Are electronic transactions lowering coin mintages?

mikenoodle

I am fascinated by the way that the US Mint has decided through the years whether or not they will mint coins in any given year.

I am also fascinated that as a society we become more and more removed from using coins in our daily lives.

As a personal example, my wife and I have been saving for a trip to Hawaii for our anniversary and to renew our vows. One of the ways we hope to be able to afford it is by using airline miles that we accumulate when we use our debit cards.

Now this has us obsessively using those cards for anything and everything. I once bought a 7 cent screw using my debit card (the store lost money on the transaction). No matter how small the purchase, I use my card.

At college, my daughter uses a smart card for everything, and when I send my kids away for a trip, I usually give them money in Visa gift cards.

The end result of this is that we very seldom use cash or coin anymore. In fact as little as we possibly can.

Last year, nickel and dime production fell to its lowest mintage in years. The other coins were all commemorative last year so I understand the need for production to fulfill demand. The question is that as our society moves further and further away from actual coin and cash transactions, will the need for coin fall so far as to eliminating the need for the high mintages of the past? Will mintages numbering in the millions be something that we associate with the end of the 20th century, or will over the next 100 years we eliminate our need for coin altogether?

keyman64

I believe it is.

Greg

seateddime

Makes sense

machoponcho

Makes a lot of sense to me and I'm surprised this point isn't brought up more often and modern mintages aren't falling even faster.

fishcooker

Yes, not to mention that the inflation rate makes coins buy less and less.

ambro51

Obviously that is one of the factors...also the lack of pay phones, vending machines, tolls (under a dollar), penny candy, postage stamps, newspaper purchases.....the list goes on and on. Years ago a kid was happy with a fifty cent a week allowance, now its fifteen dollars.

Also, there is very very little you can buy under $1 anymore. With our chronically rushed lifestyle, anyone in front of you in a checkout line rooting through their purse getting together the exact change is viewed one of lifes roadblocks.

Where will it go from here? The answer would be higher denomination coins. Personally, I see a great need for a circulating $20 coin. Nearly everything you buy in small daily transactions, fast food, a spray can of paint, gas for the car....all will take the best part of that $20.

But the mint will continue to spew out coinage until the oil spill fully pollutes the planet and we are extinct.

edix2001

<< <i>Years ago a kid was happy with a fifty cent a week allowance, now its fifteen dollars. >>



I used to get fifty cents a week. My youngest brother got a dime.

CaptHenway

It is one of several factors. A few years back I asked the cashier at our Jewel store what percentage of people paid with plastic, and she said 90%.

BTW, that was rather tacky of you using a debit card for a 7 cent item.

TD

mikenoodle

tacky???

It was a business transaction and they accepted the card. Personally, I wanted to see at what point someone refuses to take it and to date nobody has.

Gutsy? Maybe. Ridiculous? To be sure! But tacky? I dunno about that characterization.

19Lyds

<< <i>............... or will over the next 100 years we eliminate our need for coin altogether? >>

When change machines, vending machines, and bridge/highway tolls disappear, and laundromats as well as parking meters go the debit card route, I might start to worry.

But not until then.

melvin289

Several years ago we were forced to go direct deposit at work. I got a debit card from my credit union to access my money. Now I get a letter from the credit union telling me that I am allowed to use the debit card 5 time a month and after that there will be a $1 per time usage fee. I had reached the point that I very seldom had any cash on my person at all. I had a bag of change at work in my desk to buy drinks and such from the machines in the canteen. Now the canteen is changing to a convenience store type operation. You go in get what you want and scan it on your way out. More ways to get me at a $1 for every time I use the debit card. I prefer having money in my pocket. I feel better.

Ron

ecichlid

<< <i>When change machines, vending machines, and bridge/highway tolls disappear, and laundromats as well as parking meters go the debit card route, I might start to worry. But not until then. >>



I don't need coins for my toll system here in Illinois. I have an electronic pass, no need to stop. (stopping to toss coins in a basket? how primitive and inefficient!) In Chicago, the parking meters accept credit and debit cards. A laundromat can dispense tokens instead of coins.

The fact is more and more people use plastic and it's a trend. It wasn't long ago that McDonalds didn't accept plastic. It wasn't long ago that someone using a credit card for a transaction under $5 was rare. Now, use of credit cards is so common, stores want you to process you own transaction. Some stores, want you to check yourself through the register.

morgandollar1878

I use debit/credit cards about 90% of the time, write a check about 1% of the time, and pay cash the rest of the time. I can understand the mint producing less coins because of the increased use of plastic, but I think that the main reason for decreased coin production is because of the economy. Personally I think that eliminating the need for coins and currency will be much sooner than 100 years.

Overdate

I still use cash for smaller transactions, mainly because it's fun to spend two-dollar bills.

Electronic transactions may be lowering coin mintages, but the recession is also doing its part.

CaptHenway

<< <i>tacky???

It was a business transaction and they accepted the card. Personally, I wanted to see at what point someone refuses to take it and to date nobody has.

Gutsy? Maybe. Ridiculous? To be sure! But tacky? I dunno about that characterization. >>



It was the nicest of several words that leapt to mind.........

DrBuster

I hate plastic. Data mining is large and in charge now-a-days and I want no part of it...as little of it as I can be exposed to anyway.

I'm maybe 1 out of 15 purchases with a card, 90% of those are at the grocery store, the rest is cash money.

Steve27

"Are electronic transactions lowering coin mintages?"

No, the recession was responsible for it. No orders from banks for new coins, because they didn't want to pay the fees and out-of-work people were cashing-in their jars of coins.

19Lyds

<< <i>

<< <i>When change machines, vending machines, and bridge/highway tolls disappear, and laundromats as well as parking meters go the debit card route, I might start to worry. But not until then. >>



I don't need coins for my toll system here in Illinois. I have an electronic pass, no need to stop. (stopping to toss coins in a basket? how primitive and inefficient!) In Chicago, the parking meters accept credit and debit cards. A laundromat can dispense tokens instead of coins.

The fact is more and more people use plastic and it's a trend. It wasn't long ago that McDonalds didn't accept plastic. It wasn't long ago that someone using a credit card for a transaction under $5 was rare. Now, use of credit cards is so common, stores want you to process you own transaction. Some stores, want you to check yourself through the register. >>

Most middle to upperclass Americans do have credit/debit cards and home computers, but there are just as many if not more that do not.
And yes, I am well aware of the many "fast pass" commuters that exist out there but again, there are just as many that pay as they go and there always will be. Even the richest of countries per capita, still have their monetary systems.