Conder101

No they aren't. The marketing costs are paid out of the mint seniorage. No tax money is used to fund the mint.

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chip

I voted no, keep the cent. sentiment should take priority over economics, plus if they eliminated the cent they would just shift the dead wood to some other denomination, I do think they do not need to churn out as many as they have been doing, the mint should make coins for commerce.

There have been many years when the mint did not make certain coins, I would think that with the state of the economy they could let the mint workers take a year long vacation and we would still have enough coins for commerce.

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900fine

All the time.

I use vending machines all the time. Coins are vastly superior to currency in vending machines. I never have a problem with a coin; I almost always have to wrestle with the bills. Gotta coax the machine into taking them.

Vending machines are the #1 reason / justification for $1 coins IMO.

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Billy Kingsley

Absolutely NOT!! There are some people, like me for one, who literally have to make every cent count. Those of us who aren't well off financially have to keep track of everything, and cents are still an important part of daily life.

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Billy Kingsley Member ANA, SPMC
Can't really afford to collect coins but I do enjoy reading and talking about them.
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yakpoo

The only vending machines I've found that take $1 coins are at the Post Office...and they're taking them out.

Good on ya for spending coins...I try to. Each morning I grab a handfull and put them in my pocket. When I come home at night, I have more than I started with.

I must be the only person this happens to.

krispy

Many subway / metro systems use $1 coins, or spit them back at you for paying a fare at a vending machine with a $20 note for a single fare. However, most public transportation now have various cards that are dispensed with value stored on them, which can be paid for by credit card.

WhereEaglesDare

It cost money to MARKET the coin. They advertised it, they had banners, etc up. So that, in turn, increased the cost of each coin on average. Lets say they made 1 million One dollar coins ( hypothetical) and it costs 700,000 dollars in production costs, then they spend 1 million in advertising the cost of each coin, on average, is 1.7 dollars each.

When you flood the market with "Comeritives" and "Memorials" it ruins the market and drives the value of all other coins and other similar artifacts down. Its simple Supply and Demand. Same thing happened to the comic book collection market in the 90s.

Needless to say, I feel these coins are a waste and hurt the hobby.

That gets me back to my original point. It costs money to make a penny, yes, but if they stopped WASTING money on these superfluous items then the cost of a penny would be much more negligible in the grand scheme.

And I do agree that the State Quarters could be considered a success, but again they spent money to advertise and etc. Why couldn't they just keep the sitting eagle quarters.


Condor:
Mint Seniorage? Could you explain this?

If I am wrong about my assumption earlier about taxes, please excuse me.

Agreed, the number one reason and its still not much of a reason to radically change our currency. IMO

Snowman

i get dollar coins from the US Mint on the direct ship program because on my credit card rebate gives 5% on their rebate program. the stores i spend them at that has self serve machines are Walmart, Home Depot and BJ's wholesale club.so these stores all have these so i can dump a whole lot of them at one time. maybe yakpoo your local stores have these

back the the penny question - i think they should continue making them. it should be up to stores that gives out change if they want to round down/up
Example: i usually get a sandwich made at the store for a total of 1.89 and i give 2 dollars and they give 11 cents back. so if the mint stops making pennies in the future and the price stays the same..... should the store take my 1 cent & give back 10 cents or give back 15 cents ???????

i think that people value the penny on what each one can buy instead of a value that doesn't end in a zero or a five. Snowman

yakpoo

Our coinage and monetary policies are on a collision course. I'm laid back on a chaise lounge with a frozen margarita...in my Tommy Bahama shirt and flip flops...just waiting for the train wreck!

WhereEaglesDare

Interesting view. I have to agree.

yakpoo

Nice post, Snowman!

I've never tried the "self checkout" lanes...I don't like to encourage that sort of thing. As far as your sandwich is concerned...they would probably do what they've been doing for hundreds of years...give you an extra slab of ham and charge you 2 bucks.

coleguy

That was true for about three months over a year ago, but not now. Besides, the mint doesn't lose anything on coins, as the others, such as quarter, nickel and dime offset any potential loses, like in any business you look at. Walmart would lose money if all they sold was dvd players at below cost, but add in all the millions of other items sold and they come out ahead.

I say keep the cent. The day that I don't get about 20 back in change will be the day I concede they are useless and not wanted. Until then, I don't buy into the notion they are not used.
Guy~

WhereEaglesDare

...but the mint shouldnt be in business to make money, instead just to produce money... unless what you are getting at is that the dime, for example, costs less to make than its face value and this offsets the production costs of the other coins... ESPECIALLY when you get the halves and the dollars.

coleguy

Thats what I meant, and thought I said. The mint has to make money. It's not a tax funded enterprise, but rather self-sustaining. Many taxpayers forget this.
Guy~

yakpoo

...but to produce coins just because it's profitable isn't in the job of US Mint...that's the job of the Franklin Mint. The US Mint's job is to produce coinage in support of Commerce. If people aren't spending their coins and just sending them back to the bank...that's NOT commerce...that means our coinage is undervalued.