Should we Mint a real silver dollar?

coinmanic · August 22, 2009 10:09AM

Actually, we already have one, the 1 OZ Silver Eagle. The coin is legally monetized at a value of One Dollar. We of course also have a $5, $10, $25, $50 and $100 coin in Gold and/or Platinum. In the case of the $10 Coin, it is both.

Try buying groceries for a hundred bucks and handing the cashier a $100 Platinum Eagle. You will probably spend the night in the slammer.

sumnom · August 22, 2009 10:14AM

I'll give you $100 worth of groceries for a $100 platinum eagle.

BBN · August 22, 2009 10:20AM

Maybe a silver double eagle. A $20 Eagle 90% silver with .96 oz of silver. We'd have to eliminate it as a tradeable commodity though

mikeyg · August 22, 2009 4:57PM

nearly impossible for us to have a silver dollar used for commerce the way that it was many years ago.But if they did it would have to be what?? the size of a dime??or smaller(talking about a 90% silver coin)

sonoranmonsoon · August 23, 2009 12:33AM

I would love to see a $20 coin, with 1 oz of silver in it. That would stir up interest.

BillJones · August 23, 2009 12:36AM

A REAL silver dollar would serve no purpose in today's ecomomy. In fact it really didn't serve much of a purose in the 1800s.

ricko · August 23, 2009 12:40AM

I would like to see it done - at least in the larger denomination - of course, it will not be - Coins are much more difficult (especially precious metal) to produce than the rag money. They can run off incredible amounts in short order - as we see. Cheers, RickO

garsmith · August 23, 2009 12:56AM

<< <i>I'll give you $100 worth of groceries for a $100 platinum eagle. >>

In fact I will double his offer and give you $200 worth of groceries for a $100 Plat Eagle

RBinTex · August 23, 2009 1:00AM

Yes.

lcoopie · August 23, 2009 1:05AM

it's impractical with the changing price of silver these days.

the days of the silver/gold coins are over

garsmith · August 23, 2009 1:13AM

The US mint says they cannot find enough silver to start production of the proof Eagles and BS Eagles so where are they going to find silver to make circulating coinage?

ebaytrader · August 23, 2009 1:50AM

Gresham's Law would have to be repealed first.

MrEureka · August 23, 2009 2:09AM

If a company is large enough - Walmart, for example - it could potentially issue enough "$25 Gift Certificates" in the form of one ounce silver rounds that they might end up circulating at face. To jump start the program, they could sell them at a small discount.

garsmith · August 23, 2009 2:13AM

<< <i>If a company is large enough - Walmart, for example - it could potentially issue enough "$25 Gift Certificates" in the form of one ounce silver rounds that they might end up circulating at face. To jump start the program, they could sell them at a small discount. >>

Ya but if you remember Wal-Mart was given the SAC dollars (Wall Mart Dollars) to get them into excepted circulation and instead Wal-Mart started selling them at a premium.

leothelyon · August 23, 2009 1:20PM

How about a coin that works like a credit or debit card. Just drop it in a slot to pay for just about anything and get it back in the coin return slot along with a receipt.

Leo

Oh, and it might be made out of silver, perhaps sterling.

COALPORTER · August 23, 2009 1:25PM

<< <i>If a company is large enough - Walmart, for example - it could potentially issue enough "$25 Gift Certificates" in the form of one ounce silver rounds that they might end up circulating at face. To jump start the program, they could sell them at a small discount. >>

Actually, WINCO stores has their own $5 coin, but it's not made of silver. They charge check cashers $5 to cash a payroll check, and then they give them a $5 coin good for use in the store with purchase over $5.

FredF · August 23, 2009 1:43PM

I know we've said many times that we need to get the $1 bill removed in order to get the $1 coin to succeed, but what if we took one of the ideas from above and minted a $20 silver double-eagle? Make it a 40% silver coin, so it would have about $5.75 in silver at melt at today's prices, which insulates it a bit from being hoarded. I bet there are a ton of folks who would feel better with silver money because if inflation did go rampant the silver value would be retained.

The Government on the other hand gets about $14 in seniorage with each coin struck. That's nowhere near as much as the $19+ that they make on a $20 bill, but it's not peanuts.

I think it would be cool. Which is why the govt wouldn't ever do it.

Why can't one of us get promoted to mint director or head of the US treasury, or some other position where we could actually make the right decisions?

-Fred

relicsncoins · August 24, 2009 3:27AM

Didn't Mexico try this about 15 or 20 years ago.

gecko109 · August 24, 2009 3:36AM

Why would any government issue a silver dollar when 99.99% of the population is happy to accept a paper dollar that cost 6 cents to make? Where is the motivation for such a thing?

RWB · August 24, 2009 3:52AM

Over the past couple of centuries, coins containing either gold or silver have circulated in commerce only when:
• they contained less value of precious metal than their nominal value, or
• governments conspired to fix the price of a metal.
Both conditions assuming no unusual economic or political strife, in which instances all precious metal coins are hoarded.

Should we Mint a real silver dollar?

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