A Cent Question

I read an article recently about the cent going the way of the Canadian penny considering it costs more than a cent to create it. My question is how long will it be before we can expect the cent to go extinct? I only ask because I'm currently focusing on them for a collection.

Also, Why were no cents minted in 1815? Just curious

 

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I don't think we will ever see the cent go extinct, in our life time anyway.

There were no cents minted in 1815 due to a shortage of copper because of the War of 1812.

 

Here.

 

So a fire happened at all the Mints that year and they all closed?

So how do you explain no interruption in minting other denominations from all Mints that year?

 

This info is from PCGS coin facts.

 

This is form another site; makes more sense.

 

Yep... no copper planchets for 1815, though the fire of 1816 did curtail production of gold and silver coins.

 

There ya go

 

All the mints that year consisted of Philadelphia. The first branch mint was not until 1838 (I believe) and the first copper outside of Philadelphia was not until 1908

 

Thats very interesting about the 1815 stuff. It makes sense. No pun intended...

So, the consensus (based on 1 post) is that the cent wont go extinct in our lifetime?

 

only philadelphia was minting coins in 1815... they produced 89,235 quarters, 47,150 halves, and 635 half eagles... total in 1815!! all denominations. i think a fire could have halted production. were there other factors (war)... sure. but the fact remains only 3 coins were minted with a total production of 137,020 coins.

 

Guys, if we continually give Detecto the information, he'll never learn to find it on his own.

 

There has been a cry to cease production of the Cent for the last 30 years. At some point, the only coins minted will be strictly for collectors, as we evolve into a cashless species. Electronic transfers are more economical, completely traceable and subject to 100% taxation. Given that each successive generation relies more and more on electronics and the complications they do away with, I think it's inevitable. However, probably not for some time yet, as there will be resistance by those government entities that feed off an underground economy which must have cash transactions.

Governments can balance the loss of minting coinage against the profits of printing currency, so that isn't much of a factor. The cent may go, but I don't think it will go away soon. IMHO


gary

 

Good. I just want to be able to get them in general circulation for as long as possible lol

 

Cent blanks were imported from Birmingham England up until the War of 1812. The mint had a bit of a supply but it ran out after the 1814 cents were struck. The mint continued to import the blanks up until the 1830s. I believe that the Boulton's ordered their copper from mines in Sweden.

 

When will the cent end? Hard to say since it seems to be up to the politicians in Washington and they can seldom do anything simple quickly. The cent should have been discontinued 30 years ago in 82. It absolutely should have ended about 15 years ago when it started costing more to make that the face value. The fact they have been making it for the past five years losing two cents or more for every cent they make is absolutely a no brainer that it should be discontinued. Yet they still have not done anything serious about ending it and the materials study for possible alternative materials to make it out of isn't supposed to report back til the end of the year (Which will report on a couple of possibilities for cheaper materials, but considering the labor and othe related costs are 2 cents apiece it doesn't really matter what they make them out of they will lose money) it seems to me that the absolute earliest they would stop it would be 2015. And even then they will probably continue making them for collectors.

The fire at the Mint had absolutely nothing to do with the lack of 1815 cents. The fire occurred Jan 11th 1816 and destroyed the mints rolling mills where gold and silver was rolled into strip. The copper coins were struck on ready made planchets shipped from Boulton and Watt in England though so that is why in 1816 the ONLY coins struck were cents. No gold or silver could be processed until the new steam powered rolling mill could be acquired and the new building built to house it. (The last cent planchets from Boulton ordered before the war arrived May 9th 1812. These 20 tons of planchets were mostly struck in 1812 and some were struck in 1813. In Nov 1813 orders came not to strike any more copper coin and the order held until Sept 1814 when the last 400K planchets were struck. No further copper could be ordered until after the formal ratification of the peace treaty in Feb 1815. At that point planchets were ordered but they did not arrive until late Dec 1815. Cent striking was begun immediately with 1816 dated dies.)

 

Thanks for the history lesson Conder!

 

The history of the Boulton and Watt mint with all the steam powered coining presses is an amazing testament to the beginning of the Industrial Age. Steam powered machinery even pioneered superior coining.

 

History is so much more enjoyable when hearing it from someone who was actually there !!

LOL........kidding, Condor. Thanks