mix in toxic waste as they make them.
Our new “quarters” could be made of left over industrial slag and instead of George Washington on them there will be Mao on one side and a Panda on the other...
Steel pennies were cool!
Aluminium pennies would be cool, they could have obama on them too.
Obama should be featured in profile on the new, cheap coin. As in, how many tin ears it would take to buy a new GM car?
unless you’re going to spend the time and money melting them down, their still worth only their face value
I doubt you’d melt down a Krugerrand before you sell it, no?
Mmmmmmm. money!
When your government claims that its own currency ought to have little or no intrinsic value, or else will hereafter have as its redemptive standard nothing more than a promise that cannot possibly be kept: your government is bankrupt, and your property, and quite possibly your life, is at stake.
A few more years of actual 10-12% inflation and we can drop the penny, nickel and dime altogether and start talking about eliminating the quarter or replacing it with a new half.Of the nature of inflation is to accelerate and we may be able to eliminate coins in the first two years of the 2nd kenyan administration.
Besides Gold and silver, stockpiling pre 1980’s pennies is a good idea.
Nickels are a much better bet, because you can just back up the pickup truck to the bank and store them all (good luck finding a bank who will provide all you might want).
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