A New Steel Cent in the works?

sumnom

Is it true that Congress is considering the production of a steel cent?

robkool

It would be intresting...

sumnom

It occurs to me that I do not know the prices of steel and zinc...

ricko

I believe they will have to do something about the cent.... but probably not until after 2009.... these things move slowly. On the other hand, perhaps the 2009 Lincoln centennial would be a great opportunity to make a radical change... hmmmmm... interesting. Cheers, RickO

Longacre

I have not heard that. Where did you hear about it?

sfs2002usa

I believe as little as 90 days within/after the legislation is passed. End of the year production may
make some rarities?

kiyote

Amazing! Another silver penny in our lifetime! Think of the eBay scamming opportunities..

garsmith

I'm sure we could get lead pennies from China and then maybe they would stop putting the lead in thier paint

LanLord

<< <i>I believe as little as 90 days within/after the legislation is passed. End of the year production may make some rarities? >>

and all the flippers' ears are perking up at this very moment!

Hugegut

There are 3 bills in the current congress that I could find that talk about changing the composition of the cent :
House 4036
House 3956
House 3917

WaterSport

A 2009 S VDB with Wheat Rev Steel Cent in Proof, works for me

WS

RBinTex

RichieURich

<< <i>I believe they will have to do something about the cent.... but probably not until after 2009.... these things move slowly. On the other hand, perhaps the 2009 Lincoln centennial would be a great opportunity to make a radical change... hmmmmm... interesting. Cheers, RickO >>



I like the idea of making a radical change - - like after 2009, stop making the cent entirely! (1) It costs more to make it than it's worth (2) It's basically worthless (3) It's worth less than the half cent was in 1857 when they stopped making them (4) We don't have a tenth of a cent coin, yet we still manage to buy gasoline priced at some amount plus 9/10 of a cent (5) Why bother?

Cameonut

Seems to me I read this in the latest Coin World (the new - smaller format).

I think it would be cool, but can you imagine all the coin machines that won't work with a steel cent? (Not that any machines take cents anymore - other than Coin Star)

stockwiz

jeez.. there gonna keep making cents? Hell, I throw cents and nickels on the ground because I just don't want them in my pocket. Inflation is eating away the need for cents. It's only a matter of time before the melt value of the metal is above the value of the coin forever on both cents and nickels.

kevinstang

<< <i>Amazing! Another silver penny in our lifetime! Think of the eBay scamming opportunities.. >>



Probably do what the Canadians have been doing for the last few years- copper plated steel cents. As a matter of fact all their new coins are plated steel.

pharmer

<< <i>I have not heard that. Where did you hear about it? >>



Hello? Tap tap. Is this thing on?

Cameonut

Hey Pharmer - I think I posted that it was in Coin World - the edition I got yesterday.

carl

Note one of the big reasons steel is frowned on for coins is the mangetic properties. However, with the ability now to produce Stainless Steel in mass quantities of a grade that is none magnetic and with the proper additions could be made to be slightly Copper colored, non magnetic and materials accessable.
Naturally the problem is that most of our steel mills are now out of buisness so we would have to outsourse our coinage to Japan, China or worse yet India. It that happens can you imagine attempting to order a Proof set from someone in India that has no idea what your saying. AOL is finding out.
Then also our cents would now have "made in China" instead of VDB on the back bottom.

keets

any logical, reasoning person should comprehend the simple fact that the One-Cent Coin has reached a point of obsolescence in the American economy. Congress discussing some form that is more profitable for the Treasury is just idiotic as are any arguements that insist it's needed for commerce. i realize it has a bit of Romanticism attached so it would probably be acceptable to keep it in it's present form in some type of collector set, but as a circulating coin it just isn't needed.

to be sure, the economy has gotten to the point where our entire monetary denominations need to be re-thought, the Cent can be eliminated and the Half-Dollar is never used for all practical purposes. i ask you, multiplying our current denominations by a factor of five gives the below numbers. don't they seem a bit more realistic??

1 X 5=5 cents.
5 X 5=25 cents.
10 X 5=50 cents.
25 X 5=1.25 but better as $1.
50 X 5=$2.50.
1.00 X 5=$5.

mrpotatoheadd

<< <i>Naturally the problem is that most of our steel mills are now out of buisness so we would have to outsourse our coinage to Japan, China or worse yet India. It that happens can you imagine attempting to order a Proof set from someone in India that has no idea what your saying. >>

Not a problem (at least as far as minting coins, anyway). It would be possible for the mint to buy planchets instead of producing them, and still strike the coins here- no need for producing the actual coins elsewhere. In fact, the mint is currently buying ready-to-strike cent planchets from a private company.

mozeppa

In fact, the mint is currently buying ready-to-strike cent planchets from a private company.


and that company would be the BALL corporation of muncie indiana.

cladking

<< <i>any logical, reasoning person should comprehend the simple fact that the One-Cent Coin has reached a point of obsolescence in the American economy. Congress discussing some form that is more profitable for the Treasury is just idiotic as are any arguements that insist it's needed for commerce. i realize it has a bit of Romanticism attached so it would probably be acceptable to keep it in it's present form in some type of collector set, but as a circulating coin it just isn't needed.

to be sure, the economy has gotten to the point where our entire monetary denominations need to be re-thought, the Cent can be eliminated and the Half-Dollar is never used for all practical purposes. i ask you, multiplying our current denominations by a factor of five gives the below numbers. don't they seem a bit more realistic??

1 X 5=5 cents.
5 X 5=25 cents.
10 X 5=50 cents.
25 X 5=1.25 but better as $1.
50 X 5=$2.50.
1.00 X 5=$5. >>





There's another simple fact; steel can't be formed into pennies for less than a cent each.

Good cold rolled steel starts at about $800 per ton now days and stainless is much higher.

Not only doesn't a pound of steel make many pennies but it wears dies out very rapidly
greatly increasing coinage costs.

Even if pennies could be made cheaply the best question is why the hell do it? Why waste
peoples' time handling a coin of no value?

Barndog

I'd like to see a $250 bill also. Ronald Reagan's picture, please.

Of course, it will be useful for only small purchases (gallon of milk or gasoline) if current trends persist.

Barbercoin

Watch, all that effort to change the cent, copper prices could end up dropping. Who knows for sure?

pharmer

<< <i>Hey Pharmer - I think I posted that it was in Coin World - the edition I got yesterday.
>>



sumnom? Is that you? I didn't know cameonut was your alt. Well, good on ya for coming out.

fishcooker

Quit goofing around - drop the penny, make the Ken $5 and the Sac $10.

Hugegut

Polymer banknotes have been around for a while. Maybe polymer coins are in our future. Mini casino tokens.

Musky1011

instead of metal detecting and digging, we could just use powerfull magnets to pull them out of the ground


Jim

seemyauction

Change is Good.......


Alan

ddink

<< <i>It's only a matter of time before the melt value of the metal is above the value of the coin forever on both cents and nickels. >>



This has already been the case for several years now.

PerryHall

Wouldn't aluminum be a better choice of material to make nickels? Thoughts?

perfectstrike

The copper zalue in today's cent is about a .01 cents. It's the zinc that is the costly metal at about .7 cents. Copper prices can increase tenfold without have a significant affect on production costs.

David

TwoSides2aCoin

<< <i>Wouldn't aluminum be a better choice of material to make nickels? Thoughts? >>



I would prefer steel. Then after work, I can go metal detecting for coins with my trusty magnet roller

tahoe98

i think the aluminum idea was proposed at one time