![]() ![]() In fact, it's one reason the mint sees dollar coins as a good thing. It's called seigniorage, and all governments have always done it. Yes, the mint actually makes a profit on the coins, which is nothing new. And, despite all you read about copper costing $3 a pound give or take, it will cost Uncle Sam only about 20 cents to make each new coin, for which we the people pay a buck. consumed 5.2 billion pounds of refined copper and another 2 billion pounds of recycled copper scrap. Those 300 million Washingtons amount to 5.4 million pounds of a special brass alloy containing 4.74 million pounds of copper, and that's just for a three-month supply! Not to worry, we won't run out of the red metal. They haven't yet said whether less-renowned presidents than the first four will be granted such largesse down the road, but if sales are brisk, anything could happen. And we're talking about some sizeable numbers here: The Federal Reserve, the Mint's distribution agent, has placed orders for 300 million of the Washington coins alone. The new dollars seem to be catching on, if not for widespread commerce (which would require taking the dollar bill out of circulation, something Congress didn't do), then at least for collection. The Sacagawea is still being minted, albeit in small quantities. Somewhere, in a repository that must resemble Scrooge McDuck's vault, hundreds of millions of those unwanted dollars are gathering dust. Anthony (1979) and the Sacagawea (2000), which didn't have that collect-the-entire-set appeal going for them, flopped. (By any measure, the state quarter program is an enormous success.) By contrast, the Eisenhower dollar (introduced in 1961), the Susan B. The Mint believes that the sequential releases will make the new dollars a success, basing its projections ― some say its hopes ― on the 125 million Americans who dutifully stash away a few "state" quarters for the grand kids each month. ![]() But Grover Cleveland gets two, since his terms were non-consecutive. Franklin Delano Roosevelt gets one for his three-plus-a-fraction terms. William Henry Harrison therefore gets one issue over three months, despite the fact that he spent barely a month in office. The rules set down by Congress stipulate that presidents honored on the new coins must have been dead for two years before "their" dollar is struck, and that coins will be issued in the order the presidents served, no matter how long (or short) that might have been. The coins' reverse feature an image of the Statue of Liberty, while the edges are embossed with the words 'E Pluribus Unum,' 'In God We Trust,' the year of issue and mintmark. The edges will contain the words "E Pluribus Unum" and "In God We Trust," plus the year of issue and the mark of the issuing mint. The reverse sides of the coins will all display an image of the Statue of Liberty ― different for each president. No matter, since "Washington" dollars will only be issued for three months, after which it will be John Adams' turn for a quarter-year, followed by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and so on through the remaining presidents until 2016. George probably wouldn't have approved, since he disliked King George III's practice of stamping his coinage with royal images. On February 15 ― just in time for Presidents' Day ― the Mint placed into circulation the first of its new golden dollar coins featuring, for the initial issue, George Washington. Mint is betting it's got it right this time. Kundig Golden Collectibles or the Next Coin of the Realm? They're attractive, and they're actually quite convenient once you get used to them. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |