# Aluminum Currency practicable? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 9, 2006, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-currency-practicable/379720 "2006-11-09T16:42:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-currency-practicable/379720/1 "2006-11-09T16:42:24Z")
I just got hold of a japanese 1-yen coint-it is 100% aluminum. is there an advantage to all-aluminum currency? Would the US Mint sace monet by making our coins out of aluminum? Or is the issue that vending machines cannot take Al coins? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-currency-practicable/379720/2 "2006-11-09T16:45:36Z")
Plenty of European countries used to have low denomination aluminum coins. That 1 yen piece is worth less than a penny. Sure, we could mint aluminum pennies instead of zinc/copper ones, but why bother? It doesn’t cost that much to mint pennies, and if it’s too much of a burden it makes more sense to just abolish the penny and round off to the nearest $.05. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-currency-practicable/379720/3 "2006-11-09T17:13:08Z")
Google turns up a few varied historical examples of aluminium coins - Mali, Somaliland, wartime Hungary, Korea, and recently India. What do they feel like? I can’t help think that they’d feel a bit, well, cheap & light. You might be surprised how much people can dislike particular denominations due to the way they feel (British 5p & 10p coins feel a bit crappy, as did the Irish pound coin). ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-currency-practicable/379720/4 "2006-11-09T17:23:05Z")
It has been years ( **Samclem** can probably say exactly when) since U.S. coinage has been “specie” currency – a silver quarter contains $0.25 in silver, a gold eagle $10 in gold (less “seignorage,” the small percentage of value retained by the Mint to defray the cost of coinage, so that a “specie” quarter is actually worth $0.2445 or so in silver contnt, a gold eagle $9.75 in gold content, etc.). As I understand it, the reasons for the current metals are that they are ones which are (1) inexpensive enough to keep the cost of the coin well below its specie value, (2) durable enough to last in circulation – a coin that lasted only six months before being to dented, scratched, and worn to read would not be a wise thing to make, and (3) a bit of an intangible – Americans expect their coins to have a certain heft to them, for which aluminum would be too light. Even a dime, small and light as it is, has a certain weight to it that an aluminum dime would not – physically pick up a few rolls of dimes sometime to validate the sense to this comment. I know some countries have struck aluminum-bronze minor currency – mostly aluminum but with a small admixture of the metals in bronze in that proportion to harden it and make it more durable. I see no reason not to do so in the U.S., but it would take some time for people to get used to it. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-currency-practicable/379720/5 "2006-11-09T17:47:27Z")
The Czech half crown (approximate value, $0.02 US) is made of aluminum and slightly larger than a dime. It feels quite un-money like. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-currency-practicable/379720/6 "2006-11-09T18:46:44Z")
Romania also had some aluminum coins when I visited in the early 90s. Don’t know if that’s still the case. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-currency-practicable/379720/7 "2006-11-09T19:42:23Z")
[QUOTE=Polycarp] It has been years ( **Samclem** can probably say exactly when) since U.S. coinage has been “specie” currency – a silver quarter contains $0.25 in silver, a gold eagle $10 in gold (less “seignorage,” the small percentage of value retained by the Mint to defray the cost of coinage, so that a “specie” quarter is actually worth $0.2445 or so in silver contnt, a gold eagle $9.75 in gold content, etc.). . [/QUOTE] Gold coinage was specie currency, virtually by definition, but silver usually was not. That is, when quarters used to be made of silver, the silver was worth much less than 25 cents. For example, in 1960 it would have been worth just under nine cents. A silver dollar contained just under an ounce of silver, and a $20 gold double eagle contained just over an ounce, suggesting that when the coins were designed a ratio of the gold to silver price of 20 to 1 seemed reasonable. But silver was higher in value then relative to gold; later on, the specie value of silver coins was way less. (sigh) silver and gold. Those were the days. Here we are now talking about aluminum. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-currency-practicable/379720/8 "2006-11-10T02:14:38Z")
[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus] Gold coinage was specie currency, virtually by definition, but silver usually was not. That is, when quarters used to be made of silver, the silver was worth much less than 25 cents. For example, in 1960 it would have been worth just under nine cents. [/quote] By my calculations, a quarter would have had 16 cents worth of silver(.90/ounce in 1960. > [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > A silver dollar contained just under an ounce of silver, and a $20 gold double eagle contained just over an ounce, suggesting that when the coins were designed a ratio of the gold to silver price of 20 to 1 seemed reasonable. . A silver dollar contained about .75 ounce of silver. A $20 gold piece containe .98 ounce of gold. There are probably more than 20 other countries that have flirted with aluminum as coins, usually because they were looking for cheaper alternatives. France, Italy, etc. The wear and tear on aluminum coins in the US would be horendous, never mind the pubic rejecting them as feeling too light. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-currency-practicable/379720/9 "2006-11-10T02:51:23Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] What do they feel like? [/QUOTE] They feel like they’re made of plastic. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-currency-practicable/379720/10 "2006-11-10T03:58:25Z")
[QUOTE=cckerberos] They feel like they’re made of plastic. [/QUOTE] Yup. Little plastic tokens. But, Japan also doesn’t have any paper bills under $10. We have a $5 coin and $1 coin. True the $1 coin feels about like a quarter, but the $5 balances out the aluminum puppies. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-currency-practicable/379720/11 "2006-11-10T04:03:20Z")
[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus] (sigh) silver and gold. Those were the days. Here we are now talking about aluminum. [/QUOTE] Hey, now! Back in the day, aluminum was a semi-precious metal! Nowadays, it’s used for subway tokens and wrapping food in the barbecue. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-currency-practicable/379720/12 "2006-11-10T06:43:23Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] Hey, now! Back in the day, aluminum was a semi-precious metal! Nowadays, it’s used for subway tokens … [/QUOTE] And subway trains! ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-currency-practicable/379720/13 "2006-11-10T22:49:08Z")
I seem to recall that the Washington monument is capped with a pure aluminum pyramid, at the time it was constructed, it was pretty exotic stuff. The well-heeled folks had aluminum dinnerware, which would seem awfully junky today. Any camper knows an aluminum cup is an “abomination” as Colin Fletcher noted. It burns your lips when the beverage is hot. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-currency-practicable/379720/14 "2006-11-10T23:02:55Z")
FWIW, the US considered changing the cent to aluminum in the mid-1970’s when copper prices rose, and [went as far as minting over a million cents in aluminum](http://uspatterns.com/p2084.html). ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-currency-practicable/379720/15 "2006-11-11T17:45:29Z")
When I visited India in 1990 all the low denomination coins were aluminum (still are for all I know). In addition to feeling cheap, they were subject to very high rates of wear. I just took a couple pictures of a few that I brought home as souvenirs: [Tails](http://members.shaw.ca/djklassen/tails.jpg) and [heads](http://members.shaw.ca/djklassen/heads.jpg). A Canadian nickel and US quarter are included for comparison. You’ll note that none of the Indian coins were more than a few years old at the time, and already were more worn than an 50-year old penny. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-currency-practicable/379720/16 "2006-11-14T18:02:57Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] Yup. Little plastic tokens. But, Japan also doesn’t have any paper bills under $10. We have a $5 coin and $1 coin. True the $1 coin feels about like a quarter, but the $5 balances out the aluminum puppies. [/QUOTE] Japan? – $10 bills and $5 coins? Where are you if you don’t mind me asking? ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-currency-practicable/379720/17 "2006-11-14T18:18:02Z")
[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus] Japan? – $10 bills and $5 coins? Where are you if you don’t mind me asking? [/QUOTE] I’m sure he meant 1000 yen bills and 500 yen coins, which are worth roughly $10 and $5. I love the 1-yen coins, by the way - I think of it as the most geeky coin in the world (it’s aluminum, and it weighs exactly 1 gram). It doesn’t tarnish either. It does scratch more easily and wear faster than other coins, but usually not as bad as the Indian coins linked to above - maybe it’s a different alloy, or maybe they’re taken out of circulation before it gets worn that far. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-currency-practicable/379720/18 "2006-11-15T14:46:16Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] Hey, now! Back in the day, aluminum was a semi-precious metal! . [/QUOTE] Oh well, I don’t care what they’re made of. If I didn’t need 100 coins to buy a couple of movie tickets, they could be made of rusty iron for all I care. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-currency-practicable/379720/19 "2006-11-16T01:49:35Z")
[QUOTE=samclem] By my calculations, a quarter would have had 16 cents worth of silver(.90/ounce in 1960. . A silver dollar contained about .75 ounce of silver. A $20 gold piece containe .98 ounce of gold. . [/QUOTE] I stand corrected. My source was a 1960 World Book encyclopedia that said the silver in a dime was worth $0.035, and I just did the math. Presumably their data was incorrect, which is surprising because the World Book always seemed to be so reliable about that sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-currency-practicable/379720/20 "2006-11-16T04:05:24Z")
Do they do anything to prevent the aluminum from oxidising? In my experiance dealing with aluminum it tends to rub off black dust on everything. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-currency-practicable/379720.md?page=2)