Just wondering, because, doesn't the 2 cent Euro coin circulate fairly well? I believe their 50 cent Euro circulates quite well. I wonder how they set up their cash registers, with 8 circulating coin denominations. The one reason I heard that the U.S. 3 cent coin was minted, was to pay for 3 cent stamps easier. Is this true? And did the 2, 3, and 20 cent U.S. coins circulate well, back in the day?
That is the case for the 2 and 3 cent coins, to pay for postage for that period. 20 cent pieces were struck to help use up some of the comstock lode silver, this was to keep silver prices reasonable. Essentially it was an unneeded coin for its time. That's why it was so short lived and mintages were low, therefore the high premiums they hold in the marketplace, even in poor and good grades.
They were all unpopular in their day Drago. It's lucky we collectors came along to keep their "spirit" alive. Personally I don't like any of them, with the exception of the 3-Cent Silver. Bruce
Sorry, but I also forgot to ask about the half cent coin. How popular was that? I heave read, not very much, and thats why it was discontinued, when it was worth about a dime in the 1990s.
When it was introduced in 1793 the Half Cent had some purchasing power. But by the time it was discontinued in 1857 the Half Cent was an inconveniently large coin that could not purchase much of anything.
Hobo's right, and aside from that the government was all about putting the intrinsic value of the metal in those coins. For example the half cents of those times had one half cent worth of copper in them. By 1857, it got too expensive to put that much copper in a coin that size, same for the large cents.
The 1/2 cent pieces were issuded because the postage then was one cent for letters, and 1/2 cent for a postcards. so the need for change. Probably most we snagged up at the time, kind of like the halves and dollar coins now. The 2,3 and 20 cent pieces were issued to fill in the gap because all change was hoarded after the civil war. They even used postage stamps as change then encapsuled. It reminds me of the 1965-1967 period where all the silver was pulled from circulation. Thus the years mentioned did not contain any mint marks and even the West Point mint was making extra change for circulation.
Remember that there was no automation in the 1860s for handling mail. Handling mail was very labor intensive. Letters were hand-cancelled. Addresses were read by a human, not a machine. There were no zip codes. There were no tractor-trailer rigs or air cargo planes to haul mail long distances; mail moved mainly by stagecoach or Pony Express. (When the Pony Express first started out the charge for a 1/2 ounce letter was $5. That charge was later reduced to $1. By comparison, in 1860 the United States Post Office charged 3 cents for a 1/2 ounce letter delivered up to 3,000 miles and 10 cents for a 1/2 ounce letter delivered over 3,000 miles. In 1863 they changed the fee to 3 cents per 1/2 ounce with no limit on distance.)
i also collect stamps, it seems not many people collect stamps now, lots of good early stamps that are cheaper now than years ago.
The railroads made the price of postage go down from 5c to 3c http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cj15n1-1.html AND "Although critics called the coin "debased," the public initially loved it. The government loved it also, since a dollar's worth of 3c pieces was worth only 86 cents in gold. The need for small change was so great that people were impatient for the coin's release. " "These thin, little, insignificant looking coins called "fish scales" by the public and joked about in the press, became the savior of American commerce. As time passed, however, the public became disenchanted with the little coins, as they were easily lost. " http://www.coinsite.com/coinsite-pf/pparticles/03csilt2.asp
The half cent was made due to the widespread use of the Spanish 8 Reales in America, And them being cut in to pieces to make small change. 1 reale was equal to $1, so 1/8 of an 8 reale would be 12.5 cents. The reason the Euro 2 cent circulates so well is that they use a 20 cent piece instead of a 25 cent piece. The reason the American 20 cent didn't circulate very well is because the quarter had already pretty much filled that void in denominations, and two dimes could be 20 cents just as easy. Like the gold dollar(not the prez/sacagwea), it was only minted to use up the sudden flood of silver or gold.
What does having a 20 cent coin have to do with the Euro 2 cent, 50 cent and 2 Euro coins circulating so well? And why did our quarter dollar succeed over our 20 cent coin? If that is the case, I think we should make the change to a 20 cent coin and ditch the quarter and issue a 2 cent coin in the U.S. to cut down on the amount of one cent coins you have to carry, which many people may like, and to get our half circulating, and if not $1 and $2 coins, then just keep the $1 bill, but make the $2 bill circulate as well. Hey, it IS four denominations (2c, 20c, 50c, and $2) the Euro way Vs. two denominations (25c, and $1 bill) the U.S. way.
Cannot really comment on how well those three old US denominations circulated. But the euro and cent coins you mention do circulate here just as the others do. We don't have "well accepted" and "less accepted" denominations ... except that in some euro countries (Finland, Netherlands) the 1 cent and 2 cent coins are not really used due to the rounding rules. Wish we would do that in Germany too. Christian
20 cent coins were disliked because of similar size and design (seated Liberty) to the quarter. Much like the SBA dollar being similar in size to the quarter. Both coins failed because people were loosing money in many transactions. The quarter came before the 20 cent piece and was a logical denomination due to the Spanish Reale. The quarter was nicknamed "two bits" because it had the same buying power as 1/4 Reale (8 bits per Reale divided into quarters equals two bits). The 20 cent was just another screw up by government forcing the mint to make something the public didn't want and/or need (sound familiar?). Two cent pieces were produced due to hoarding of coins during the civil war and were discontinued once hoarding was over. Three cent pieces were indeed issued for the convenience of paying postage along with the $3 gold piece as stamps came in sheets (panes) of 100. Silver 3 cent pieces (trimes) were hoarded during this time and the nickel 3 cent was introduced with a partial overlap of minting years. Trimes were hoarded for their intrinsic value yet were disliked becuase they were easily lost due to their small size. As for the half cent when first issued, they were used for change when dealing with the spanish reale and it's fractions. As far as being used for postage, the post office didn't issue stamps until 1847 and they were 5 and 10 cent denominations. The half cent was minted from 1793 to 1857 and the half cent stamp didn't make it's debut until almost 50 years after the half cent coin was no longer minted. This stamp was issued to cover the cost of additional ounces for mail classifications that most people have never heard of such as 4th class mail. The term "Postcard" wasn't really used at the time that half cent pieces were in circulation. If you mailed what we now refer to a postcard it would cost at least 5 cents to mail it back in the 1840's. Prior to 1847 the recipient of mail usually was the one who had to pay for postage.
They weren't particularly popular. There are several important clues suggesting limited popularity : low mintages compared to large cents several significant periods with zero mintage numerous dates of hoard coins (suggesting quantities were sitting around in vaults unused and unwanted - 1830s and beyond) poor planchets in the early days, suggesting 1/2c were viewed as "second class citizens" relative to large cents The fourth point is instructive. Consider how many half cents were made on "spoiled cent" planchets, rolled down and cut to size. Further, many half cents were made on Talbot, Alum and Lee tokens.
Coinhead Your information on the stamps is interesting but your explanation of the spanish coins is all messed up. The Spanish milled dollar (our term for it) was a coin denominated as 8 Reales. During times of coin shortage these would be cut up to make change. They would cut cut in half (half dollar or 4 reales), quarters (quarter dollar or 2 reales) or eighths (1 /8 of a dollar, 1 reale or in the slag of the time 1 bit.) The Spanish also made whole coins with the denominations of half reale (equal to about 6 1/4 cents), a one reale or bit equal to 12 1/2 cents, a two reales, two bits or quarter dollar, and a four reales 4 bits or half dollar. (They also made a 1/5 dollar piece called a pistereen which was worth 20 cents but it didn't fit in with anything else and was quite unpopular.)
