Changing clothes

[Figleaf]

Did you hear the old joke: "We're making a loss on every item sold, but we have a great turnover?" It's not a joke for the US government. Some democrats are doing the right thing, but politics as usual means the measure should now be treated in a partisan way. As if politics matter in this simple case of producing a commodity the wrong way because the law forces you to.

Another question is why would the US government not have thought of this itself? I am confident that there are good people at the US mint who have come up with figures and sugeestions long ago. What stopped the idea?

Source: Government Executive

Peter

House lawmakers unveil bill to change coin composition
By Bill Swindell, CongressDaily, August 9, 2007

House Democrats have sponsored legislation to change the metal content of coins, outraged that it costs a dime to make a nickel.
House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Domestic and International Monetary Policy Subcommittee Chairman Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., are sponsors of the bill that would give authority to the Treasury Department to change the composition of coins issued by the U.S. Mint to less expensive materials.

The two estimate that by changing the composition of the penny and nickel, the federal government could save more than $100 million annually. Another $300 million could be saved if similar changes were made to the half-dollar, quarter and dime.
"The financial resources of the federal government are limited, and it is rare when we have the opportunity to make a simple legislative fix with the potential to save the taxpayers so much. We should take full advantage of this opportunity and pass this legislation in an expeditious manner," Gutierrez said.

The rise in the cost of metals has contributed greatly to coin costs. Since March 2003, the price of copper and nickel has increased 300 percent and the cost of zinc has grown by 450 percent. Pennies consist mostly of zinc with a copper-plated surface. Nickels are made of an alloy of 75 percent copper and 25 percent nickel.

Frank's staff said it costs the government 1.7 cents to make a penny and 10 cents to make a nickel.

The measure would require a public comment period before bidding to hear on alternative compositions of the coins. The bidding process on materials would be competitive and Gutierrez said his panel would have tough oversight of the process.

[bruce61813]

It may not be long before the penny goes away. thirty years ago I was in Singapore, and while their penny was still legal, it took me two days to find someone that had any! They had just quit using them , and the merchants just pounded the bills up or down to the nearest nickel. So here in the USA, I would not be surprised to see it happen.

Bruce

[BC Numismatics]

Bruce,here in New Zealand,we no longer have 5c. coins.If a price ends in an odd 5c.,the trader is supposed to round downwards,but more often than not,they round upwards.

It was a pretty costly exercise to pull the 5c. coin from circulation.The Reserve Bank of New Zealand decided to pull the 10c.,the 20c.,& the 50c. coins as well,& replace them with a copper-plated steel 10c. (which is about the size of the old 2c. coin,which was pulled back in 1990),a nickel-plated steel 20c. (the same size & shape as the 20 Euro-Cent coin),& a nickel-plated steel 50c. (which is slightly bigger than a Canadian 25c. coin).The blind people have difficulty telling the difference between the 10c. & the 50c. coins,as they have both got plain edges.

Aidan.

[Figleaf]

So if I understand this well, the administration is in favour of the constitution when it suits them (e.g. guns), but against the constitution when it gives power to Congress. Hey fellers, how about the $100 million savings a year? Is that less symbolic than scoring a highly symbolic petty political point?

Peter

House passes bill to make coin-making cheaper
By LAURIE KELLMAN - May 9, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House voted for cheaper change Thursday, the kind that would make pennies and nickels worth more than they cost to make and save the country $100 million a year.

The unanimous vote advances the legislation to the Senate, but it's prospects are muddled by objections from the Bush administration and some lawmakers.

The bill would require the U.S. Mint to switch from a zinc and copper penny, which costs 1.26 cents each to make, to a copper-plated steel penny, which would cost .7 cents to make, according to statistics from the Mint and Rep. Zack Space, D-Ohio, one of the measure's sponsors.

It also would require nickels, now made of copper and nickel and costing 7.7 cents to make, to be made primarily of steel, which would drop the cost to make the five-cent coin below its face value.

Advocates say that such actions would push back against surging metal prices and save taxpayers about $1 billion over a decade. But even the Mint opposes the House-passed measure.

The legislation directs the Treasury secretary to "prescribe" — suggest — a new, more economical composition of the nickel and the penny. Unsaid is the Constitution's requirement that Congress have the final say. The administration, like others before, chafes at the thought that Congress still clings to that authority. Mint Director Edmund Moy said this week that the bill as "too prescriptive," in part because it does not explicitly delegate to the Treasury secretary the power to decide the new coin composition. The bill also gives the public and the metal industry too little time to weigh in on the new coin composition, he said.

Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., is expected to introduce another version of the legislation in the Senate.
In 2007, the Mint produced 7.4 billion pennies and 1.2 billion nickels, according to the House Financial Services Committee.

Other coins still cost less than their face value, according to the Mint. The dime costs a little over 4 cents to make, while the quarter costs almost 10 cents. The dollar coin, meanwhile, costs about 16 cents to make, according to the Mint.
___
The House bill is H.R. 5512.

Source: AP

[Prosit]

Changing the cent from copper coated zinc to copper coated steel is a slight (very slight) improvement imo.  I have never been a fan of the Zincoln.
Changing the Nickel to mainly steel is definitely not an improvement.

Saving the taxpayer money? Anyone believes the US gives a crap about saving the taxpayer money is well....indulging in a bit of  naiveté.  Saving the Gov money to spend elsewhere? yes I can buy that   

Drop the Cent, Change the Nickel, if they must, to something that won't rust 
Aluminum Cents and Nickels maybe....


Dale