End of the Lincoln Cent ???

Made out of what?? The standard CuNi clad that they use for the dime quarter and half won't work. A CuNi clad nickel would still cost 7 1/2 cents to make.

The problem is they want any new material to allow a "seamless" introduction into the existing coins so they can be handled by the same equipment and without extensive modification of existing vending coin mechanisms. So the new coins can't be larger, smaller, thicker, heavier or lighter, and need to have the same electromechanical properties. They also need to strike up well and resist wear. It can't be done. Most coinage metals are the heavier elements, The cheaper abundant metals tend to be much less dense so to get the weight the same they are larger or thicker. Alloying with a heavier metal to get the size and weight right tends to either be a more expensive alloy or a much more difficult alloy to make which increases the cost. So far their best solution has been to stick with CuNi and reduce the more expensive Ni content and increasing the Cu. it works because Cu and Ni have almost the same density so the weight and size don't change. That was how the got the 4.9 cent alloy. But both Cu and Ni have risen in price since then.

 

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vending still takes coins? most machines I see have bill acceptors and it's $1.00 or more per product. tolls are fast pass cards that deduct from a bank account or you pay a bill instead of digging for coin, I can't think of many things anymore that take coins it's been pretty phased out by inflation. also I'm thinking the newer machines use optical sensors to detect acceptable composition, size and weight, against a program. pretty sure a software update would be the only change except for old machines. Heck I only know of 1 payphone within 20 miles of my house, no newspaper boxes anywhere anymore, and walmart maybe has a soda machine or a toy crane in the entrance along with one of the horse/rocket rides. Seems crazy at this point to drag it on for the old, old tech when the new tech of the last 20 years likely has methods to adjust in the software what coins it will accept. I think globally it's a $25 billion dollar industry, with most of it in Japan and their machines don't take U.S. composition coins, so the ability to adjust exists, I think I read there's about 5 million coin operated machines around the U.S. in total still and accounts for $5-$7 billion dollars a year.

I mean heck they didn't have much issue transitioning to dollar bills and dollar coins right? Most machines won't take pennies now either, not worth the space inside the machines. If they could shut down cents, they could shut down nickels completely also.

 

Most self-checkout machines, which are becoming more common, take coins. I haven't had a chance to test them because I use a credit card.

Cal

 

Yes, the self serve check out machines are now in every Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot and many local grocery stores and they take ALL coins including cents, dollar coins (including SBA's) AND halves.

 

There are still plenty of vending machines around, and while most of the have bill slots and even credit card readers they all still take coins as well. Except cents I haven't seen a machine that takes cents in years. Not even those gumball type machines that support service organizations or charities.

I do know of two pay phones here in town and several newspaper boxes.

 

Well for what ever its worth/you believe, AVC Coin TV show said again this week (11/2021) that "no more cents in 2022" and was confirmed by the US Mint.

 

There's plenty that don't take anything but cards, but yes plenty still take coins especially in rural areas with older machines

 

No press release announcements on the mint website about it.