Well it works like the old joke, the new material studies have show it can be cheap, strike up well, or be seamless, you can have any two. So far after 8 years of study they have managed to find a suitable material they could use for the five cent piece and it would bring the cost of the five cent piece down to 4.9 cents each. Just takes a slight change in metal prices or manufacturing costs and you're back up over face value again.
Well, isn't that a given by now? I mean, five cents just CAN'T buy the metal used to make a nickel! Is negative seigniorage acceptable? It seems that many here at this forum seem to expect that a coin HAS to produce a profit or it's just the end of the world. I wonder if the USA will be tempted to consider a "coinless" currency system plan?
Not a chance, too many companies and people make their money a quarter at a time. I know a lot of things have went cash less, even parking meters. You can wave your phone or watch to pay for things. But there is still a considerable amount of people who use cash only. Many in lower economic circles don't even have bank accounts. Maybe some day we'll all use our implants to transfer wealth, just not in my lifetime.
Actually, on the cu-ni clad dimes, quarters and halves, the net nickel content is 8.333% of the total weight. The proportions of the clad layers to the core are 1:4:1, so that each clad layer is 1/6th the thickness of the coin and the two clad layers together are 2/6th or 1/3rd the thickness of the coin. The clad layers are 25% nickel, or 1/4, so 1/4 x 1/3 = 1/12th, or .083333. Thus 91.667% copper, 8.333% nickel. On the Susan B. Anthony dollars, they increased the thickness of the clad layers to protect the coins during the heavy usage they were going to get in circulation and vending machines. Yeah, right! The proportions are 1:2:1, so each coin is 1/2 copper nickel. and 1/2 x 1/4 = 1/8, or .125000. Thus 87.5% copper, 12.5% nickel. Not positive on the Ikes. I am 99% sure they are the same as the dimes, quarters and halves, but need to look it up and don't have the time right now. TD
In 2009 a new Hungarian 200 forint coin was introduced to account for inflation, as the 100 forint coin had lost about half of its value, making 200 forint about equivalent to a dollar. That being the case, the specifications of this coin were very closely tied to what worked for the vending industry. I have an extensive collection of Hungarian patterns, which includes vending trials produced by the mint. These trials say "Minta" (sample or specimen). Here are my vending trials for the introduction of the 200 forint coin in 2009: Note that the design for the obverse and reverse of vending trials 1-4 were placeholders copying the design of the contemporary 100 forint coin, with only the denomination on the reverse changed. Vending Trial 1 (mono-metallic small planchet): Hungary Undated (2009) Copper 200 Forint Vending Industry Specimen 8.28g, 25.16mm x 2.4mm NGC MS64 Vending Trial 2 (mono-metallic large planchet): Hungary Undated (2009) Copper 200 Forint Vending Industry Specimen 9.55g, 26.68mm x 2.6mm NGC MS65 Vending Trial 3 (bi-metallic small planchet): Hungary Undated (2009) Bi-Metallic (Copper/Nickel) 200 Forint Vending Industry Specimen 8.16g, 25.19mm x 2.25mm NGC MS64 Vending Trial 4 (bi-metallic large planchet): Hungary Undated (2009) Bi-Metallic (Copper/Nickel) 200 Forint Vending Industry Specimen 9.53g, 26.7mm x 2.32mm NGC MS64 Vending Trial 5 (bi-metallic large planchet): Hungary 2009 Bi-Metallic (Copper/Nickel) 200 Forint Vending Industry Specimen 9.05g, 28.15mm x 1.93mm NGC MS62 Vending trial 5 was essentially what would become the final specifications for this coin. After this was struck, the mint would go on to produce regular mono-metallic and bi-metallic pattern strikes of the final design used for the business strikes. The design for the obverse and reverse of vending trial 5 was based on an early concept for the final design. I have included an example of the final business strike below for comparison. And here's the final business strike: Hungarian 200 forint 2009BP Bi-Metallic (Copper-Nickel/Nickel-Brass) KM-826 9g, 28.3mm x 2mm NGC MS67 The 2009 200 forint is the most significant example of vending trials for modern Hungarian coinage, however, just last year (2019) they introduced a new composition of the 100 forint coin, changed from bi-metallic plated steel to copper-nickel-zinc. I also have an early vending trial of this new composition 100 forint, which is dated 2018, but it was not a fundamentally new coin or a new planchet specification as it was with the 200 forint.
Awesome, thank you! Anyway, this clad composition could fool vending machines that used to accept silver-composition coinage, right?