I don't understand the question. Do you mean how much earth is displaced because coins are dropped? I'd say it's a net decrease, because of the ore that is taken from the ground to make the metal that forms the coins.
WOW now that is a question. You would have to go back as far as there have been anything of monitary usage almost. And if you think about it, in some areas virtually billions of tons of Earth have been moved to produce metals for coins. And then too, you would have include all the plastics for the few plastic coins. Although people have found coins from the BC time, for all anyone really knows the cave people may have had coins. Even vending machines but got smashed during the very first atomic war millions of years ago. Also, there is that chance that millions of years ago, creatures from other planets excavated this world for metals for coins. Now with the possibility of the existance of Atlantis, coins there too could have been used and no one knows where they got their material for coins. And if you throw in all the coins being produced in China and have been as long as counterfeiting was done there, that alone could make trillions of tons of material excavated. Just to much to estimate.
This question falls under the category of "things that make you go hmmm" along with questions such as How many fairies can dance on the head of a pin? :goofer: TC
in one sense, zero because none of the ore/metal has left the planet (unless NASA has been keeping secrets). Let's look at US coinage and see what numbers (weights and volumes) we can come up with: 1¢: less than 20 billion minted 2¢: less than 46 million minted 3¢ CuNi: less than 42 million minted 3¢ silver: less than 31.3 million minted half dimes: less than 98 million minted 5¢: less than 60 billion minted 10¢: less than 10 billion minted clad10¢: less than 90 billion minted 20¢: less than 1.35 million minted 25¢: less than 9 billion minted clad 25¢: less than 65 billion minted 50¢: less than 3 billion minted clad 50¢: less than 1.7 billiion minted $1 (silver):less than 900 million minted clad $1 :less than 750 million minted clad $1 :less than 895 million minted "golden" $1: less than 1.5 billion minted $1 (gold): less than20 million minted $2.5 (gold): less than 21 million minted $3 (gold): less than 540,000 minted $5 (gold): less than 79 million minted $10 (gold): less than 59 million minted $20 (gold): less than 175 million minted this works out (in terms of pure metal, not ore) to 3,111 metric tons of copper = 347 cubic meters or a cube 23.1 feet on each side 143 metric tons of silver = 13.6 cubic meters or a cube 7.8 feet on each side 7.6 metric tons of gold = or 0.395 cubic meters or a cube 2.4 feet on each side (and you can tell that I had far too much time on my hands this afternoon)
I think you numbers are a little off because the 1982 cent mintage was 1982 P 10,712,525,000 1982 D 6,012,979,368 not to mention the other years
You're right on the cents, the number is around 350 billion. I pulled 20 billion out of the air and then did the sums, forgetting to correct the 20 billion number. I believe that the copper weights/volumes are roughly correct. The other denominations should be correct. In terms of current values: 3,111 metric tons of copper has a current value of $23,000,000,000 143 metric tons of silver has a current value of $78,400,000,000 7.6 metric tons of gold has a current value of $270,000,000,000 again, numbers are approximate
I know this one, I know it! It an area the size of Florida exactly or, there is no answer to this question because we have no idea how many coins there has been in the history of the world. Heck we even have trouble with accurate mintage figures before 1920. That's less than 100 years so how on earth are we to come up with your answer?
As far as US coins, 18th century mintages << 19th century mintages << 20th century mintages. I doubt that other countries have minted as many coins as the US. Since the metal in US coins is less than 400 cubic meters, compare the volume of the finished product to that of the earth which is 1,086,200,000,000,000,000,000 cubic meters (1.08 x 10^21 m^3). I'd say there's a lot of metal still left in the ground. Now to just dig it up.:headbang:
I really suspect you just rounded that number off. You really should have noted the exact amount in Cubic Meters.
Is it true? Is it true? One of the features that can be seen from the moon is a certain copper mine in the US of A? It's not just the Great Wall of China I hear that can be viewed from Luna. And that is just the dirt removed to GET to copper, right? Then there is the compounding problem that most Gold & Silver is not always found in "pure states" and requires moving some stuff to get to the best stuff, then selected. This is like my wife insisting EVERYTHING must be moved around here because Spring is on its way. How many Spring Cleanings does it take to establish an economy?
I don't think it would be possible to answer that question with any accuracy, but for illustration, below is a pic of a single copper mine. There are at least 4 more close to this size withinn a six hour drive of my house, not to mention 3 similar sized gold mines and 2 silver mines, and those are just the ones above ground. I'd say enough earth has been moved in the US alone to fill the Grand Canyon pretty close to the top, but thats just a guess. Guy~
