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The cost to mint a coin - Wall Street Journal
TopographicOceans
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Looks like the cent and the nickel should be dropped and with the profit on the other denominations, we could pay back China all the money we owe using change.
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And I'm not crying for the vending industry. The local vending machine provider just attached brand spanking new credit card readers on all of their machines, even a simple soda machine! I'm guessing they, and the required connectivity (cell service?), far outweigh the cost of modifying a coin slot system.
And even if they had to round up to the nearest dime for awhile, I don't think sales would be horribly affected. (Vending machine items are already over priced compared to other venues to cover costs, and people are fully aware of that when they drop in their quarters).
Elimination of the cent and nickel are outside the scope of the report. Also, the mint makes the cent and nickel under authority of Congress and based upon demand from the Fed Res. This is why the mint is silent on elimination.
Congress may be unhappy if the mint unilaterally refuses production requests. Perhaps there can be a Sec of Treas executive order.
Note 31 usc 5112 says the Sec of Treas MAY mint and issue only...
The set up says to me that should demand fall off to 0, there is no mandate to make them.
If Congress won't eliminate the cent and nickel, then just turn in all your Zincolns and Nickels.
http://www.mining.com/how-the-us-trillion-dollar-coin-would-work-15292/
Still, trying to wrap my head around why we're still making these is one of the greatest mysteries in the universe. It's contrary to common sense. It defies logic. It's one more symbol of the disconnect between the government and people who are accountable for what they produce.
<< <i>The annual savings would be a pittance against the $4 BILL/day the govt already spends. Much bigger fish to fry out there. And there always costs with such "savings" plans such as the vending industry if they went higher than the penny. >>
But that $53M in annual losses from making the cent is probably a decent chunk of change relative to the Mint's total budget. Then there's business' productivity losses due to handling cents during retail transactions. I wonder what a successful movement to abandon the cent would look like. How did it work in Canada and elsewhere?
I guess we can keep the nickel. Heck, keep the half - it makes the Mint a few million every year, no doubt - but just change the design. Make it rotating, even.