U.S. Mint testing copper-plated zinc for nickels... wonder about the future of detecting coins...

pcgs69

Just picked up the Feb 10th Coin World and see the headline, "Mint testing copper-plated zinc for 5¢ coin".

First thought wasn't about the mint saving money, but, "ugh, more zincoln signals I have to dig now, and half of them will be partially eaten away by the elements." What do you guys think of the change of change (play on words!) in recent times? It would be nice if the cent stop being made, but what if they ended up being made out of steel? Once they rust, the nulling on detectors would be unbearable.

Or, possibly both the cent and nickel will stop being produced, and we can then focus our time on clearing out the remaining supply of cents and nickels, and then start working on dimes and quarters.

But, with more and more people using plastic for money, maybe our change totals will continue to dwindle. I was chatting with a member here who shared his 2006 change totals and it was just staggering! But now it seems like less and less change is being found. What do you guys think will happen in our future?

ricko

I think the cent and dollar bill will be discontinued.... although not likely within the next five years. Something will need to be done with the nickel since it's cost is also higher than the value. I would expect a change of metal most likely and zinc would be a leading contender - likely plated with some white metal.
Perhaps the impending plethora of dollar coins will make up for the shortage of cents and nickels. Cheers, RickO

Steve27

If it didn't come from the Mint's web site, I wouldn't have believed it. The cent costs 2.41 cents to produce and the nickel costs 11.18 cents to produce LINK. Thus, I expect the Nickel to be redesigned (it will probably end up either copper plated zinc or pure zinc) and the cent eliminated.

Dockwalliper

Canada went with plated steel. It all sounds like trash now.