Will the US ever restore real gold coinage?

Bear · January 1, 2003 2:48PM

Does the currant fluctuationsin gold make this premise difficult to enact. We are talking

about circulating coinage.

leothelyon · January 1, 2003 2:58PM

Hey bear
I would like to see a $5 silver coin circulate.........they could make it at least 40% silver.

Leo

Bear · January 1, 2003 3:03PM

Leo - I could be happy with a well designed 40% silver coin in a 5 dollar denomination.

It would make me feel I was back in Vegas with a pocket full of those.

FC57Coins · January 1, 2003 3:38PM

Under the current coinage system you can make coins out of tin and they would still be legal tender as long as the government issued them - there is no tie-in between coin values and intrinsic value anymore. As such we could have Sac type coins going up to $100 if the government so desired. The fact of the matter is that it would be very unlikely that anything like this would circulate as long as there were bills to go along with it. Canada had the perfect solution to make their "Loonies and Toonies" circulate - they quit making low denomination bills.

Frank

Bear · January 1, 2003 3:40PM

Frank - How can I take the word of a dog with a cigar in his mouth?

FC57Coins · January 1, 2003 3:47PM

See - just like anything, dress it up right and it tends to fly

coinrookie · January 2, 2003 1:15AM

The stability in the price of gold would be a factor that I think the mint would not want to deal with. Also I think that most people would hoard these coins so they probably would not be widely circulated and you might end up with a coin that was not considered a success much like the SAC.

Steve27 · January 2, 2003 2:17AM

No, once the first clad coins were accepted as having the same value as the silver coins they replaced, there hasn't been any incentive for the US government to go back to coins where the value of the metal (silver or gold) is close to the value of the coin. However, you can buy the 1984 Olympic $10 gold commemorative, which has the same metal content (gold and copper) as the last $10 gold pieces issued for circulation, for a small premium over melt. So in essence maybe they already did what you want.

michael · January 2, 2003 6:36AM

NO........................................
gold and the U.S. government are currently at great odds with each other

and this rift is growing everyday! well at least for the forseeable future!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

but i guess anything is possible!

sincerely michael

ClausUrch · January 2, 2003 7:58AM

The Dawg with the Ceegar has it right. As long as we have small paper bills floating around the odds are slim at best. Get rid of the one and five (at least) and we will be in business. Coins have such a larger "life span" than paper it just makes economic sense to change over.

quarterjack · January 2, 2003 11:32AM

Not to likely to happen . Look at how cheaply they produce the currency. JMO

Dave

DAM · January 2, 2003 11:45AM

Dave,

In fact it's cheaper to produce coins, than paper money. Because coins last much longer. I heard how long the average paper bill lasts and it isn't as long as you might think.

Frank is correct about the Canadian change over. Give American's 12 months to convert their paper money, then it's all coin for what ever denomination you're replacing. The problem is, in part, American's are a spoiled people and we like our paper money. So until someone stands up and says this is what's going to happen, whether you, the people like it or not, it's not going to happen.

I travel to Canada frequently. Handling Loonies and Toonies is not as cumbersome as you might believe.

quarterjack · January 2, 2003 2:26PM

DAM, i agree with you.

Dave

gmarguli · January 2, 2003 2:39PM

The life of a paper bill is 18 months. I believe the life of a coin is 30 years.

There is no reason to create a coin out of anything other than junk metal. The last two times I heard about it being seriously discussed were a tiny coin in some South American country. I guess 4-digit inflation was too much to take. The other was religious terrorists wanting it for trade between them.

Bear · January 2, 2003 2:47PM

If confidence is lost in unbacked paper and junk base metal coinage,

then me might see some measure of noble coinage return. The chances seem slim

at the moment, but one can never say never.

cladking · January 2, 2003 9:16PM

I can't believe the collapse of our monetary system can be good thing.

There is more talk in high places of a gold backing than there has been
in a long long time. I'm dubious that it's really possible without a very
high price for gold. There are other ways to reign in the politicians and
those avenues may prove more feasible.

dpoole · January 2, 2003 11:12PM

The power of our currency has altogether to do now with the world's confidence in the power of our economy and the stability of our legal institutions and government. The stability of our currency can absolutely do without any use of precious metals or tie-in with precious metal values. Things certainly look safe for the moment, though as others have said or implied here, things eventually do change. Witness the dramatic decline of the Yen over the past ten years or so.

nwcs · January 2, 2003 11:48PM

Another factor to figure is seignorage. The mint makes a nice profit on every coin for the US. If they ever put precious metals into coins again, it'll decrease their profit margin. Having a standardized denomination makes for a devaluation of each unit over time. The only solutions are to re-denominate or keep the denominations and increase usage of larger denominations. Especially as our 1 dollar bill is effectively a circulating coin. Same with the 5 dollar bill.

fantasiize · January 3, 2003 1:59AM

When the coins are made, a $5 or $10 coin may be as big as a pin head (easily lost). Also, if forgotten in the pocket, it would pay to be a septic or waste water plant employee (follow me here, you wash the pants, the coin makes it through the washer holes, in the plumbing system and voila, septic or waste water plant - this situation will give a new meaning to the phrase "panning for gold").

Sorry for the visual for those that are weak in the stomach.

Bear · January 3, 2003 2:58AM

Fantasiize - You are refering to the storied" POTTY OF GOLD" I presume.

cladking · January 3, 2003 9:36AM

<< <i>... in the plumbing system and voila, septic or waste water plant - this situation will give a new meaning to the phrase "panning for gold").
. >>

The Japanese believe that gold will alleviate the symptoms and perhaps even stop
the onset of arthritis. Injested gold does tend to get deposited on the ends of major
bones and is thought to act as an antibiotic under some conditions but there is incon-
clusive evidence that it has any affect on arthritis. Many of the finest restaurants wrap
their food in gold foil.

The major sewer systems are "mined" in Japan.

Bear · January 3, 2003 10:01AM

Cladking - I have done many things in my long life, but gold mining in the sewers

of Japan is a little much, even for the bear.

Cocoinut · January 3, 2003 12:36PM

If a high denomination coin were made of silver or gold, I can hear the griping already: "It's too close to the same size as the ______" Fill in the blank with a coin of your choice. It's the most common argument against the SBA and Sacajawea. Most people don't look at their coins very closely, and just don't like change (pardon the pun).

Jim

ClausUrch · January 3, 2003 11:35PM

I believe the main reason we don't like to use high denomination coins is cultural. Many European wallets have a compartment for coins. I remember my Grandfather always using large denomination coins from his wallet. It does take more time in checkout lines but the European folks don't seem to mind standing in line a few extra seconds while here, if the person in front of you writes a check....

Will the US ever restore real gold coinage?

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