Posted 8/15/2007 05:52:00 PM by Douglas

Why are we stuck with the penny? Who knew that the big Zinc industry was responsible for not rounding up to the next nickel.

The U.S. penny is not what it appears to be, and some in Congress would like to see it change further, if not disappear entirely.

Finally! Who is dragging their feet on this one?

Because of a surge in the price of copper, the U.S. Mint decided 25 years ago to manufacture the coins almost entirely with zinc, save for the coating on which Abraham Lincoln's profile is engraved.

Now, the fate of the penny is up in the air once again. With the price of zinc soaring amid a worldwide commodities boom, it costs the government almost 2 cents to make each 1-cent coin — a pretty penny considering roughly 8 billion new ones are placed into circulation annually.

While it is unlikely the penny will be pulled from circulation, there are some lawmakers who would like to ditch zinc as a raw material and instead use steel or some other less expensive metal.

Well why not. Our most worthless coin should represent our most worthless metal, shouldn't it? Problem is, the way the FED is devaluing our currency, no metal is going to be worthless enough to represent just 1¢, so what other choice do we have?

The nation's sole supplier of zinc "penny blanks," Jarden Zinc Products, is lobbying the federal government to protect its interests.

The subsidiary of Rye, N.Y.-based Jarden Corp., paid Baker & Daniels LLP $180,000 in 2006 to fight legislation that would have allowed retailers to round off cash transactions to the nearest nickel, effectively creating a penniless society. Fortunately for Jarden, the House legislation did not gain traction, and its author, Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., has since retired.

So now that the penny isn't represented, I don't have to pay $2.99 for shit anymore? I can pay $2.95 or $3.00? Good lord, this costs $100 Million a year. Enough already.

Labels: seigniorage

Posted 1/20/2007 04:08:00 PM by Douglas

Here we go again. Spiraling ever closer to their own obsolescence, the U.S. Mint's third try at a dollar coin.

The Houston children will be among the first Americans to view the coin, which is set to begin circulating Feb. 15. The coin, featuring the likeness of Washington on one side and the Statue of Liberty on the back, also will be unveiled in Chicago.

In approving the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005, Congress lauded the program as an educational aid for the American public, many of whom, leaders contended, are unfamiliar with presidential history. The program is modeled loosely after the series of 25-cent pieces that featured the nation's states.

And we all know how much we learned from that! We learned that Wisconsin has cows, Texas is obsessed with the shape of their state, and both Kansas and North Dakota like buffaloes. We also learned that the Mint made about $5 Billion in seigniorage from the state quarter program. So let's try it with dollars! Hey, whatever works. We need the dollar coin, so maybe third time's a charm.

I'm personally looking forward to the day I can tip a stripper a dollar emblazoned with the likeness of Bill Clinton.

Labels: seigniorage

Posted 11/20/2006 05:10:00 PM by Douglas

Finally, just what America needs. Yet another dollar coin no one is going to use.

Can George Washington and Thomas Jefferson succeed where Susan B. Anthony and Sacajawea failed? The U.S. Mint is hoping America's presidents will win acceptance, finally, for the maligned dollar coin.

The public will get the chance to decide starting in February when the first of the new coins, bearing the image of the first president, is introduced.

Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison are scheduled to grace the coin in 2007, with a different president appearing every three months.

Wow! I mean, who cares? I'm getting repetitive: Get rid of the penny, bring back the $2 bill, and make a $1 coin someone might want.

Labels: seigniorage

Posted 4/28/2005 05:41:00 PM by Douglas

Now that the Mint knows that stupid people hoard coins, they're set to make another stab at the dollar coin.

On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed a bill to create a new $1 coin, which would accompany the current Sacagawea piece. The measure enjoyed enormous bipartisan support, passing by a vote of 422 to 6.

Assuming a companion bill makes it through the Senate, the nation would be on its way to taking another stab at a dollar coin.

Supporters realize that the dollar coin is the Rodney Dangerfield of American money. So they make clear that any new coin would augment -- not replace -- paper currency.

In fact, although the coins would enter into general circulation, their biggest selling point is that people might hoard them.

Honestly, I don't know why the dollar coin isn't more successful. It can't all be the obscure, PC figures they chose to grace their obverse, but yet both of the last attempts have been miserable failures. But now, the Mint has tipped their hand to show why there's a much bigger incentive to produce money that people are going to willingly take out of circulation.

After the 50 State series launched in the late 1990s, the government discovered that an astonishing number of people were collecting each new quarter as it rolled out of the U.S. Mint, taking the pieces out of circulation.

It costs the Mint less than five cents for each 25-cent piece it produces. So in a process called seigniorage, the government makes money whenever someone "buys" a coin then chooses not to spend it.

The Treasury estimates that it has earned about $5 billion in seigniorage profits from the quarters so far.

$5 billion, for convincing people to take absolutely worthless metal and put it in a shoebox. That's pure genius!

Labels: seigniorage

Posted 4/29/2004 09:16:00 PM by Douglas

Here's a thought: instead of creating a brass coin with a woman on its obverse to placate the feminists, how 'bout making a coin that people might actually want to use?

Putting the faces of U.S. presidents on dollar coins would entice collectors and breathe interest into the dollar coin, the chief of the U.S. Mint said Wednesday.

But Mint Director Henrietta Holsman Fore said there still would be challenges in getting the coins into cash registers and people's pockets.

Her comments came during a House hearing that, among other things, explored a legislative proposal aimed at boosting the little-used Sacagawea dollar coin, also called the Golden Dollar because of its color.

And why the hell do they call it gold? It looks just like a penny after it's been in your pocket for 10 seconds.

Here's a three step plan for the mint:

• Get rid of the penny
• Bring back the $2 bill
• Get a $1 coin people will actually use.

Labels: seigniorage

Posted 6/12/2003 09:15:00 PM by Douglas

So the Mint is looking at the $2 bill again. Ok, here's a plan that makes sense: Get rid of the penny, get a dollar coin that people want to use, and push the $2 bill. And for God's sake, stop the insanity with the quarters that are only being made so people will hoard them. The purpose of the United States Mint shouldn't be to make money that people won't spend (thus creating money that people won't spend)

Labels: seigniorage