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Bring back the half dime! No more pennies and nickels!



 
 
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  #1  
Old May 2nd 06, 06:23 PM posted to rec.collecting.coins
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Default Bring back the half dime! No more pennies and nickels!

As of yesterday the melt value of the nickel exceeds five cents
according to www.coinflation.com . The zinc penny is not far
behind.

I believe it would be difficult for the Mint to quickly come up with an
alternative alloy for nickels which would still be heavy enough and
have the correct magnetic signature to work in vending machines.
Similarly, finding a cheaper replacement for the penny which still
looks like a penny will not be easy.

If pennies and nickels are eliminated, transactions will have to be
rounded. It would not be practical to round to the nearest tenth of a
dollar unless we also get rid of the quarter. However, the quarter is
the most popular and most recognized denomination we have.

Hence, we need to round transactions to the nearest 5 cents. This can
be accomplished with dimes and quarters except for when the change due
is 5 or 15 cents. Clearly a 5 cent coin of some type is still needed.

My solution is to halt production of pennies and nickels and to instead
produce half dimes which weigh half the amount of a dime. The melt
value of a half dime would be about 1 cent, leaving room in case copper
and nickel prices increase further. The lower weight would also
decrease transportation costs compared to nickels.

The US has a history (albeit long ago) of making half dimes in the
past.

Vending machines, at least initially, would not be required to be
re-tooled. You never see items in vending machines costing 5 or 15
cents anymore. You would just have to post signs on all old vending
machines saying that change of 5 cents will not be given.

How long do you think the US Mint can or would continue to produce
cents and nickels at a loss? How high do copper and nickel have to go
before scrap dealers will start accepting nickels for melt down?

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  #2  
Old May 2nd 06, 06:28 PM posted to rec.collecting.coins
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Default Bring back the half dime! No more pennies and nickels!

On 2 May 2006 10:23:27 -0700, wrote:
As of yesterday the melt value of the nickel exceeds five cents
according to
www.coinflation.com . The zinc penny is not far
behind.


Any insight on where I could take copper pennies for melt? I've got a
sorting mechanism figured out now.

  #3  
Old May 2nd 06, 06:59 PM posted to rec.collecting.coins
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Default Bring back the half dime! No more pennies and nickels!

Dave Hinz wrote:
On 2 May 2006 10:23:27 -0700, wrote:
As of yesterday the melt value of the nickel exceeds five cents
according to
www.coinflation.com . The zinc penny is not far
behind.


Any insight on where I could take copper pennies for melt? I've got a
sorting mechanism figured out now.


C&D Scrap Metal in Houston will pay you for your scrap in $2 bills.
  #5  
Old May 2nd 06, 09:20 PM posted to rec.collecting.coins
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Default Bring back the half dime! No more pennies and nickels!

I guess I just have an inner revulsion against using steel and aluminum
in coinage. I suppose there were some in 1965 who didn't like
cupro-nickel.

Other reasons to change from nickels to half dimes besides
transportation cost:

1) Can you imagine the silver proof sets where all of the coins except
the sackies are 90% silver?
2) Less bulk in your pocket full of change.
3) A chance to introduce a new coin with totally new design, not
re-worked designs of dead presidents.
4) A sense of nostalgia in returning a retired denomination.

Alternatively, we could round to tenths of dollars, bring back the
twenty cent piece and retire the quarter along with the penny and
nickel. However, as I said, the popularity of the quarter and the
vending machine business makes this unlikely.

  #6  
Old May 3rd 06, 12:05 AM posted to rec.collecting.coins
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Default Bring back the half dime! No more pennies and nickels!


" wrote in message
ups.com...
As of yesterday the melt value of the nickel exceeds five cents
according to www.coinflation.com . The zinc penny is not far
behind.

I believe it would be difficult for the Mint to quickly come up with an
alternative alloy for nickels which would still be heavy enough and
have the correct magnetic signature to work in vending machines.
Similarly, finding a cheaper replacement for the penny which still
looks like a penny will not be easy.

If pennies and nickels are eliminated, transactions will have to be
rounded. It would not be practical to round to the nearest tenth of a
dollar unless we also get rid of the quarter. However, the quarter is
the most popular and most recognized denomination we have.

Hence, we need to round transactions to the nearest 5 cents. This can
be accomplished with dimes and quarters except for when the change due
is 5 or 15 cents. Clearly a 5 cent coin of some type is still needed.

My solution is to halt production of pennies and nickels and to instead
produce half dimes which weigh half the amount of a dime. The melt
value of a half dime would be about 1 cent, leaving room in case copper
and nickel prices increase further. The lower weight would also
decrease transportation costs compared to nickels.

The US has a history (albeit long ago) of making half dimes in the
past.

Vending machines, at least initially, would not be required to be
re-tooled. You never see items in vending machines costing 5 or 15
cents anymore. You would just have to post signs on all old vending
machines saying that change of 5 cents will not be given.

How long do you think the US Mint can or would continue to produce
cents and nickels at a loss? How high do copper and nickel have to go
before scrap dealers will start accepting nickels for melt down?


Well they aren't actually making coins at a loss since every unit of
monetary value is derived completely and utterly from debt.
So losing a few hundred (?) million is like finding a pea rolling down a 8
lane freeway.



  #7  
Old May 3rd 06, 12:15 AM posted to rec.collecting.coins
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Default Bring back the half dime! No more pennies and nickels!

On 2 May 2006 13:20:56 -0700, "
wrote:

I guess I just have an inner revulsion against using steel and aluminum
in coinage. I suppose there were some in 1965 who didn't like
cupro-nickel.

Other reasons to change from nickels to half dimes besides
transportation cost:

1) Can you imagine the silver proof sets where all of the coins except
the sackies are 90% silver?
2) Less bulk in your pocket full of change.
3) A chance to introduce a new coin with totally new design, not
re-worked designs of dead presidents.
4) A sense of nostalgia in returning a retired denomination.


While I commend your proposal (and there's really no reason why the
Mint couldn't make half dismes for the present mint and silver proof
sets), I must disagree about the "totally new design" bit. You know
darn well we'll end up with some kind of special interest group being
appeased by getting its face on a coin!

Alternatively, we could round to tenths of dollars, bring back the
twenty cent piece and retire the quarter along with the penny and
nickel. However, as I said, the popularity of the quarter and the
vending machine business makes this unlikely.


Yeah, that one's pretty unlikely. Unless we keep the well entrenched
quarter but also add a new 20c piece that is yellow in colour (like
the old French 20c).

Padraic.

la cieurgeourea provoer mal trasfu
ast meiyoer ke 'l andrext ben trasfu.
  #8  
Old May 3rd 06, 12:25 AM posted to rec.collecting.coins
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Default Bring back the half dime! No more pennies and nickels!

IOW, the US govt. is however many trillions in debt. What if the price of
the metals they use now all of the sudden drops way down low? That has
happened before you know.
Changing denominations around is a really major thing--like if it's not
broken don't fix it. They would have to spend a ton just to get the word out
in sufficient ways so that even an idiot knew what was going to happen. What
about all those trillions of nickels already out and about? You have any
idea how long that would take to rid the earth of all that? You'd be seeing
places with signs up "We accept nickels".
;-)



  #9  
Old May 3rd 06, 12:57 AM posted to rec.collecting.coins
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Default Bring back the half dime! No more pennies and nickels!

Dave Hinz wrote:
On 2 May 2006 10:23:27 -0700, wrote:

As of yesterday the melt value of the nickel exceeds five cents
according to
www.coinflation.com . The zinc penny is not far
behind.



Any insight on where I could take copper pennies for melt? I've got a
sorting mechanism figured out now.


I would just weigh bags of returned cents and melt them 'mixed', adding
however much additional copper or zinc is needed to create an optimal and
consistant alloy for whatever new denominational uses can be found for it.

--
___________________________________________ ____ _______________
Regards, | |\ ____
| | | | |\
Michael G. Koerner May they | | | | | | rise again!
Appleton, Wisconsin USA | | | | | |
___________________________________________ | | | | | | _______________
  #10  
Old May 3rd 06, 04:13 AM posted to rec.collecting.coins
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Posts: n/a
Default Any ideas what these coins are?

Saw the following posted to sci.lang -- any ideas what they are?

http://www.masseysonline.com/

Padraic.

la cieurgeourea provoer mal trasfu
ast meiyoer ke 'l andrext ben trasfu.
 




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