Comments on: US Mint Survey to Inquire about Low Denomination Coins

By: Mike Lo

Mike Lo — Thu, 07 Aug 2014 17:02:04 +0000

I agree that the cent, nickel and dime have lost its buying power. But do not eliminate them. Mint them for collectors and in proof only which would make a profit for the Mint. Create a $2 coin as well as $5, $10, $20 coins which also you would include in a collector proof set. Drop the $1 bill as well as the $10 bill, keep the $2, $5, $20, $50 and $100. Re-issue the $500 bill (there is a 500 Euro) to allow for easier cash payments. Yes, people still use cash.

By: tom thumb

tom thumb — Wed, 30 Jul 2014 23:36:42 +0000

eliminate the one dollar bill and start using all those presidential dollars that are in storage. save on paper, printing, and storage. and they will last 30 years.

By: Vachon

Vachon — Wed, 30 Jul 2014 19:31:53 +0000

@Munzen : One radical idea, if the cent and nickel were eliminated but not the dime would be for Congress to revalue the dime as 1/8th of a dollar so that two dimes equal a quarter thus taking care of the change issue. I know the etymology of “dime” comes from the word “ten” but the word dime for today’s money needn’t necessarily be ten cents. It could just be a fancy word for an eighth of a dollar 🙂

By: Vachon

Vachon — Wed, 30 Jul 2014 19:28:07 +0000

@Boz : I agree. Everything below the quarter-dollar should be dropped and since ATMs require, in the majority of cases, users to withdraw in increments of $20, I would suggest the $20 bill is our modern-day dollar. The $1, $2, $5, and $10 bills ought to be phased out and replaced with coins so our coinage will have actual purchasing power again.

If anything, it would help the hobby because young people in my observations as a cashier see no value in coins and in some sense they are right. They have so little value that, with the rough exception of quarters, they’re not worth the effort of counting out. People have come to view coins as non-interest bearing metallic savings accounts cashed in later for paper money rather than money to be spent.

Back in our grandparents’ day, finding even a nickel on the ground meant you could buy something. A handful of change is unlikely to buy anything now. It’s a shame really. We could get by fairly easily on a quarter-dollar base economy. Product sizes would adjust accordingly.

The half dollar could be circulated again if banks were forced to only order fractional dollars and receive their order as 50% quarters and 50% half-dollars. In a few months, it would be like the half dollar had never gone away. People will accept them I’ve noticed, if you give them out. The trouble is finding a reliable supplier.

By: Robert Smith

Robert Smith — Wed, 30 Jul 2014 12:00:34 +0000

Put silver back in dimes and quarters and copper back in cents. Nationalize the Federal Reserve and give each tax payer shares in the Federal Reserve a bullion 401k account off Fort Knox and 33 Liberty St. Take Federal Reserve Note off of our dollars and return to silver certificates and gold certificates.

By: Boz

Boz — Wed, 30 Jul 2014 01:34:36 +0000

The half dollar was discontinued years ago except for the ebay flippers. If we are going to keep all the bins in the cash register, a two dollar coin might be a good idea. A great time to re-proportion all coinage too. Never did understand why the dime was smaller than the nickel, and virtually the same size as the penny.

A clad version of the new 2014 platinum would also be nice for our new $100 coin. The way things have been going, the $100 coin in 2014 has the buying power of a $1 bill from 1914.

The new platinum design has my vote to replace whatever is up next, whether it be a redesign of the nickel, dime, or half.

By: Munzen

Munzen — Wed, 30 Jul 2014 00:54:48 +0000

Yes, definitely join the rest of the civilized world and get rid of the $1 bill! I’m conflicted about the $2 denomination though. It’s an absolute must-have to fill the gap between $1 coins and $5 bills. OK, most other countries use $2 coins but if we have to use a (hopefully redesigned) $2 bill just so the nay-sayers can have their “foldin’ money”, so be it.

I have to differ about the half-dollar. The denomination circulated regularly until the Kennedy half vanished into drawers as a keepsake and melting pots because the Mint insisted on retaining silver-clad composition for 6 extra years. Maybe it could be downsized and/or made multi-sided – why use 2 quarters when one half could do?

And speaking of quarters, so long as we have that denomination instead of 20¢ pieces, it’ll be difficult to eliminate the nickel without causing a lot of problems with rounding an change-making. Unfortunately the quarter is too fundamental to the way people make change for it to be replaced. Plus you never know, someone may want change for a Spanish milled dollar.

By: Ilovesilver

Ilovesilver — Tue, 29 Jul 2014 23:11:47 +0000

we ( Los Angeles) still need all type of coins,
I saw a lot of Seniors , helpless ppls pick up some coins from the street to buy Low-end foods
May be we should make $5 , $10 and $25 coins etc . helping reduce use of Globe resource – Paper money only last 2-5years, but the coins can last forever,

By: Richard

Richard — Tue, 29 Jul 2014 22:08:34 +0000

Nickels, dimes and quarters are still useful, but we sure could say good-bye to the half. (This would be a good year to end it, with the anniversary coinage.) the cent of course is becoming useless, and it is time to retire the dollar bill. Unfortunately political and industry pressure will probably keep the same designs/denominations for now.

By: Boz

Boz — Tue, 29 Jul 2014 20:46:28 +0000

Don’t need circulating pennies or dimes anymore. Just reverse proof and dome shaped ones for flippers on ebay. For those who still use cash registers, take away the slots and convert them for dollar coins and two dollarbills.

The quarter is worth what a penny used to be. So keep it for gumball machines.

The nickle might be worth some discussion. But we could probably get by without it as well. Round up or down to the nearest 1/4 dollar.