Another supporter, management consultant Joe Firestone, also wrote widely about the coin idea, crediting Beowulf. For example, a commenter who goes by Ramanam – Beowulf believes he’s from India – posted the idea within a week to Bill Mitcell’s “billy blog” on Modern Monetary Theory. Some of Beowulf’s buddies on Mosler’s blog, whose prodding had helped him come up with the trillion dollar coin idea in the first place, then fanned out to promote the idea. If you go through the Mint, you’re making money.” (He hastens to add that the latter is actually more expensive for the government at the moment, but it does have the virtue of getting around a debt ceiling.) Mint to issue platinum coins at the discretion of the Treasury Secretary, an unanticipated side effect of legislation intended to provide for a miniscule trade in commemorative coins?īeowulf, a leading contributor to the blog Monetary Realism, explained his thinking to us this way: “If you go through the Federal Reserve, you’re borrowing money. Treasury and on whether the Fed can legally help the Treasury circumvent the debt ceiling by, for example, overdrafting its account with the Fed.īut Beowulf added a new wrinkle: Why not seize upon the peculiar power of the U.S. He wasn’t talking about circumventing the debt ceiling, which hadn’t yet become a political football, but he may have been on to something.Ī comment thread begun nine days after the original post focused on the relationship between the Federal Reserve and the U.S. He was also inspired by ideas from attorney-turned-finance-author Ellen Brown, who in her 2008 book Web of Debt quoted a 1980s-era director of Treasury’s Bureau of Engraving and Printing as saying the government could solve its debt problems by printing large coins. Code: “Money and Finance.” That Journal article was still rattling around in his head.
The bill is a renewed attempt to give the mint this authority after a previous version stalled out in the Senate despite being passed in the House with overwhelming bipartisan support in December 2020.For example, it's testing the possibility of a copper-plated steel penny - but so far it looks like that option could be more expensive than the current penny, which cost 2.7 cents to make in 2022.Ī bipartisan bill reintroduced in the Senate Thursday would give the mint the authority to switch to using cheaper metal contents for making coins.Beyond the nickel-copper composition change, the mint is also conducting research on other “alternative metal” options that could make it cheaper to produce coins.Coins made with an 80/20 composition would still work at vending machines, for instance.
Testing has been completed, and the mint says there would be minimal impact, if any, to the public.It would take about a year to make the switch if the agency gets approval from Congress, according to the report.By using more copper and less nickel - a 80/20 ratio instead of 75/25 - the mint says it can bring costs down.īased on 2022 volumes, the mint estimates the savings would add up to about $12 million.
Instead, nickels, dimes and quarters are coated with a nickel-copper mixture, which mostly covers an all-copper inside layer. The mint's report proposes that the agency switch to producing nickels, dimes and quarters with a different composition of metals in order to save money.ĭespite their name, nickels haven't been made solely of nickel in decades. Hawaii Alaska Florida South Carolina Georgia Alabama North Carolina Tennessee RI Rhode Island CT Connecticut MA Massachusetts Maine NH New Hampshire VT Vermont New York NJ New Jersey DE Delaware MD Maryland West Virginia Ohio Michigan Arizona Nevada Utah Colorado New Mexico South Dakota Iowa Indiana Illinois Minnesota Wisconsin Missouri Louisiana Virginia DC Washington DC Idaho California North Dakota Washington Oregon Montana Wyoming Nebraska Kansas Oklahoma Pennsylvania Kentucky Mississippi Arkansas Texas Invest in Gold A new blend of metals could reduce coin costs
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