Nobody wants fake gold!!

[thaler]

Budget cuts thanks to the stalled economy have imperiled care for the mentally ill, left a new school building unstaffed, and perhaps most disastrously, limited efforts to keep nukes out of the hands of terrorists. And yet the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond is sitting on $1 billion in gold dollar coins it says the American public has little interest in using.

Two reporters from NPR's Planet Money visited the facility where the coins are kept, in Baltimore, Md., and offer up a report about the stash of funds that the American public doesn't care for, Meanwhile, even as the coins gather dust, American taxpayers are paying top dollar (as it were) to store the surplus--and even to increase it.


The surplus of dollar coins is due in part to 2005 legislation introduced by then-Delaware GOP Rep. Mike Castle. In an effort to get the American public to adopt the coinage, Castle's bill mandated that the U.S. Mint produce coins commemorating every U.S. president (we're currently up to number 18, Ulysses S. Grant). In order to win broader support for the measure, Castle also agreed that 20 percent of the coins minted under the new bill would still feature the coin's previous figurehead, famed Native American figure Sacagawea.

And while casting money isn't the same as having it around to fund programs, switching Americans over to dollar coins has been sold as a money saving strategy--coins have a longer shelf life than bills, and according to a 2011 GAO report, converting to coins would save the government $5.5 billion over the next 30 years. However, that profit margin is largely made up of the difference between how much the coins cost to manufacture and the price at which they are then sold to the public, NPR notes--and the Federal Reserve has largely dismissed the case for dollar coins as a net gain for the government, noting that these kind of savings are not likely to translate into benefits to the larger economy.

Despite Castle's good intentions, the effort to get Americans to embrace dollar coins seems to be a failure. As NPR reports, the Federal Reserve's own report to Congress last year noted that three-fourths of all Americans are still resistant to the idea of a dollar coin. "The argument is about 50 years too late," anthropologist Jack Weatherford told NPR. "Coins have rapidly become less and less important in our society—like paper money itself is becoming less and less important."

(Matt Rourke/AP)

[thaler]

These are 77% copper, 12% zinc, +a little manganese, and a little nickle(4%)..yet the fed try to push these across to the public as "gold coins". I guess they are better than fiat paper though.

[Sheikh_yer_Bu'Tay]

I like using the newer "gold" coins.

[avidbrandy]

I think if you get them in bulk they even give you free shipping. They won't charge you a penny more than the face value of the coin.

[Morsecode]

The pro-coin dopes left out one teeny part from their plan. Now, what was that again..? Um, oh yeah - You have to eliminate the dollar bill first

But, in their defense, they've had only 32 years to study the issue. A few hundred million more paid to consultants should do it. Or ten cents for a phone call to Canada.

[Rodebaugh]

The pro-coin dopes left out one teeny part from their plan. Now, what was that again..? Um, oh yeah - You have to eliminate the dollar bill first

But, in their defense, they've had only 32 years to study the issue. A few hundred million more paid to consultants should do it. Or ten cents for a phone call to Canada.

Spot on 100%. 5-10 years most of all the paper ones could be removed from circ with a fed remitance program.

[WizardTN]

NOW. NOW GANG.... you should all do your part, under the mints program, you get a $250 brick shipped free to your house. Start using them for tips and lattes. If you have a card that gives you cash back on all purchases, you can even use that to buy them. Make some money on the deal.

----
Total melt value is $0.07.

(exact value is $0.07333287682583)
Statistics:
» There are 0.0158 pounds of copper, 0.0004 pounds of nickel, 0.0011 pounds of zinc, and 0.000000283 tonnes of manganese in $1 face value of Presidential dollar(s).

[cesariojpn]

I like a couple of responses in the NPR comment chain: Use the coins to pay welfare recipients.

[Morsecode]

Y'know, I was doing that for a while...buying the Presidential rolls and spending them around town. I put $100 a week into circulation most of last Summer. I never got one back in change, and I don't know anyone who did. I asked a teller friend if she was routinely paying them out one or two at a time to customers cashing checks and she said they were told not to do that. They just bag them up over time and ship 'em back into limbo.

What we really need, in my opinion, is a $2 coin. With either Ronald Reagan or Teddy Roosevelt on it. But, that's just one more thing that'll never happen.

[Robarons]

In addition to the various lobbies that keep whatever they want in use (Copper,Nickel,Zinc,Cotton,Coin-Op,etc.) doesnt the fact that using coins STEALS the seinorage that the FED would have gotten for the $1 Bill and give it to the Mint for the $1 coin?

I am sure the Fed does pretty well printing $1, $2, and $5 bills on cotton and giving this power to the mint would steal food from Uncle Ben's mouth.

[Mossy]

I spend them when I get them. I think the problem is with the stores; not enough holes in the change drawer insert.

[PennyPauper]

I think a $5 coin would be nice.Then people could actually buy something with a coin again.
Only time I've encountered a dollar coin recently was change from a toll booth.

[Mossy]

I think a $5 coin would be nice.Then people could actually buy something with a coin again.
Only time I've encountered a dollar coin recently was change from a toll booth.

Me too. Never change from a store.

[Robarons]

I think Stamp Machines used to give back Gold and Susan B. dollars in change.

When people got these they went straight back to the bank to get $1 Bills

[jasmatk]

they are just cheap poorly made coins.they should of put a little effort into the quality and design and maybe people would have a intrest in them