US Mint

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America Suffers From a 'Perpetual Penny Paradox'
The American Penny
Is a Vexing 'Paradox'
longform
Sep 8, 2024 5:56 AM CDT

The American Penny Is a Vexing 'Paradox'

Caity Weaver struggles to understand why we keep minting them in New York Times Magazine

(Newser) - Caity Weaver calls it the "Perpetual Penny Paradox." In a New York Times Magazine story about the American coin, she tries to understand why the US keeps minting them when almost nobody uses them. The piece has a "it would be funny if it weren't true"...

Thieves Who Allegedly Swiped 2M Dimes Indicted

Feds say the men stole $235K in 10-cent coins off of a tractor-trailer from the US Mint

(Newser) - Federal authorities have released more details and unsealed charges in the theft of more than 2 million dimes earlier this year from a tractor-trailer that had picked up the coins from the US Mint in Philadelphia. The truck driver was bound for Miami when he pulled into a parking lot...

New 'Remarkable' Women's Quarters Starts With a Big One

US Mint has started shipping quarters with image of poet Maya Angelou, first in a series

(Newser) - The United States Mint said Monday it has begun shipping quarters featuring the image of poet Maya Angelou, the first coins in its American Women Quarters Program. Angelou, an American author, poet, and civil rights activist, rose to prominence with the publication of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings...

Here's Another Shortage Caused by the Pandemic

Reduced coin production, lack of circulation leads to rationing for banks

(Newser) - For the nation, the answer to "Got any change?" has become more complicated. There are coins around, though fewer than before the pandemic, and they're not necessarily in circulation. "With the partial closure of the economy, the flow of funds through the economy has stopped," Federal...

US Mint Lost $69M Making Pennies Last Year

It cost $0.0182 to make each one

(Newser) - It costs more than a penny to make a penny. The US Mint produced more than 8.4 billion of the one-cent coins last year, at a cost of $0.0182 each with production costs and shipping taken into account. That means $69 million was lost when compared to the...

This Pretty Penny Could Cost You
This Pretty Penny
Could Cost You
Jan 4, 2017 9:33 AM CST

This Pretty Penny Could Cost You

Only one unbroken glass penny remains

(Newser) - A rare glass penny is set to go on the auction block, but if you're thinking of bidding, it will cost you. The AP reports that the US Mint, faced with a copper shortage at the beginning of World War II, approved experiments to make pennies from other metals,...

The Gold Could Be Worth $100M. She Has to Give It Back

Rare Double Eagles were pilfered from Mint decades ago

(Newser) - The US government is $100 million richer after the latest ruling in a strange case involving some long-lost gold coins. In 2003, Pennsylvania's Joan Langbord says she found 10 "Double Eagle" coins from 1933 in a safe-deposit box that once belonged to her father, jeweler Israel Switt. The...

Weirdest Dime You'll Ever See Heads to Auction

It was struck onto a nail and could fetch more than $10K

(Newser) - In probably one of the oddest items to come to the world of coin collecting, Heritage Auctions has announced the sale of a Roosevelt dime that was accidentally (or some say deliberately) struck onto a zinc nail—and the dime/nail is estimated to be worth roughly $10,000. In the...

Court: Feds Have to Return Stolen Coins Worth Millions

Double eagles swiped in the 1930s must be returned to Philly family

(Newser) - In 1933, the US Mint in Philadelphia minted almost half a million $20 gold coins, known as double eagles. But with the nation in the throes of the Depression and fearing a bank run, FDR blocked their release and most were melted down. A few managed to wander out of...

Beverly Hills Man Pays $4.8M for 26 Cents in Coins

Kevin Lipton paid the prettiest penny ever for a one-cent piece

(Newser) - One man's cash is another man's treasure. Just ask Kevin Lipton, a Beverly Hills man who placed the winning bid of $2,585,000 for a rare penny last Thursday. Lipton doesn't find anything unusual about paying so much for this rare Birch Cent , one of only...

Penny Costs 2 Cents to Make, Mint Stumped on Fix

2 years of testing returns no usable alternative

(Newser) - A penny costs more than two cents and a nickel costs more than 11 cents to make and distribute. The Mint is trying to figure out how to produce coins more cheaply without sparing our change's quality and durability, or altering its size and appearance—and its initial findings...

We Could Fix Debt Crisis With ... Platinum Coins?

Bizarrely, laws restrict issues of gold, silver, copper, but not platinum

(Newser) - President Obama says he is " not going to play that [debt ceiling] game " with Republicans again. But how to avoid disaster if Congress doesn't raise the ceiling? It turns out the president has one ridiculously simple solution as an option—platinum coins. Incredibly, there is no legal...

Kiss $1 Coins Goodbye
 Kiss $1 Coins Goodbye 
Dec 14, 2011 10:51 AM CST

Kiss $1 Coins Goodbye

US Mint will stop attempting to circulate unpopular coins

(Newser) - The US government has caught on, once again, to the fact that nobody really likes $1 coins, and it will cut production of the latest version. The coins, bearing the likenesses of dead presidents, were mandated by Congress in 2005 and began production in 2007. But government vaults have built...

Amid Debt Mess, Renewed Calls to Kill the Lowly Penny

Gov't could save millions each year by dropping the one-cent coin

(Newser) - Calls to ditch the penny—which cost 1.79 cents apiece to manufacture last year—are nothing new . But with budget-slashing and debt-reducing on America's mind, proponents of the move are renewing their call, reports Politico . So is the time finally right? Many think so. The US Mint lost...

Time to Get Rid of Paper Dollars: GAO

Move would save government $184M a year

(Newser) - It's time to kiss your dollar bills goodbye—or at least, it should be, as far as the Government Accountability Office is concerned. The GAO has once again called on Congress, the Federal Reserve, and the Treasury to yank paper dollars out of circulation and replace them with dollar coins,...

Why We Should Stop Printing $100 Bills
Why We Should Stop Printing $100 Bills
OPINION
Dec 10, 2010 11:16 AM CST

Why We Should Stop Printing $100 Bills

In short, because only criminals use them

(Newser) - The really pretty amusing news that the US had screwed up in printing its latest batch of a billion new $100 bills got Timothy Noah of Slate wondering: “Why does the world need 1 billion $100 bills? Indeed, why does the US continue to print C-notes at all?” The...

Feds Quarantine $110B in Potentially Defective $100 Bills

New security features caused wide-scale printing problem

(Newser) - The new $100 bills were designed to thwart counterfeiters—but instead, the complex process required to create the high-tech bills has thwarted printers, resulting in $110 billion in currently unusable bills. The new hundreds, planned for roll-out in February, include a 3D security strip and color-shifting bell image—and producing...

Penny, Nickel Overhaul Makes No Sense to Many

Many resistant to changing small change

(Newser) - President Obama's plan to save $100 million a year by making pennies and nickels from cheaper material may seem like a no-brainer, but the idea of changing the country's small change isn't an easy one to swallow for some. Laundromat owners, zinc lobbyists, and the many Americans who mistakenly believe...

$100 Bill Goes 3D
 $100 Bill Goes 3D 
Apr 21, 2010 12:51 PM CDT

$100 Bill Goes 3D

New security features designed to curb counterfeiting

(Newser) - The $100 bill is getting a new look and two high-tech security features to curb counterfeiters, the AP reports. A 3D security ribbon on the front has images of bells and 100s that move as you tilt the bill. The note, which is out next February, also has a Liberty...

Bizarre New Design Ruins Our 'Humble Penny'
Bizarre New Design Ruins Our 'Humble Penny'
opinion
Feb 19, 2010 1:42 PM CST

Bizarre New Design Ruins Our 'Humble Penny'

No more Lincoln Memorial? What a shame

(Newser) - The newly designed penny continues the long tradition of ugly-looking US currency, writes William Bostwick. The front of the 2010 cent looks generally the same, but the back now has a Union shield in place of the Lincoln Memorial. That's only "the most emotionally and socially charged building in...

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