Comments on: US Mint to Stop Making 90% Silver Coins

By: jim

jim — Thu, 24 Dec 2015 05:59:16 +0000

They’re more interested in selling coins to collectors than the US MInt is. But then again they probably aren’t selling millions of 1 oz silver coins like the US Mint is either.

By: Goose

Goose — Thu, 24 Dec 2015 00:29:17 +0000

I’ve only been ‘collecting’ (Hoarding) for over 60+ yrs. My main gripe is not silver versus copper/nickel coins or the excessive premium charged by the mint for their massive amounts of ‘Special’ coins, but that of coin designs. It seems that there are a multitude of “committees” that have to decide on design before the coin goes into production. True, the U S took a “Top Choice” for a coin for 2014 (Baseball), but Canada and Australia’s coin designer have always put the U S designers to shame and will continue to do so.

By: Munzen

Munzen — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 20:52:56 +0000

Seth, Vachon, Jim: Your insights are very much appreciated. Maybe it’s a case of misery loving company, but I’m glad to see I’m not just a lone voice bemoaning our political dysfunction. If paralysis runs so deep that something as simple as coin and bill designs get knotted* up for decades, it’s no wonder big-ticket issues like infrastructure and energy can’t be addressed.

(*) I was going to use a different verb, but this is a family site!

By: jim

jim — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 19:41:16 +0000

I think your answer is politics, politics, politics.

By: Seth Riesling

Seth Riesling — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 05:13:41 +0000

Munzen –

Your comments concisely & correctly sum up the entire debate about U.S. circulating coins & Federal Reserve Notes. Crane & Co. of Dalton, Massachusetts (a company town) has had a 100% monopoly on the 75% cotton/25% linen “paper” used to print all FRNs for longer than anyone can remember! As you have stated, our Congress is scared to death of changing anything in regards to our FRNs. Just look how long it took just to redesign all notes except the $1 & $2 notes used since Series 1928 ! And North Korea is counterfeiting those small denominations daily according to the Heritage Foundation & Obama’s own past National Security Advisor. I too lived overseas for 3 years in Japan & 3 years in Germany & noticed they had no problems with high denomination coins in circulation & very low rates of paper money counterfeiting. If the rest of the “civilized industrial nations” can get it right, then why can’t the most powerful & wealthiest country in world history do so!?
Thanks for sharing your comments Munzen.
Best Wishes.

-NumisDudeTX

By: Vachon

Vachon — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 17:43:56 +0000

You can get rid of the nickels if you get rid of the dimes too. The US economy will not come to end if all business is transacted in quarter dollar increments. $20 bills are the “dollar” of our present-day economy so replace the $1, $2, $5, and $10 bills with coins. Keeps the cash registers (for coins anyway) with the same five coin set-up. Would also make coins spendable again and worth the effort of picking up. Maybe add back the $500 and $1000 bills to fill up the bill slots though I loathe the idea of a customer coming in to pay with one of those for a $12 order.

Of course we could always try the radical idea of (slowly) shrinking our money supply in order to restore the value of the coins and bills we already have, but as you’ve said…flying pigs 🙂

By: Munzen

Munzen — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 15:20:34 +0000

Chuck, Seth: I couldn’t agree more! I’ve been to the UK, Australia, Canada, and the EU where higher-denomination coins replaced bills years ago. At current rates a £2 coin is worth about US$3.25 and a €2 coin is $2.20. Despite what the naysayers in this country claim, those countries’ civilizations didn’t collapse when they switched.

The problem here is that Congress has to (or wants to) have veto power over nearly every aspect of our coins and paper money. That puts the Mint and BEP at the mercy of not just any and every group that shouts about “tradition” or “America is different”, but powerful lobbyists from the zinc industry and Crane Paper. For all the bleating about cutting government waste it’s a sad reality that Congress is far more willing to listen to pressure groups rather than taking any rational actions. At this rate I’m afraid that 50 years from now our grandchildren will be using the same outdated pennies and paper bills.

FWIW, while it might be desirable to eliminate the nickel at some future point that’s unlikely so long as we have quarters, which are an odd multiple of 5. Short of top-to-bottom coinage reform that would give us a true decimal system based on multiples of 10 (see: Flying Pigs) we’re stuck with the nickel. After all, our coins still have to remain compatible with Spanish milled dollars, right?

By: Seth Riesling

Seth Riesling — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 06:20:09 +0000

Chuck –

The last part of your comments is a fantastic idea! (Get rid of the Lincoln cent & $1 Federal Reserve Note & replace with a new $2 or $5 coin with Lincoln’s portrait) I lived in Germany for 3 years in the late 1970s & they had a 5-Mark coin with a face value of about $2.50 U.S. dollars. It was a good thing as coins last about 30 years or more in circulation while the current $1 note only lasts a little over a year in circulation! It simply is insane for the Mint to continue to lose money on every cent (& 5-Cent coin too) it strikes because Congress will not change a broken system.

-NumisDudeTX

By: Chuck

Chuck — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 05:26:19 +0000

GREAT!!!
This will be a wonderful cut off to stop collecting modern silver coins. I have collected many coins from the history of America, starting with an 1807 half dollar up until the coins of 2015. I do not see any problem with modern silver coins other than they are low relief crap. I will just have to concentrate on older coins from the 19th and 20th centuries.
What is up with so many coins having $1 and $5 instead of spelling out ONE DOLLAR AND FIVE DOLLARS? I suppose that is for the folks that can not read English. I think it looks simple. Only the new commemorative HALF DOLLAR has the denomination spelled out. The half dollars of 1836 &1837 had 50 CENTS as their denomination. Might as well put that on the new half dollars as well or are they afraid that someone will think its worth 50 dollars?
Are you ready for this? Get rid of the penny and put Lincoln on a TWO DOLLAR or FIVE DOLLAR coin!!!

By: jim

jim — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 03:30:33 +0000

So they needed the alloy back in the day to make the coins last longer. Now that silver only goes into numismatic coins that need goes away. The firsts will be important for collectors and then interest in their uniqueness will wane.

Was there anything in the legislation about eliminating the penny??? Or the $1 bill???