The Future of US Currency

Discussion in 'US Coins Forum' started by Phil Ham, Dec 25, 2013.

  1. Phil Ham

    Phil Ham Hamster

    I've taken a quick look at the mintage numbers of US dimes over the past 54 years to see if I see any trends in the use of currency. I choose the dime for no good reason. Here is a quick look at the average mintage in each decade of circulating dimes:

    1960's 1.072 billion/year
    1970's 0.921 billion/year
    1980's 1.490 billion/year
    1990's 2.198 billion/year
    2000's 2.188 billion/year
    2010's 1.777 billion/year

    I was expecting that the use of coins would be reducing in this age of electronic transfers and debit and credit cards but it appears that the reduction in dime mintage is more related to the recession. The 2013 mintage at 2.057 billion/year has nearly returned to levels prior to the start of the recession in late 2008. It appears that the death of currency isn't happening at the pace that I would have expected. I'm not sure if that is good or bad for our hobby but I'm thinking good.
     
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  3. Kirkuleez

    Kirkuleez 80 proof

    They may just need to mint so many coins because nobody spends them. Who doesn't have a giant change jar going? And when was the last time that you found a really well worn coin in your change?
     
  4. Ron Sannes

    Ron Sannes Member

    Thats true, it seems that all the coins i get in change are barely worn.
     
  5. Snowman

    Snowman Senior Member

    plus take into consideration that the US population has grown 120 million since the 1960's or 60% more people using coins ...maybe that is why the dime trend is not dropping with electronic transfers being used more...but I bet that the avg for the amount of new dimes made per person is dropping
     
    Rassi likes this.
  6. mikenoodle

    mikenoodle The Village Idiot Supporter

    Change happens at the speed of glaciers. especially with US money.
     
  7. Nuglet

    Nuglet Active Member

    I do get worn quarters in change... switching to clad was a good idea for the longevity of coins, they take a lickin', even coins from the 60's are still doin ok. My 90% junk silver looks heavily worn even though they were removed from circulation a few years after being made...late 50's stuff looks beat and probably was only circulated till 64.. anything from the 40's is slick...
     
    bugo likes this.
  8. ken454

    ken454 Well-Known Member

    i think the only people who really spend change are little kids who dig for change in dad's recliner an car and elderly women who carry a full change purse in their pocketbook and count out exact change every time they purchase something...
     
  9. Phil Ham

    Phil Ham Hamster

    I rarely use change and rarely see men using change. I do see woman using change sometimes but not as often as the past. It seems like a swipe of the debit card is the norm. Thus, I was expecting a much bigger drop in dime mintages. I can understand the coin jar thing, but folks have been saving coins in jars since the invention of the jar. Since dimes are being used infrquently in society, I would expect a large drop in their use even counting for the population increase. Perhaps their using them in South America or something.
     
  10. JPeace$

    JPeace$ Coinaholic

    I use change in the airports as I travel quite frequently and accumulate quite a bit of it. I carry a simple change purse in my PC bag and when it gets too heavy, pay for items in the airport with only coins.
     
  11. saltysam-1

    saltysam-1 Junior Member

    All the retail merchants go through a ton of coins and $1 bills. I see $5, $10 and $20 dollar bills being given to cashiers much more often than the little old ladies handing out exact change. Where it goes after that is anyone's guess. I like the make shift piggy bank idea.
     
  12. Pere

    Pere Active Member

    I am using mostly cash for everything these days (reversing my own and the general trend), and often using exact change. Cashiers tend to like it; I'm usually pretty quick, since I try to carry idealized quantities of all twelve denominations.
     
  13. Briguy

    Briguy Collector 4 Life

    After the Target retail fraud I wonder how many folks will consider making more cash purchases. I'll probably use my debit/credit card as much as I have in the past anyway.
     
  14. saltysam-1

    saltysam-1 Junior Member

    What would we do in a cashless society if we all were on electronic banking? This would not be an option.

     
  15. Pere

    Pere Active Member

    Yep. Keep your options; keep and use cash.
     
  16. AWORDCREATED

    AWORDCREATED Hardly Noticeable

    "The Future of US Currency"

    All of your Currency are belong to us!
     
  17. bdunnse

    bdunnse Who dat?

    Not sure what you mean by this - can you explain? Thanks!
     
  18. Pere

    Pere Active Member

    Well, basically it means that I like to be able to pay for whatever routine purchases I might make during the day with appropriately-sized money. I try to avoid either breaking big bills on small purchases, or having to hand over fistfuls of smaller denominations for larger purchases. And I don't want to be carrying too many total pieces; I don't want my wallet awkwardly stuffed or my change pocket cumbersome.

    So I figure that the ideal configuration of cash on my person each morning is the one that gives me the best odds of covering all the purchases I might conceivably decide to make during the day (excluding large ones that I don't want to be spur-of-the-moment), paying for each with either exact change or something modestly over.

    The solutions to this will be different for different people, and maybe different days, depending on the routines of one's days and the kinds of things one might be buying. But as an example,* if I leave the house with:
    one $100 bill,
    one $50 bill,
    two $20 bills,
    one $10 bill,
    one $5 bill,
    two $2 bills,
    one $1 coin,
    one half dollar,
    one quarter,
    two dimes,
    one nickel,
    and four pennies (twelve denominations),
    then I'm certainly not feeling encumbered by my cash; I have a thin wallet of eight bills, and just ten coins in my pocket (or, nine and nine if you use $1 bills; I prefer the coins). Yet I have over $210 available, am guaranteed to be able to make exact change for my first purchase, and good odds of coming close for a few subsequent ones. I should generally return home with fewer, or at least no more, pieces of money than I started with.

    Some people say they don't like cash because they end up with wads of rumpled small bills and heavy piles of coins. But that's because they're using cash badly; they're just getting $20s from the ATM, and paying for anything with one or more of those, and accumulating the change.


    * I'm still refining my personal formula, but lately I've usually been starting with a few extra dollar coins for coffee-break type purchases. If the amount is small, it feels more efficient to only pull out coins, and not have to touch the wallet at all.
     
  19. Briguy

    Briguy Collector 4 Life

    Sounds like a great plan.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  20. Phil Ham

    Phil Ham Hamster

    Money will become inconsequential in the next century. It is much easier to use electornic transfers. The technology to transfer it safely will be the thing.
     
  21. bdunnse

    bdunnse Who dat?

    Ah, I was basically wondering how you had twelve and not thirteen denominations...you leave out dollar bills which I guess is a repeat denomination. Never mind. :D
     
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