Is a "cash-less" society pushing us toward lower mintage coins?

I am fascinated by the way that the US Mint has decided through the years whether or not they will mint coins in any given year.

I am also fascinated that as a society we become more and more removed from using coins in our daily lives.

As a personal example, my wife and I have been saving for a trip to Hawaii for our anniversary and to renew our vows. One of the ways we hope to be able to afford it is by using airline miles that we accumulate when we use our debit cards.

Now this has us obsessively using those cards for anything and everything. I once bought a 7 cent screw using my debit card (the store lost money on the transaction). No matter how small the purchase, I use my card.

At college, my daughter uses a smart card for everything, and when I send my kids away for a trip, I usually give them money in Visa gift cards.

The end result of this is that we very seldom use cash or coin anymore. In fact as little as we possibly can.

Last year, nickel and dime production fell to its lowest mintage in years. The other coins were all commemorative last year so I understand the need for production to fulfill demand. The question is that as our society moves further and further away from actual coin and cash transactions, will the need for coin fall so far as to eliminating the need for the high mintages of the past? Will mintages numbering in the millions be something that we associate with the end of the 20th century, or will over the next 100 years we eliminate our need for coin altogether?

 

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Yes.

 

Our use of physical money will dwindle, but it will be a long time before it goes away altogether.

I feel it's a good thing, but my opinion is irrelevant. It's inevitable. Our shift toward Virtual Money has been ongoing for at least 700 years (Hanseatic League), maybe longer.

 

Mike I think so!
:kewl: if you pull out cash at some places they look at you like your from Mars, I guess counting change is hard for some?

 

Certainly the change to cash-less transaction will come so long as such systems are maintained and in place. When? I don't know. It will not be all at once. The use of both cash and digital funds will continue for a long time, much like the coexistence of film and digital photography are currently playing out. Sure film still exists but the masses don't use it in the way they once did, but one-hour photo kiosks at drug stores still abound and you see and find for sale single use cameras with film in them plus a niche market for students, artists, etc. consumes film products. The Mint will try to maintain collectors and continue Minting only collectibles for a similar niche market after transactions are cashless. Most of us order from the Mint with credit cards already and Mike can do so getting points for the coins he buys from the Mint too. Bon Voyage!

 

I hope it stays until I'm gone. It is aggraveting waiting on someone in front of me line using a credit card on a tiny purchase. It may be alright in the cities, but here in the real world cash is king...

 

It is inevitable that we will be moving to a cashless society in the near future (within 25 years). Of course, the US Mint will still be producing overpriced coins for collectors. I bet that some people will even start to collect the debit/credit, etc. cards used for financial transactions. TC

 

I'd like to collect some cash cards with value left on them!

 

What people don't realize is there is a very sizable portion of the population, not only around the world, but right here in the US that do not use banks and plastic for anything, but strictly use cash. I'm not talking a small percentage either. It would be literally impossible to go completely cashless. The banking means have been possible for nearly a century, but the logistical means will never be possible. Cash has been here for millennia and will be here for millenia to come.
Guy~

 

VERICHIP IS THE NEW DIME....THINK ABOUT IT

 

It is those very transactions which will cause the government to require all transactions become electronic. I suspect within ten years and possibly next year.

 

Japanese phone cards are credit card-sized (but thinner) plastic electronically "loaded" for use, with a multitude of advertising and scenic designs. For quite a few years they have been heavily used, and heavily collected.

 

an interesting aside to this is that it actually behooves the government to make every transaction electronic because the more transactions are documented the easier it is to collect taxes. This in and of itself is incentive to remove cash from commerce.

I'm not saying that it's right around the corner, but this is a logical progression.

Back to the OP, I said "Will it drive down the mintages in the immediate future?" not "Will we eliminate coins altogether?"

 

Yesterday the little lady told me a story about a convienent store stop. All she wanted was a Coke, but had to wait for 5 or 6 minutes. Why, because the only person in front of her at this one register store couldn't get their debit card to work. If this person would of had cash in their pocket 3 people would have been happy and there would have been no embarassments and eyerolling. Have a nice day...

 

That was similar here in Europe when such phone cards were commonly used: Quite a few collected them, but there were way too many different ones card issues and designs. Nowadays they are not "popular" any more, neither in terms of use nor as collectibles.

As for "plastic", well over here I mostly use debit cards (which, from my experience, are usually not accepted in the US) and also, to a lesser extent, a credit card too. Last time I was in the US, I could not even buy my shuttle bus ticket except with plastic. The odd thing was, everybody had to pay at a "manned" cashier's desk - they just do not want to deal with cash (fear of theft maybe). All that for the enormous amount of $7 per ticket ...

The more situations like that we run into, the less popular cash will be. So yes, there will be fewer coins in the future. But the number will not go down to zero.

Christian

 

Speaking of old vs. new times.

What I really hate is being behind the little old lady who

1. Waits until everything has been rung up and the total is displayed
before
2. She starts digging through her purse to find
what ?
3. Her CHECK BOOK.

And then I get to sit and watch her write it out, update her tracking system. Then of course, the clerk has to run it through the verification process.

I'll be glad when checkbooks are gone!!!!

 

We will end up with cell phones that do transactions for us.

 

I've been saying this for a long time now. Coins and currency are on their way out. Soon coin usage will vanish. Already there are so many complaints about the cost of coin production and their uages are drindling away.
My Son too in college seldom ever used cash. Now after college he still seldom ever even has any cash of any kind on him. Every where he goes it is plastic. I've taken his lead too and now use a credit card for about 90% of all purchases. Every store, gas station, restaurant, etc. I now use a credit card. And many of those cards give you money just for using them so why use cash?
One store has their own card and I get 1% back in cash for all non store usages ands 2% back for all in store usages. So why use cash?
As our intercontinental businesses increase, something mush be done with the monitary systems of all countries to make it easier to deal. Europe is attepting this now with one type of system. Eveventully all transactions will be computerised since this is the only way to transact a montiray system successfully.

 

Removing coins from circulation for commerce will of course reduce mintages to just the collectibles market. Thus a direct answer to your question. If you ask a question, expect an answer unless you are simply asking for rhetorical purposes.