coleguy

Ok, this may be a dumb question, but so what, I need to know because it's driving me crazy. Doing some quick and very unscientific research, I found that the US mint has made well over 100 billion coins in all denominations just between 2000 and 2007. Thats just seven measly years worth. Now consider they've been actively minting coins for over 230 years. Thats a butt load of coins, no matter how you look at it. We all know the relative life expectancy of a coin in active circulation is about 30 years, so we can easily tripple that 100 billion figure and assume there should be no less than 300 billion US coins floating around out there. Thats enough small change for ever man, woman and child in this country to own about 5 Brinks truckloads of coins. Yet, the mint continually pops out billions more every year based on demand. So here's my question, finally:

Where the heck do all the billions upon billions of coins vanish to? There should be billions on unneeded coins everywhere, coming out our ears, clogging up our rivers, littering out forests, and so on. Where are they? I assume a small percentage are lost, damaged and hoarded by ravenous collectors, but I can't buy that would be more than 1% total. Are they being housed in underground bunkers at area 51? Smuggled to other planets? Or do they simply dissolve after a few months? Has anyone ever wondered about this as well? Maybe I just have too much time to think about useless stuff at work, I don't know.
Guy~