I was thinking about coins recently, and recalling some of the controversies regarding them- as well as what Cecil had to say about them. The debate over whether or not to discontinue the penny has been being debated for years, but I think the more unusual thing is the rarity of the half dollar coin. I still see them in circulation sometimes, but the most unusual thing is that, according to Whitman Publishing’s Guide Book of United States Coins founded by R.S. Yeoman, the U.S. Mint hasn’t minted half dollar coins for general circulation since 2001. Despite this, the Mint produces around six million to seven of them a year (around 2.5 to 3 million each at both the Denver and Philadelphia mints), selling rolls on their website at $35.50 for a set of two (both mints). I imagine eccentrics might be interesting in stuff like this (I’m reminded of Steve Wozniak, who purchases uncut sheets of $2 bills from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and uses them just for the heck of it*), and I assume that the Mint makes money off of this, but it seems rather wasteful to me, seeing as other denominations are minted in the low billions annually. Is there any logical reason the half-dollar is still being minted?
*Speaking of this, why are $2 bills still being made? The BEP stopped making them for a long while, then brought them back for the Bicentennial in 1976. Seeing as $2 bills are rarely used and are considered to be unlucky, this also appears wasteful to me.
The interesting thing about that is that there are four U.S Mints, but only two (Philadelphia and Denver) make circulating coins. The San Francisco mint solely makes proof coins, and the West Point mint only makes commemerative coins. (The mint of origin is represented by the first letter of the location on the coin itself, except for pennies minted at Philadelphia, which have no letter.) This also seems rather useless, but since the number of coins minted overall annually is so high, I presume the other two mints are needed for the specialty coins.
When last I ran into this question, the half dollar was said to be in common use through a great deal of the American West. I have no idea how true that was then (about ten years ago) and how true it may be now.
Good point. They use them to pay off blackjack which pays 1.5 to 1 when you bet an odd number of dollars. They also use them to delineate stacks of 25 chips as to make it easy for the pit boss to quickly count the money in the bank. I guess they could use quarters, but tradition goes a long way in Vegas.
Not only from the sales of proof sets, etc, but also seigniorage. Supposedly there are several hundred million Susan B. Anthony dollar coins sitting in the mint vaults gathering dust because if they were to be melted down, the seigniorage from these coins would have to be taken off the books and cause an increase in the deficit.
Considering that only four coins really circulate, and the biggest of those isn’t enough even to buy a cup of coffee or a newspaper, I wonder why they bother.
Does anyone know where they make the silver and gold bullion coins?
Interesting concept. I suppose it would also cause a decrease in the money supply too, though a negligible one.
STrictly speaking, though, I don’t think coins have any monetary significance until they reach the Federal Reserve banks and then get distributed to commercial banks. At that time the commercial banks take a charge against their FRB accounts, and the coins become money. At least, I think that’s how it works but maybe samclem will show up and set the record straight.