Found a debased Starfish!

[henrysmedford]

So this has to be old news but we just found a debased Starfish had no idea that there were smaller ones until we found one in the coin counter. Makes you wonder why the US does not go the same way. Went from 19MM to 17MM. PS we have found about ten of the US size ones.

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From -- http://www.centralbankbahamas.com/bank_coins.php

One Cent Coin


A round coin measuring 17mm in diameter, 1.58mm in thickness with a smooth edge, bearing on the obverse the coat-of-arms of The Bahamas together with the words "Commonwealth of The Bahamas" which forms a crown around the coat-of-arms. Below the coat-of-arms is the date. On the reverse are images of a starfish together with the text "1 cent"

[SilverDragon72]

I believe that I have found one of those while roll searching pennies once....

[Sheikh_yer_Bu'Tay]

Dang! I love coin hunting! Congrats on the unusual find!

[Numis Pam]

Cool find!

[GGerrands]

Congrats on the odd sized find Henry! I haven't found a starfish cent in that size yet. I have found one tiny 17ish mm penny from the Cayman Islands. I think it must've gotten out of one of those secret bank accounts I read about!

[scyther]

Mm I like those starfish coins. I only have one, not sure what size it is.

[tuleja]

Makes you wonder why the US does not go the same way. Went from 19MM to 17MM. PS we have found about ten of the US size ones.

That would be to much of a headache for the little amount of zinc it would save. The US cent would still be more than 1 cent to make and all of your coin accepting equipment would have to be able to accept 2 sizes of cent coins. 17mm is smaller than a dime, I believe a dime is just under 18mm.

I haven't found a 17mm yet, but have 9 of the 19mm ones. 2001 seems to be a good year as I have 4 of those.

[Robarons]

Whats interesting is the Bahama Dollar is pegged to the US Dollar, so $1 USD =$1 Bahama

So the debasing didnt do very much- their penny still cost more than a penny to make!

[henrysmedford]

Whats interesting is the Bahama Dollar is pegged to the US Dollar, so $1 USD =$1 Bahama

So the debasing didnt do very much- their penny still cost more than a penny to make!

I think the true cost to make a cent is not known. It cost the RCM less to make a cent than the US mint by the way they do there accounting. If the US stops making the penny the cost to make other coins would go way up.
A fun read is found here -- http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/pdfs/united_states_mint_report_2012_biennial_report_to_the_congress_on_the_current_status_of_coin_production_costs_and_analysis_of_alternative_content_december_2012.pdf

I. Production Cost Analysis:
a. Production Costs for Each Circulating Coin. The Mint ships circulating coins to Federal Reserve Banks (FRBs) in quantities ordered by the FRBs. The bureau bears all costs to mint and issue circulating coins. In exchange, the Mint receives face value payment (receipts) from the FRBs. The Mint’s gross production costs are composed of “cost of goods sold” and “general and administrative” costs (G&A). The difference between the bureau’s receipts and circulating coin production cost is called “seigniorage.” The Mint maintains this accounting data and calculates financial results from circulating coinage operations, including the per-unit costs of minting and issuing U.S. coinage. Table 1 shows the number of coins delivered to the FRBs, the revenue received, the costs of production, and the G&A allocated for each denomination of
U.S. coinage for each of the last three years.

[henrysmedford]

We got one more of the small ones today.

[uthminsta]

Have they made any of these smaller ones for 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013?
What about the "normal-sized" ones for 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008?
I have found that it sometimes takes a few years for the Krause books to get up to speed on new new stuff. Case in point, my 2009 edition of 21st century coins doesn't have ANYTHING in the Bahamas section newer than the 2001 cent... and I HAVE a 2004, 2006, and 2009.

[uthminsta]

Did some eBay searching, and there are four lots which all have "sets" of the 1, 5, 10, 15, and 25-cent coins. They ALL have the EXACT same years:
cent: 2009.
5c: 2005.
10c: 2007.
15c: 2005.
25c: 2005.

[AdamsSamoa]

I used to get a lot of Starfish when I was stationed in FL...... Used to get a lot of canadians too.... (i guess from all the Snowbirds)

[SilverDragon72]

For a minute there, I thought you were going to talk about a Debased Sea Cucumber!

That is a cool looking find though. I believe that I've come across one of these before....

[Silver Runner]

Very cool find, I found 2 so far this year. The Bahamian coins have interesting designs.

[cecropia_moth]

I found one of the reduced sized Bahamas cents today in a coin counter dime bag. It was dated 2009.

Jeff