Comments on: US Coin Production in 2015 Tops 17 Billion, Highest Since 2001

By: billymac11

billymac11 — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 17:06:26 +0000

What about mintage numbers for the circulation-quality San Francisco quarters? That’d be nice to know for 2015 and for the otherwise comprehensive historic tally above.

By: Munzen

Munzen — Sun, 17 Jan 2016 02:06:38 +0000

When Britain “went decimal” they started with 10p and 50p coins but didn’t have an intermediate denomination. Half-pounds circulated widely but people were so fed up with using handfuls of 10p coins that the Royal Mint had to create a 20p coin to simplify change-making. I was in London on the day the new coins entered circulation and you could almost feel the relief among shopkeepers.

But yeah, any rationalization of our coinage system is probably a vain hope. Except for their designs, our current coins would be quite familiar to someone from 150 years ago. (Plus we’re still measuring in ounces and inches too, but that’s for a very different thread….)

By: Vachon

Vachon — Sat, 16 Jan 2016 22:22:22 +0000

They could cease production of the nickel, but it would also entail ceasing production on the quarter-dollar in favor of the half dollar which, for some reason, the public will not allow.

An alternative would be to eliminate the cent, nickel, AND dime to reflect inflation’s impact on the dollar but that’s also not going to happen.

Enjoy the status quo! 🙂

By: Munzen

Munzen — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 18:45:12 +0000

We’re stuck with nickels for another reason: the quarter is an odd multiple of 5, so change couldn’t effectively be made with only two denominations that are in a fractional ratio (2.5:1).

Countries that have successfully eliminated their 5c coins all have pure decimal systems using 20c pieces instead of 25c coins. Unfortunately we blew that opportunity back in the 1870s. Between the quarter having been the workhorse coin for over a century, and this country’s resistance to anything that affects cherished traditions [/sarc], I doubt it would be possible to replace a coin that still lets us make change for Spanish milled dollars.

Plus unsaid in this story is that banknote production is also at a decade-long high … with half of that being wasted on $1 bills. But like getting rid of the cent, switching to $2 bills or coins to augment the existing supply of $1 coins would make too much sense to be accepted by the don’t-ever-change-anything crowd 🙁

By: David

David — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 16:30:22 +0000

Thanks Mike for the nice review of coin production and costs. According to my math the mint lost $65M minting the cent and $48M minting the nickel. They made $185M on the dime and $480M on the quarter so they still ended up way ahead. I still can’t understand why we just don’t drop the cent entirely like Canada did. The nickel makes sense because of the retooling cost for vending machines, but no one would miss the cent.