More news concerning Penny and Nickel composition change

[NHsorter]

http://www.coinworld.com/articles/mint- ... h-alterna/

I'm curious to know if anyone here has a solid idea of what they will change the composition on pennies and nickels to while still keeping the dimensions and weight the same. Seems to me like this could happen pretty fast since it has been a topic that is in the news more often lately. Does anyone know how long it took for them to make changes in the past after the enacted a study like this?

[John_doe]

Copper coated steel would be my bet on the penny. Kind of like the Canadian cent.

[John_doe]

All Zinc nickel?

[NHsorter]

I can definitely see zinc being incorporated into nickels, but could they get away with making pennies magnetic? How much of a problem would that be for all of the machinery out there that process coins?

[PolishPunisher]

This article further highlighted the reasons for the U.S. to simply cease production of the penny. Currently the zinc in a penny is worth about $.006, but it cost $.0152 to make! The labor and overhead costs $.009 per penny! A composition change may not make the cost go below $.01.

[cesariojpn]

Make the pennies outta lead.

[VWBEAMER]

This article further highlighted the reasons for the U.S. to simply cease production of the penny. Currently the zinc in a penny is worth about $.006, but it cost $.0152 to make! The labor and overhead costs $.009 per penny! A composition change may not make the cost go below $.01.

I was thinking this also. I agree, it's likely they can not make a penny for less than a cent.

is the end near?

[hobo finds]

to make one for less than a cent it would need to be made of cardboard or plastic... Or made in China

[VWBEAMER]

to make one for less than a cent it would need to be made of cardboard or plastic... Or made in China

Sad, but true.....

[BamaJoe]

to make one for less than a cent it would need to be made of cardboard or plastic... Or made in China

Sad, but true.....

Great - one MORE way for china to dispose of it's toxic waste.

[Know Common Cents]

Make the cents out of Kevlar. That way we can string them together and make a bullet proof vest. I just have a feeling we're going to need 'em.

[shinnosuke]

to make one for less than a cent it would need to be made of cardboard or plastic... Or made in China

Yeah, but the US Mint will only be able to buy them from China on ebay.

[cesariojpn]

to make one for less than a cent it would need to be made of cardboard or plastic... Or made in China

Sad, but true.....

Great - one MORE way for china to dispose of it's toxic waste.

CHINA QUALITY!!

[John_doe]

Make the pennies outta lead.

seems logical.



Don't show this to congress. I can see it now "it's so crazy it just might work, look at qe and qe2!"

[TwoAndAHalfCents]

I could see the penny being eliminated and the nickel switched to zinc. Maybe the current supplier of zinc blanks to the U.S. Mint is already working that angle - give up the contract for producing zinc penny blanks in return for a new contract to produce zinc nickel blanks. Pure speculation on my part of course.

They claim that zinc is the most effective coinage material.

http://www.jardenzinc.com/

[dpwozney]

http://www.coinworld.com/articles/mint-awards-firm-contract-to-research-alterna/

I'm curious to know if anyone here has a solid idea of what they will change the composition on pennies and nickels to while still keeping the dimensions and weight the same. Seems to me like this could happen pretty fast since it has been a topic that is in the news more often lately. Does anyone know how long it took for them to make changes in the past after the enacted a study like this?

This article seems to suggest that changes might not be made before 2013:

... It will be in 2013 that Peterson will have to go back to Congress with his evaluation of the present state of American circulating coinage and what his recommendations are to fix the problems.

And there are problems.

These include a copper-coated zinc cent that costs more to produce than is recovered when the Mint is paid 1 cent by the Federal Reserve.

The 75 percent copper, 25 percent nickel coin not only costs more to produce than can be covered by its 5-cent face value, but its metallic value at 5.9 cents creates a risk of mass melting that is only countered by a Treasury regulation that makes it illegal to melt or export this denomination as well as cents. ...

Personally, I think cupronickel alloy serves fairly well as, and is a good choice for, a monetary standard.

[collector1924]

Many have theorized about an event that will enable the copper penny to attain it's true market value.
Some say it will occur when the temporary melt ban is lifted.
My 2 cents no pun intended is that when zinc increases such that the newer pennies are worth over 1 cent then a new
steel penny will be introduced and when that happens the copper pennies will be worth at least 5 cents.
With the way they are printing paper money around the world I think that will occur by 2015 at the latest.
Until then I will continue to accumulate the copper pennies..