We all know that the cent and nickel cost more to make and distribute than they are worth and that changes are overdue.
The bottleneck has always been the congress. Too many lobbys, special interests and backroom deals to get things done. Everytime a bill come along to update our coinage it is sent to committee where it dies.
Well, it looks like things are about to change. Two bills, one each in the house and senate(HR 3330,S 1986), were introduced just before congress went to recess. These bills would give the Treasury Secretary the power to change the composition of American coinage. Its called "Coinage Materials Modernization Act of 2007'." and seems to be on the fast track to the Presidents desk.
I can see Canadian like plated steel coins in our future. Plus I predict that the huge savings will be sited in future bills that will give the Treasury the power to eliminate the cent and maybe the one dollar bill.

kewl!!! maybe american can make more money and pay off a little bit of debt we have to many things...

ahhh i like the canadian steels .... they always look new

The interests involved in a composition change will not be in favour of this, copper especially. It was all but eliminated from the cent in 1982, but nickels still have 75% copper. Furthermore going to plated steel ala Canada is really not going to be cost effective either in the long run. For one, die life goes down dramatically. Steel is a much firmer metal than zinc. This means new punching tools for making the flans, then die life will not be as long and they will wear out quicker resulting in higher expenses.

It may work in Canada, and until very recently the RCM said they were still turning a profit on the cents, but they make far far less of them and often rely on much older coins in change than we are used to in the USA. The economic scale of having to churn out so many more increases overall costs and I do not believe that they can make the cent profitably again. For all it is worth, it really is more of a drain on the economy and only has 1/10th the purchasing power it did 40 years ago. When you think about it in that sense, the Dime is now what a cent was 40 years ago, and should be the smallest circulating coin. Even at that beyond individual candy pieces, there is not much you can buy for a dime.

Changes could be to more than just the cent and nickel.

"The Treasury Department, which supports the bill, estimated that changing the composition of pennies and nickels will save the government over $100 million a year. By making similar changes to the half dollar, quarter and dime, the government can save as much as $400 million annually"

http://www.numismaster.com/ta/numis/Articl...;ArticleId=2671

How about they abandon useless coins, instead of force feeding them to the public?

I'm not so sure they force feed coins to the public. I bet there are lobbiests with really loud voices that want the "useless" coins to stay, so they stay. That coupled with the general public's resistance to change is keeping these "useless" coins in circulation.

i think we should keep change.. how would you guys like it whean you were a youngin and there was no change??

Not being from the States, but judging from what people from the States have said on this forum about the Dollar coins, it seems they don't circulate, if they do the cashiers think their funny money.
Perhaps their not force feeding, but a few billion dollars will have to go somewhere. Does anyone use halves in the States?

On a related note for our Canadian neighbours:

Call for the Eliimination of the Cent

well the dollors are going to be like the state quarters in the beginning. everyone one hoards them then as the years go by they circulate.

The only opposition to that is any major chain store that makes millions off extra cents...

Let's explain it very simply, all money that is issued but not used is nothing but pure profit for the government. Plain and simple. All those millions upon millions of dollar coins lying around unused are profit for the government. How else can you take something with 3¢ worth of metal and call it $1 but coin a dollar coin. I do not remember lots of howling when the $1, and later on the $2 bills were replaced with coins in Canada. I remember a few years ago spending a $2 and it getting the look over because they hadn't seen them in a couple of years, they all went out with the Twoonie. That said I really don't like the Loonies or Twoonies for no other reason than I cannot use them at home. Anything else, 25¢ or $5 bill I can spend or exchange here.

easy beasy make the make the one cent a ten cent (thus a copper zinc dime ) then nickel material a 25 cent an the 25 cents material a 50 cents and the 50 cents material a dollar an remove the nickel an 1 cent

I will add though, my ankle biters love the loonies and twoonies, since they end up with all of them. But now we haven't been to Canada in a couple of years(a hassle with too many citizenships in one family)

True. The Pres. Dollars should have alot of support from the education community too, maybe this is the end of Dollar bills?

You should try using 50 cent pieces at Esso...

(Twonies are a godsend)

i think if it costs more to make something dont make it. but dont take it out of circulation just let it roll around and it will disapear slowly and maybe make the nickle a little thinner. the mint isnt gong to stop making the pennie because they can get alot more money out of it in proof sets.

I won't buy into the educational system benefiting as our schools only concentrate on a handful of past Presidents and the others might get a mention as they go down the order. Sorry thats just the way it is and was.
The dollar coin does not circulate here because our BANKS DON'T want the coinage. Coins are heavy, they must be counted, rolled and stored, which takes space, compared to notes. Shipping costs are also something banks take int serious consideration! To the banking system coins have LABOR COSTS written all over them. The half dollar is an even bigger joke as there is basically NOTHING they will work in, even if you do get them. The quarter, nickel and dime are the work horses at this particular time in U.S. history and I see nothing changing that in the near future.

Oh so many actually believe the government is or ever has attempted to save money. Your kidding yourself if you thihk any change in our currency or coinage would save money. They could change it to plastic made from old pop bottles and it would still end up at a loss. The money just vanishes as fast as possible. If's not really money, it's just tax stuff to them. Need more money, raise taxes. $100 million a year? So what? That wouldn't even start to pay for the brought in food while Congress is in session. $400 million annually? Enough for a presidential vacation on Air Force One probably. Why would anyone ever think our government is trying to save money on anything? If they could save a Trillion a day on something, they would just turn around and spend it on a better lawn for the White House or something. The government saving money? Why start now?
Now here is something to think about. The metal for our coins is one thing, but who pays for the Mint building, water bills, electric bills, phone bills, gas bills for that building? Who pays for the upkeep of the building and grounds? Who pays for the transportation of the incoming supplies and the outgoing finished products? Who pays for the Mint workers salaries? Thier benifits such as insurances?
Imagine if our coinage was outsourced to say India. All the above would come to a stop. Those buildings demolished, Mint workers layed off just like you or me. They would never let that happen. It happens to us every day but a government worker? Not a chance.
OH, OH, there is a few people in black clothing outside my door.
NO, NO I take it all back...................................

just carl why didnt you run for president ill vote for ya exactly the ppl pay for the coins with taxes .... why does the government care? what will they decrease the amount of taxes taken from the ppl if they make coins cheaper? nope....where will the other money go 2 ? paying for wars, air force one vacation (like just carl said ^_^, etc ...mostly stuff that wont benefit any1 except a small group of ppl

Don't eliminate the cent and nickel because they cost more to make than their face value, eliminate them because they are worthless. I get the greatest feeling when I can pay for my lunch with three coins, and not have to open my wallet.

Hmm, I don't know what to think on this topic.

If the bill says that the change will save $100 to $400 million, why doesn't it suggest where this money could go? Also, since I like to make everyone happy, here's an idea:

Eliminate the cent and nickel, but keep minting them only for U.S. Mint specially ordered sets and rolls. Kind of like what's happened to the Sac and Kennedy dollar, except their numbers are much to big for this purpose only. We'll generally keep the already minted cents and nickels in circulation until we, like Jamaica suffer from such horrible inflation that it costs $1200 to buy a T-Shirt and pennies and nickels, and really anything under $1, really are worthless.

I'm sure there's a million things wrong with this idea, but it just popped into my head. Doesn't have to be plausible.

OR, and I like this idea better: recall all the non-precious coinage and start minting in silver and gold again! No more inflation! (Again, a billion things wrong with this idea, but hey, who can resist the idea of carrying gold and silver in your pocket every day?)

EDIT: Methinks I'll start hoarding the pre-1982 cents for my grandchildren the way I wish my grandparents had hoarded silver coinage for me...

Higher volume reduces costs.

Bump: Any updates? Where should I look to keep up on this story?

Looks like copper plated steel cents are in the works according to the legislation giving the Treasury Dept say over coinage, and in fact the nickel through 1/2 dollar might also become steel.

Congress is in recess until after Labor Day so nothings going to happen until then.

The mint does have a contract with a company that owns a technology to produce plated steel planchets.

We've had them for a few years up here, and trust me, they just don't feel the same. It's like comparing a silver dime to a clad dime. One feels like money, the other feels cheap. Take that a few notches down the "cheap scale" and you have the difference between a clad coin and a plated steel coin.

Its really gonna mess up my detecting.

The problem with stainless steel for USA coins is that most vending machines use magnets to weed out Canadian coins, and will not want to then have to accept Canadian coins. The vending industry will have a fit.

Aluminum? Plastic?

Or, we could make the steel coins square-shaped, would that be better for vending machines?

Thats why I'm not so sure they will do steel with anything but the cent. They don't use magnets in gumball machines.

Gumball machines most often don't take cents anymore. The only one I have seen that still does is one we have in our living room that is about 60-70 yrs old.

you have a gum ball machine in your living room !!!!! *bows too the master* lol hmm ^_^

haha i wouldnt bow just think u can get 100 gum balls for a dollor!!!

When now you can get four...

My wife bought it at a garage sale or something when she was a kid, it is an old one, made of cast iron and glass. Right now there is a pile of pennies, all pre-1982 or wheats that are used to buy gumballs from it. You can also use British Sixpences from 1920-1967 in it, as they are the same rough size as a cent.

nono will make it easier in school ...no need 2 go 2 a store in the mornin before goin 2 school 2 buy gum ...wats a day in school without gum lol ...hmm 2 bad u cant keep a gumball machine in school lol

OK not to insult anyone but are you aware that there are virtually many hundreds of grades of Stainless Steel? Most of the time when a manufacturer wants to hide the fact that thier SO CALLED Stainless Steel is in fact a low caliber, they just state Stainless Steel on the object. China, Japan, India for examples. Now stop and think how many times have you heard the expression 440 Stainless Steel? Or Surgical Stainless Steel? Or 240, or 180 Stainless Steel? A really good grade of Stainless Steel is non or close to non magnetic. Although a Chemist and Electrical Engineer I never knew that until a project I was working on required inspectors to test the construction grade Stainless Steel with a magnet. If it stuck, suppliers were told to take it back. Have you ever noticed a set of kitchen knives that are supposed to be Stainless Steel staining?
Yes we could make our coins from Stainless Steel and it would not effect vending machines that use magnetic systems. However, keep in mind that the higher the grade of Stainless Steel, the higher the cost. Might be right back in a cent costing more than a cent.

Not to drag out the government spending thing to far so that they don't come take me away. But here in Illinois, for example, some time ago our government stated we are going to have a lotto. The proceeeds from this will pay for our school systems and our taxes will all go down. They have increased the lottery from Saturday to every day and sometimes twice a day. Do we pay taxes for our schools? Our schools are going broke, no money for them, all paid for by taxes, lets raise the taxes again. HEY! What happens to all the money from the lottory???????
OH, OH. There is a knock at my door. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooo

The magnetic properties of stainless steel are very dependent on the elements added into the alloy, and specifically the addition of nickel can change the structure from magnetic to non-magnetic. The question is, can enough nickel be added and still make it cost effective.

I don't know why they even have to go that far, when they could go to aluminium bronze, the probably more cost effective when you factor die wear etc.

Of course. Again, look it up. For example organizations that make strut material makes many grades of Stainless Steel for construction sites. Struts are a Channel shapped steel material used in many, many construction sites where there is an exposure to either air, moisture of concrete. This type of Stainless Steel is mass produced for a reasonable price. As I noted an entire large project had to have only high grade, non-magnetic Stainless Steel used. If your interested it was the entire reconstruction of all three levels of the Wacker Drive in Chicago project. This ment a fantatastic amount of Stainless Steel material including the Struts, bolts, nuts, spring nuts, washers, studs, lamp mounting brackets, etc. The primary reason is Wacker Drive runs along the Chicago River and to say the least, the place is damp all the time. Also, it is known that Stainless Steel of a high grade is impervious to the damage created by some formulae added to the concrete or the top Latex Road finish.
Sorry about the long explanation but I was there for a few years and have well over 5,000 photos of that construction site.