| ▲ | mulmen 6 hours ago | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
> But, if we stopped minting pennies because they cost too much (3.7 cents), it's hard to imagine we're going to keep producing nickels when they cost 13.8 cents to mint. Dimes are much cheaper than nickels (5.8 cents), and quarters aren't too bad relative to face value (14.7 cents). Coins aren’t disposable. Why does it matter if the production cost is higher than the face value? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ▲ | axiolite an hour ago | parent [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
> Why does it matter if the production cost is higher than the face value? You can buy pennies or nickels in bulk, melt them down, and turn a tidy profit. That's literally a "money printing glitch" Every penny or nickel that gets lost in the gutter, stored in a coin collection, used as a washer or shim, turned into jewelery, or sets around in jars unused, represents a financial loss to the Treasury. It's called seigniorage and melt value. Also see Gresham's law (hoarding). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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