Steel cents (again)

[Robert]

Allow me to be the first to post that, per Nov 19 Coin World, House bill HR 4036, if passed, would require that cents be made of steel "treated to impart a copper color appearance".

The bill also would force the Treasury to come up with a plan for changing the compositions of the 5, 10, 25 and 50 cent coins.


Canada has been making plated steel coins for circulation since 2000 or so.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coins_of_the_Canadian_dollar

And so too Germany and the the lower Euro denominations if I remember right.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_mark
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro_coins

[notabot]

Steel.....really....just don't get civil service folks. Simple servants in the simple circus. Play money... cheap metals...Germany inflation circa 1929....economy collapse...milk and gas the same price per gallon. Where does it end?

[Topher]

The Canadian mint has gone a step further and done a survey on getting rid of the cent. (Okay, take a deep breath, didn't mean to startle you). It's up on the www.mint.ca website, but I can't hotlink directly to the file. It's a 26 page PDF, and I can email it to anyone too lazy to look for it. It doesn't look like we'll be getting rid of it any day soon, but at least they've looked into it. Oh, and the steel cents, just don't "feel" right, and sound like crap when you do a drop test.

[GarryN]

Is this something that would prop up the steel industry? It would have to be a lower grade of steel. Stainless is too expensive, I would assume. Then what happens when the coins start to rust? They become dangerous. Kids ingest them and get ill or injured. I dont know what the solution is. Maybe we use the current cent for circulation and use the original design concept in copper for mint and proof sets. That scenario lets the Mint apply their mark-up to copper cents.

[wavysteps2003]

Actually, I would prefer a kid to swallow a steel cent rather than a copper cent, copper tends to be more toxic.

Of course, the change over would louse up the change counters that do employ a magnetic ring to stop Canadian cents. But when you think of it, I believe that a Canadian cent is now worth more than an American cent.

It would also shorten die life by almost half the expected coins per die avaerage by using steel. Then again there is always aluminum.

BJ Neff

[Dick]

BJ, now that you mention it, what is the exchange rate mow US vs Canadian? I don't collect Canadian, but at the same time, I am getting so many, I thiught I'd ask. Thanks.
Dick

[Earwig]

The last time i saw the exchange rate it was .92 US to 1.00 Canadian

Eric

[Topher]