Comments on: US Mint Coin Production in January Hits 1.5 Billion

By: Akinleye Adebayo Felix

Akinleye Adebayo Felix — Mon, 21 Jan 2019 23:55:23 +0000

In reply to Seth Riesling. Minting coins and having sufficient in circulation actually help in putting inflation under check. I think it's good for the stability of the economy of your country.

By: RonnieBGood

RonnieBGood — Sun, 14 Feb 2016 03:26:31 +0000

How many of us have a large bag, box or jar of coins at home? Now multiply that by all US households. Part of the problem with coins are that banks make it very difficult to deposit anything more than a hand full coins. At most banks & credit union’s a coin counter must be used and a 10% fee is charged /deducted from the deposit for counting the coins! Wouldn’t it reduce the need for large new mintages a bit by allowing larger coin change deposits for free once a month on a slower day/time?

By: Munzen

Munzen — Sat, 13 Feb 2016 17:03:02 +0000

Seth, you are absolutely correct! Behind my use of “somehow” was the knowledge that Congress would have to cede its power, either through legislation or a Constitutional amendment. IMO the Founders would be ashamed of the way something as lowly as the cent has become so politicized.

It’s conceivable that the Construction explicitly kept coinage authority out of the executive branch in reaction to the way some monarchs had fiddled their nations’ money. “Old Coppernose” comes to mind, for instance. (Of course, we now have zinc underneath copper….)

And finally we’re not only stuck with the “penny”, we can’t do anything about the nickel (à la New Zealand) either because eliminating it would monkey-wrench making change for the quarter. I guess so long as we have “pennies” we might as well stay compatible with Spanish milled dollars, too. Sigh.

By: Seth Riesling

Seth Riesling — Sat, 13 Feb 2016 06:12:32 +0000

Munzen –

You have summed up my feelings on this crazy & costly circulating coin situation very concisely (for cents & 5-cent coins). But, as I am sure you are well aware of the fact that our USA Constitution gives only Congress full & total power over all coinage matters. What were the Founding Fathers thinking on that provision!? They would be shocked at the fact that we are losing money on every cent & 5-cent coin struck for many years now & cents especially seem to just disappear into the ether after they get into circulation (actually they don’t circulate & that is one major problem). The only solution is to get rid of the cent forever, but as you state basically Congress is beholden to Jarden Zinc Company & others for campaign donations, so I don’t see a bright future for this important matter. Maybe they could put Lincoln on a 2-cent or 3-cent cheaper multi-ply nickel-plated steel composition coin but they would probably screw up even that option. Just please get rid of the damn cent coin U.S. Congress!
Amen.

-NumisDudeTX

By: Munzen

Munzen — Sat, 13 Feb 2016 04:16:41 +0000

Somehow Congress has to be taken out of the decision loop. Any reasonable ideas for modernizing our currency fall victim to lobbying from the zinc industry and Crane Paper, abetted by state delegations that view anything affecting their native son on a coin or bill as an assault on The Republic itself.

By: Stewart

Stewart — Sat, 13 Feb 2016 04:11:20 +0000

$14810400 (1.8 cents to produce each) to produce $8228000 spending value of worthless circulation (not S mint), perhaps the Mint Set S/P items, but its just the January production. Don’t produce a single circulation penny for the rest of our lives and the US will not skip a beat.

By: Stewart

Stewart — Sat, 13 Feb 2016 04:02:44 +0000

OM F*^&% God
822.8 million pennies in one month. This madness has to stop. I vow to throw each and every single penny I touch this year into the lake. Useless.

By: Seth Riesling

Seth Riesling — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 16:08:29 +0000

Mike Unser –

Thanks for the compilation of data on coins issued by the U.S. Mint for circulation as ordered by the 12 Federal Reserve District banks. Your numerous stats and great analysis are always much appreciated for sure (mathematics was not my strong area of study at the University of Texas unfortunately.) The photo you used (either your own or a stock photo) shows 2 coin denominations no longer made for circulation (4 of the 8 coins in the photo) and doesn’t include a Jefferson 5-cent coin. Since this article is mostly about production figures for coins issued for circulation versus coins issued by the Mint’s numismatic program no longer issued for circulation (Presidential $1 coins, Native American $1coins & Kennedy half dollars) maybe a updated photo for these types of coins in your coin blog articles is warranted. I realize this may be a minor matter, but I bet you have some totally new collectors who find your interesting coin blog website & might not realize or understand the reasons that some of our coins are no longer made for circulation but are available for purchase in circulating quality from the Mint’s online website.
Thanks again for the time you put in on these important coin stats Mr. Unser!

-NumisDudeTX