Pretty much official: cents/nicks on death's door! (maybe)

[wagsthadog]

Hi all-

Normally I'm not really a news or media sensationalist, but this coinflation article pretty much sells it for me-

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/2 ... =138890509

Up till now there has been a lot of TALK from lowly congressmen about changing coin compositions, etc, but if GEITHNER himself was talking about it, and if, according to the article they are indeed ALREADY testing different metals for our coins, that's pretty much a done deal. I know they were doing this in the mid 1970's but what saved the copper penny for another few years was that copper prices dropped....eh, I dont see that now with zinc, etc...

I don't think they are going to do away with the cent/nickel...yet, but the mint makes money for any material that costs less than a cent (re: seigniorage) so you know they're probably gonna flood into circulation...picture another 5 billion "new" cents every year on our copper totals....

If they can't find anything, it seems reasonable that they might drop the cent/nickel....

Gentlemen...IT'S ON!

wags

[inflationhawk]

I really doubt there is any metal coin that could be used as a penny that would not cost more to make and distribute than what it is intrinsically worth. The penny is doomed.

[JadeDragon]

Yup - Canada is trashing the penny and the US will follow, though the American system always seems to move slower in the coin area than in Canada.

[reddirtcoins]

Tying to find the offical report but,from what I saw it is Oct 2013...

Mint spokesman Mike White. ..."We have to deliver a report to Congress by the end of this year..".

something is out of wack...

[Morsecode]

The fat lady is warming up...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb7nwoQV ... ata_player

[crazypennyguy]

I really doubt there is any metal coin that could be used as a penny that would not cost more to make and distribute than what it is intrinsically worth. The penny is doomed.

Yep, inflation's bell has finally tolled the knell. When you think of it this way, it's a little surprising that the lowly penny has stuck around for so long. Lucky us...

Myself, I think the Canadian government should go for the two-fer and eliminate the nickel. Doing so would finallly square size with face value.

[jacer333]

The fat lady is warming up...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb7nwoQV ... ata_player

yikes, that does spell doom

[rickygee]

Time to keep all the shiny zincs? Probably not a lot of $ to gain, but still, like they say: "They don't make 'em like that anymore".

[penny pretty]

jeez the zincs %50 or so rate on coinflation is so far ahead of dimes and above, ya almost have to wonder...FLASH FORWARD realcent 20 years from now.. we are all talking about finding a zinc penny on the ground. no more metal currency, just a bar code stamped on a body part.

[Klark Cent]

yeah. the zincolns melt value actually got over 100% for a while back in about 2007 IIRC. i keep all zincs, but i am small time, so it's not tying up much cash.

[JobIII]

I wouldn't be too worried about the US switching anything before the presidential elections has been settled. There are so many people lobbying to preserve the status quo, any change to the current metal format is going to move really slowly.

Personally I'd be more concerned with the super sorters and private companies culling copper. These are real problems happening now, not potential issues that may come up some time in the not so distant future.

[adagirl]

I wouldn't be too worried about the US switching anything before the presidential elections has been settled. There are so many people lobbying to preserve the status quo, any change to the current metal format is going to move really slowly.

Personally I'd be more concerned with the super sorters and private companies culling copper. These are real problems happening now, not potential issues that may come up some time in the not so distant future.

I agree. If the current occupant of the White House is reelected, then the status of the penny is questionable at best.

[JobIII]

Questionable but that means there's a lot of time to sort. Even if you had 1 year left to sort. You could always just buy 3-4 times the amount you wanted to have.