Options
Zinc for new 5 cent coins
yosclimber
Posts: 5,326 ✭✭✭✭✭
A bill passed by Congress "Common Cents Act" this afternoon formally ends cent production, and describes rounding to nearest 5c in transactions.
It also authorizes the use of zinc (to replace copper) in new 5 cent coins to reduce cost.
https://abcnews.com/US/wireStory/congress-votes-end-production-penny-after-234-years-136862946?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us
https://www.greysheet.com/news/story/house-passed-measure-could-impact-five-cent-coin-production/0
3
Comments
First we had Zincolns. Now we have Zickles.
"But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you" Matthew 6:33. Young fellow suffering from Bust Half fever.
BHNC #AN-10
JRCS #1606
hmmm. the mint aware they are thinking of copper(?) plated nickels?
it's 5grams so it's 2 zincolns.in the 2025 mint annual report the zincolns are 3.02 cents each. so, still a money loser, but nickels were 13.31 cents.
(dimes are creeping up towards 10.)
I wonder if they will disintegrate like I have seen some Zincolns dropped on the muddy floor of my pick-up?
So you take two Zincolns, glue them together, roll them out to the diameter of a Nickel, do it 180 times and you can buy a pack of cigarettes in a vending machine!
wait until dimes hit 10c
we can punch zincolns out and make 10x!
No. Nickel-plated zinc
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
If they use nickel- plated zinc, they will, unless the plating is much thicker.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
Dimes, quarters and halves are all net-cost over 1/2 face value. When the dime goes over face, so will the others. We need a more permanent fix across the board.
Digital it is!
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
I hate zinc for coins.
Aluminium?
I'd even take aluminum but I think they'd be too light for vending machines.
Well, the current market for aluminum is cheaper than zinc. Maybe zinc is easier to plate or coin with.
The court jester does not play, but gently pulls the strings…
The vending industry is probably still wanting diameter and weight for their machines.
the aluminum cents tested in the 70s were just under 1 gram. to get to a nickel's weight it would need to be 5x the thickness of one cent. substantial thickness!
(a japanese 1 yen coin is 1g of pure aluminum and what it lacks in diameter it makes up in thickness)
zinc could have been chosen for the cent because of its specific gravity difference over aluminum
Is stainless steel or non-stainless steel with plating a viable option for a coinage material? Also, I wouldn't worry about vending machines since most of them now take credit cards.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Remind me why we should even make ‘nickels’ at all?
30+ years coin shop experience (ret.) Coins, bullion, currency, scrap & interesting folks. Loved every minute!
Bring the half dimes back
Collector, occasional seller
Your northern neighbours readily prove that plated-steel nickels can work well enough, but for the US I'd say steel would be impractical, and it's mainly for that vending-machine reason. Every single vending machine and coin-counter in the country has a giant magnet in it and everything that sticks to the magnet is auto-rejected; it's simple, effective, and only works when you have no ferromagnetic coins. You'd need to reconfigure every single one of those machines to operate in "some magnetic things are good and some aren't" mode. And the vending machine lobby is, still, too big to ignore. Canada doesn't have that problem because way back in 1922 they switched from silver directly to pure nickel for their 5 cent coinage and pure nickel is magnetic, so their vending machines always operated in that mode.
You can make steel that isn't magnetic (austenitic steel), but it's significantly more expensive than the magnetic alloys, so that isn't an answer when the goal is cost-cutting.
Because back in the 1870s, when offered the choice between keeping the old quarter-dollar and adopting the new 20 cent piece, people overwhelmingly chose the quarter, so the US never fully switched to using 20 cent pieces. If you have a 25 cent coin and smaller coins, you really need some way to represent "25 cents" in those smaller coins, and you can't do that without a 5 cent coin. If the US as a country decides the 25 cent coin must not be replaced, then the only way to reform the coinage is to scrap every coin below 25 cents and have the quarter be the smallest denomination in circulation. But if your monetary system has a 20 cents coin instead, then you can scrap the 5 cents completely consequence-free. New Zealand scrapped their 5 cent piece in 2006.
There is no such "permanent fix" - that's inflation for you. Currencies lose value over time. Even the most powerful and stable currencies succumb to it eventually. Many have tried, all have failed. Not even communism could tame that monster. If you can figure out a way to stop or rewind inflation without replacing the currency entirely or starting a revolution, then you're smarter than everyone else who's lived for the past 2600 years.
Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"
Apparently I have been awarded the DPOTD twice.
Thanks to @Sapyx for a reasoned response defending the 14c nickel that is still being minted.
But since there are billions of these 5c tokens (with which you can buy absolutely nothing) still out there, why not halt the minting of them?
I don’t see retailers begging for the (no longer minted) pennies where I live. Are nickels any different?
Let’s just face facts - drop a decimal, and save $billions by not minting, distributing, storing, or using anything less than a dime.
30+ years coin shop experience (ret.) Coins, bullion, currency, scrap & interesting folks. Loved every minute!
The lowest denomination coin gets you to the exact price - or close to it it the post cent environment. The more coins you eliminate the greater the rounding, and it will never work in the customer's favor.
I know, I know, many or even most people use credit or debit cards or other electronic forms of payment, but not everyone does. And prices will tend to reflect what is or is not possible with cash payments.
I was in Europe during the changeover to the euro, and where I was, no business rounded down. They all rounded up. One newspaper seemed to round down, but they had increased the price just before the changeover so that they could round down the odd amount afterward.
At some point in the future, 10 years-20 years, all change will be extinct like the Raptor.
Interesting how so many are so excited about terminating our coins when literally they provide such a long term investment/usage factor considering the costs to make them. I still find coins 50-60 years old in the wild. What other things have that kind of lifespan and still remain in a viable condition? And just where are the billions of coins going since so many have resorted to using credit cards, Apple Pay, cryptocurrency, and bank transfers? At my breakfast establishment I am one of the very few customers that still pays cash each day……🤔😬
You mean Zinckles, right?
Pete
Yes, go back to a half dime.
Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value. Zero. Voltaire. Ebay coinbowlllc
God bless the black market.
Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value. Zero. Voltaire. Ebay coinbowlllc
love it! A clad half dime, of course.
Also, maybe 2c, 3c and 20c pieces. Heck, it’s only money!
30+ years coin shop experience (ret.) Coins, bullion, currency, scrap & interesting folks. Loved every minute!
Perhaps if you were in the vending business/industry you would realize just what a big deal this really is. Yes there are the new AI machines that only operate on credit/debit. But there are millions of machines that also accept cash and many thousands that do not have card readers. As someone that is in the vending business only about 50% of my machines have a card reader, it costs a min of $500 to outfit a machine with a reader and most closer to 1K. Yes this is a huge issue.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
I greatly prefer using coins in parking meters. Fast, secure and private. Same with vending machines.
Some time back, the minimart on the corner stopped using pennies. They rounded down the price on my coke refill. The last couple of times I've been in there, they rounded my $1.05 refill down to $1.
I suppose it's possible they're the only place in the country doing that.
Nickels will be on the chopping block soon. The purchasing power is just too low.
My Jefferson Registry:
https://pcgs.com/setregistry/alltimeset/191115
Maybe now the moderns 65 thru 98 will earn some respect.