Another Abolishing the Cent Thread - We Are Over 44% of the Way There

MsMorrisine

from the 2011 Mint Annual Report

document page 11, pdf page 13 at the bottom Year FY2011 Table


SG&A and Distribution costs to the FRB was .44 cents (that's $0.0044) per cent. That figure excludes other costs of manufacturing them.

(As we all know, at some point -- if we're not already there now, the costs will prove to be insurmountable)



The nickel was 1.8 cents out of every nickel -- or 36% of 5 cents.



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for the naysayers and completists:
Dime - 0.91 cents
Quarter - 1.91 cents
Then circulating small dollar - 2.72 cents

cladking

<< <i>from the 2011 Mint Annual Report

document page 11, pdf page 13 at the bottom Year FY2011 Table


SG&A and Distribution costs to the FRB was .44 cents (that's $0.0044) per cent. That figure excludes other costs of manufacturing them.

(As we all know, at some point -- if we're not already there now, the costs will prove to be insurmountable)



The nickel was 1.8 cents out of every nickel -- or 36% of 5 cents. >>



The costs have been "insurmountable" for years yet they keep minting them.

Everytime a penny is used the entire world is poorer. We probably waste enough money handling pennies
to make everyone in Haiti a millionaire.

philographer

Okay they lose money on the penny. But how much do they make when they print a $100 bill?


I know Mint vs. Fed...but you get the idea!

ebaybuyer

if the mint would reduce production of the cent by 50% it would only waste half as much money and there would still be plenty to go around. hell if the mint halted production of the cent entirely for the next ten years there would still be too many

astrorat

<< <i>if the mint would reduce production of the cent by 50% it would only waste half as much money and there would still be plenty to go around. hell if the mint halted production of the cent entirely for the next ten years there would still be too many >>

Interestingly, the annual mintage of US cents has been decreasing over the past 30 years, from the height in 1982 of about 10 billion to roughly 2-3 billion recently. Even at 2-3 billion cents, that's enough for every US citizen to have about 6 cents each for commerce. Multiply that (conservative figure) by the lifespan of most coins (20 years or so) and each citizen (including babies!) would have well over a dollar worth of cents. Yeah, the US Mint could curtail or stop production and it would have no real affect on interpersonal and "local" transactions. Now, the irrational "panic" that would occur if the US Mint stopped would be an interesting study in human dynamics.

messydesk

$113.4 million net income from numismatic sales. I'll bet Heritage doesn't even come close.

The seignorage table on page 11 is rather interesting. If the dollar coin mintage reflected actual demand, which I'll round off to zero, then the $11.7 million of SG&A costs allocated to the dollar would be absorbed by the other denominations, and the $382.8 M in seignorage would be lost, making for a net seignorage of -$45.7 M. Even if some of the $11.7 M SG&A were reduced (big assumption given it being a government operation), they'd still be posting a loss.

yellowkid

Is that all we lose? They should step up production

shorecoll

As long as politicians accept bribes, we will have the cent and the nickel. Tell me how long is that?

The nickel has to rank up there with the longest ongoing corruption scandals in history.

Of course, that corruption paid for the Wharton School at Penn, so I guess not all corruption is bad.

I could be wrong...something caused the mint to switch from copper to zinc (no it couldn't be cost)...maybe the zinc miners paid more...the aluminum and plastic lobbies need to get to work.

JamesMurray

<< <i>Okay they lose money on the penny. But how much do they make when they print a $100 bill?


I know Mint vs. Fed...but you get the idea! >>



Oh come on now , where's the fun in talking complete sense ? The fact the US mint turns a staggering profit is surely neither here nor there ? We need our weekly get rid of the cent thread ...zzzzz

Coinsponge

<< <i>if the mint would reduce production of the cent by 50% it would only waste half as much money and there would still be plenty to go around. hell if the mint halted production of the cent entirely for the next ten years there would still be too many >>




Agreed. We need to pry all those cents out of the jugs, jars, and coffee cans sitting around and put them back to work. Of course that is after they are checked for errors.

ziggy29

<< <i>Agreed. We need to pry all those cents out of the jugs, jars, and coffee cans sitting around and put them back to work. Of course that is after they are checked for errors. >>

And make sure they are dated 1982 or later...

IrishMikey

<< <i>

<< <i>Agreed. We need to pry all those cents out of the jugs, jars, and coffee cans sitting around and put them back to work. Of course that is after they are checked for errors. >>

And make sure they are dated 1982 or later... >>


You guys kill me.

ebaybuyer

it would actually cost the mint less money if they halted production of the cent entirely, and began buying them from the public at 2c each. redistribute them through the treasury and continue the cycle. the profit incentive would keep them from being hoarded

Spooly

The Mint needs to quit wasting money on all those stupid 1 dollar coins nobody wants.

ebaybuyer

i believe the government has people employed with no other responsibility than to waste taxpayer money