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Thread: U.S. Mint Considers Steel Coins

  1. #1

    U.S. Mint Considers Steel Coins

    The US Mint is considering the next step in debasing its coins from gold, to silver, to copper/nickel to steel to save money.

    The U.S. Mint releases its cost cutting report to congress:
    https://smaulgld.com/u-s-mint-examin...ebase-coinage/



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  3. #2
    Chester Copperpot
    Member

    Quote Originally Posted by Smaulgld View Post
    The US Mint is considering the next step in debasing its coins from gold, to silver, to copper/nickel to steel to save money.

    The U.S. Mint releases its cost cutting report to congress:
    https://smaulgld.com/u-s-mint-examin...ebase-coinage/
    im going to stop being receptive to your links because of their sensationalism.. your post on your site quotes this as being from 2010... its pretty old news. I understand you want to drive traffic to your site but it gets old real fast when keep sounding the alarm and theres no emergency

  4. #3
    Which country will be retained to smelt the steel since the EPA has effectively shut down processing in the US?

  5. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Mitrosky View Post
    im going to stop being receptive to your links because of their sensationalism.. your post on your site quotes this as being from 2010... its pretty old news. I understand you want to drive traffic to your site but it gets old real fast when keep sounding the alarm and theres no emergency
    It's neither old news nor sensationalism.
    The report was issued last week by the US mint in response to the 2010 ACT. Shows how slow government works
    Indeed the December 2014 US Mint report (linked in the OP) punted to do more research in 2015!

  6. #5
    This was done once , for one year during WW 2 , 1943 pennies are made of steel .1944 -1946 pennies are made of recycled shell casings from the war .

  7. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by oyarde View Post
    This was done once , for one year during WW 2 , 1943 pennies are made of steel .1944 -1946 pennies are made of recycled shell casings from the war .
    Yep covered that and even showed a photo of one. Nickels had no nickel in them from 1942-45- they were made of copper and silver
    Last edited by Smaulgld; 12-20-2014 at 11:28 AM.

  8. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Smaulgld View Post
    Yep covered that and even showed a photo of one. Nickels had no nickel in them from 1942-45- they were made of copper and silver
    40 % silver . Five cent pc.'s were once all made of silver .The US stopped in 1873 , but the Canadians , up to about 1920 .Mexico , probably to 1904.

  9. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by oyarde View Post
    40 % silver . Five cent pc.'s were once all made of silver .The US stopped in 1873 , but the Canadians , up to about 1920 .Mexico , probably to 1904.
    Liberty seated half dimes!



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  11. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Smaulgld View Post
    Liberty seated half dimes!
    Yes , they are super cool . Five cents would buy something then .I have a dozen or so of them , been collecting them for awhile .

  12. #10
    The US three cent pc.'s were silver and switched to nickel as well .

  13. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by oyarde View Post
    The US three cent pc.'s were silver and switched to nickel as well .
    My kid liked those "Trimes"

  14. #12
    Skipping aluminum and going right for steel. Inflation's a b!tch


    Gulag Chief:
    "Article 58-1a, twenty five years... What did you get it for?"
    Gulag Prisoner: "For nothing at all."
    Gulag Chief: "You're lying... The sentence for nothing at all is 10 years"



  15. #13
    Article from this week: http://www.coinnews.net/2014/12/15/u...-compositions/

    US Mint Not Recommending New Coin Compositions

    Don’t expect U.S. coin compositions to change any time soon, and never for the penny. There are "no alternative metal compositions that reduce the manufacturing unit cost of the penny below its face value," according to the United States Mint 2014 Biennial Report to Congress on the research and development (R&D) of alternative metals for circulating coins.

    However, there are alternatives for other denominations that could cut U.S. Mint coin production costs, with one tested alloy rising to the top of the list.

    "At this juncture, there are several possible options to alter the metallic compositions that would lower the costs of United States coins, but the Mint does not recommend adopting any of these options until ongoing research is completed on a promising alternative that has the potential to duplicate the weight and EMS [electro-magnetic signature] of existing coinage," the report stated.

    Released Dec. 12, the report is the second under the Coin Modernization, Oversight, and Continuity Act of 2010, Public Law 111-302. For the first report released in December 2012, the U.S. Mint had tested 29 different metal compositions. Since then, the Mint trimmed its focus down to six.

    Promising Alternative Composition, Modest Savings

    The promising alternative is a mixture of 80 percent copper and 20 percent nickel, a variant of the 75 percent copper and 25 percent nickel composition already used today for 5-cent coins. The Mint describes the 80/20 alloy as a "seamless" material that has "no appreciable impact on the coin-accepting industry." However, the report notes, the 80/20 alloy results in only modest savings of about 3% ($5.0 million annually using 2014 production volumes).

    Out of the other five metal compositions tested, only the steel-based coins demonstrated acceptable wear characteristics. They offered higher savings as well, in the range of 15-20% (about $57 million annually) compared to 2014 costs. However, steel-based coins significantly lower die life and could increase production and labor costs. Also, the savings are outweighed by too many other negatives. According to the report:

    "These steel-based alternatives require the coin stakeholder industry to make changes to recognize both new and existing coin characteristics because the two types of coins would co-circulate. Significantly, the EMS range for these steel-based compositions introduces the potential use of low-value steel coins from other countries in coin acceptance machines in lieu of higher value United States denominations, particularly the quarter."

    Since 2012, the U.S. Mint greatly increased its outreach to those who could be impacted by the use of alternative coin metals.

    "This year’s report also reflects the tremendous effort we made to reach out to our stakeholders-the many industries, associations and entities-that rely on circulating coins for their business operations," said Richard Peterson, Deputy Director of the Mint. "Obtaining their input was critical."

    According to the report, any change to the weight, shape, and electro-magnetic signature used to validate current circulating coins would require equipment changes that could potentially cost stakeholders between $2.5 billion and $6 billion.

    "Many stakeholders asked that we consider the significant cost to the industry compared with the projected government savings achieved by manufacturing circulating coins with an alternative metal composition."

    Stakeholders strongly recommended no change to the quarter.
    Last edited by Zippyjuan; 12-20-2014 at 05:17 PM.

  16. #14
    I really think that they should discontinue both the penny and the nickel.

    Ideally, we could go purely base ten on our currency... maybe a ten cent, thirty cent, and fifty cent piece, but I understand that would be very expensive for makers of vending machines, coin sorters, etc.
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    Pinochet is the model
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    Liberty preserving authoritarianism.
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    Enforced internal open borders was one of the worst elements of the Constitution.

  17. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Zippyjuan View Post
    Well that's a pleasant surprise. Too bad they didn't care about "stakeholders" the last 2 times they changed daylight savings time. What bout switching to the digital band? 40 bucks for a converter, and the promise of more choice. Now I get 4 nbc channels instead of 1, 8 public broadcasting channels instead of 3 (some in espaņol) heck of a choice... but I digress. I think the future of coinage is pretty much a planned obsolescence. Why would they string it along anyway?

    Gulag Chief:
    "Article 58-1a, twenty five years... What did you get it for?"
    Gulag Prisoner: "For nothing at all."
    Gulag Chief: "You're lying... The sentence for nothing at all is 10 years"



  18. #16
    Coins need to be of the same size and weight and also have the same electrical properties (it is how a machine determines if a coin is legit or not). Different metal compositions will have different properties so all vending machines would have to be updated/ replaced if a new coin did not have the same ones as current coinage.



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  20. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by brushfire View Post
    Well that's a pleasant surprise. Too bad they didn't care about "stakeholders" the last 2 times they changed daylight savings time. What bout switching to the digital band? 40 bucks for a converter, and the promise of more choice. Now I get 4 nbc channels instead of 1, 8 public broadcasting channels instead of 3 (some in espaņol) heck of a choice... but I digress. I think the future of coinage is pretty much a planned obsolescence. Why would they string it along anyway?
    Don't be silly, the stakeholders that they're considering are corporations, not citizens.
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    Pinochet is the model
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    Liberty preserving authoritarianism.
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    Enforced internal open borders was one of the worst elements of the Constitution.

  21. #18
    The only machines I can think of that put up with pennies at all these days are city bus meters and penny rollers. Hardly an overwhelming number of machines.
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    We believe our lying eyes...

  22. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by TheCount View Post
    Don't be silly, the stakeholders that they're considering are corporations, not citizens.
    DST changes cost corporations tons, and they did it twice.

    Still its very hard to argue with your comment overall.

    Gulag Chief:
    "Article 58-1a, twenty five years... What did you get it for?"
    Gulag Prisoner: "For nothing at all."
    Gulag Chief: "You're lying... The sentence for nothing at all is 10 years"



  23. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by acptulsa View Post
    The only machines I can think of that put up with pennies at all these days are city bus meters and penny rollers. Hardly an overwhelming number of machines.
    I could not think of anything .

  24. #21
    The mint is probably just foot dragging. Any money saved by debasing the coins any further can't be more than 3 secs of interest on the national debt

  25. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Mitrosky View Post
    im going to stop being receptive to your links because of their sensationalism.. your post on your site quotes this as being from 2010... its pretty old news. I understand you want to drive traffic to your site but it gets old real fast when keep sounding the alarm and theres no emergency
    David Stockman covers the same "old news" http://davidstockmanscontracorner.co...pennies-money/



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