Nothing New for Penny and Nickel

The debate heated up on whether the metal composition of coins should be controlled by the U.S. Treasury and whether the ban of melting pennies for their copper content should be lifted.

CoinNews.net had its own article on the topic and, like other news organizations, coin collectors and bloggers, everyone was interestingly awaiting some type of outcome.

More debates were expected this week with scheduled House hearings on the matter. The House Committee on Financial Services, chaired by Congressman Barny Frank and a co-sponser of the newest bill that’s made national news headlines, had a hearing scheduled for yesterday, November 8.

It looked to be an interesting event with witnesses, testimony and two panels set up in front of the Domestic and International Monetary Policy Subcommittee. The participants:

Panel 1

• The Honorable Edmund C. Moy, Director, United States Mint
• Ms. Louise L. Roseman, Director, Division of Reserve Bank Operations and Payment, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 

Panel 2

• Mr. Walter Luhrman, President, Jackson Metals LLC
• Mr. James Mulroney, Director of Coin Services, Brink’s Inc.
• Mr. Tom Baker, Vice President of Marketing and Sales, Olin Brass

However, and unfortunately, the hearing was postponed. And so far, there’s been no word on a rescheduled date and time.

Everyone will have to wait even longer to see where the wind’s blowing. Let’s hope the wait is only days or weeks and not months.