OBAMA: Let's Save Money By Making Coins With Cheaper Metals

BI ^ | 02/13/2012 | Joe Weisanthal

[GlockThe Vote]

The Budget proposes to provide the Mint with greater flexibility in the material composition of coins to reduce its losses on some coins and the production costs associated with volatile metal prices. Additionally, the Budget increases the Mint's flexibility to match customer demand and supply by eliminating the provision requiring the Mint to produce Native American dollar coins in an amount equal to 20 percent of all dollar coins produced. Justification

The Mint's primary cost driver is the price of metal, a factor over which it has no control. Daily spot prices of copper and zinc, the Mint's two main metallic materials, have fluctuated in excess of 400 percent, and the price of nickel by 500 percent over the past 10 years.1 This contributes to volatile and negative margins on both the penny and nickel: recently, the penny has cost approximately 2.4 cents, and the nickel approximately 11.2 cents to produce.2

[Atlas Sneezed]

Sorry, On rereading I see I should have pointed out the absurdity of thinking that the Mint would pay more than face value for any circulating coin.

[Charles Martel]

“Don’t Take Any Obama Nickles”

[HP8753]

Based on Daily Spot Price of Metals

Current Melt Value of US Coins

[redgolum]

Except that we stopped having “real” money decades ago. Most of the money in “circulation” doesn’t exist. It is electrons.

[GlockThe Vote]

http://mises.org/daily/3663

Check this out. We are doing the same thing the Romans did.

[Lurker]

Well said.

[FLAMING DEATH]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/OVER-10-POUNDS-PENNIES-1959-1982-15-FV-COPPER-BULLION-/220949051551?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item337196f89f#ht_500wt_951

http://www.ebay.com/itm/OVER-10-POUNDS-PENNIES-1959-1982-15-FV-COPPER-BULLION-/220949051551?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item337196f89f#ht_500wt_951

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5000-Copper-Lincoln-pennies-1959-1981-Bullion-/320846312367?pt=Coins_US_Individual&hash=item4ab3ee33af#ht_500wt_951

[aruanan]

OBAMA: Let's Save Money By Making Coins With Cheaper Metals

We're not saving money by having a president with a cheap character.

[cherry]

oh geez....that’s terrible....sounds like something I would do.....

[AmusedBystander]

There’s a sucker born every minute.

[dalereed]

Grounding Airforce 1 would be a great start at saving money!

[GlockThe Vote]

Thugbama is not interested in saving money.

[Stentor]

They said that if you hoarded the silver coins you would not make a profit.

My first job was in a farm packing house in 1963 making a dollar an hour for 6 12 hour days. If I converted that currency in the brown envelope to dimes, quarters and halves and kept it, it would be worth $1745.28 in Bernank toilet paper as of tonight. That's according to Coinflation based on a silver melt value of $33.51.

[blam]

Why You Need to Own Nickels, Right Now

Why You Need To Own America's Last Honest Currency, Now

[blam]

Why You Need to Own Nickels, Right Now

Why You Need To Own America's Last Honest Currency, Now

[American in Israel]

Lets make coins out of manure, and issue dollar bills in big rolls. Cause that is what our money is worth now that Obama has printed three times what was out there before.

PLEASE, Nobody tell Obama what comes after a Trillion!

[American in Israel]

Issue one New$ for 50 Old$ and start all over

This happens everytime some brain dead president prints money into oblivion so he can spend the value on himself.

[redgolum]

We are much worse. My point is that it doesn’t matter if the money is made of plastic, coins have little value as metal. The Romans left some gold in, while we haven’t had any silver for a long time.

In other words, you can’t debase the money much more than it is. Physical money isn’t “Worth” anything.