Bill Seeks to Terminate Suspended Presidential Dollar Program

[jeff of pa]

On January 24, 2013, Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana introduced a bill which seeks to terminate the Presidential $1 Coin Program. He had introduced an identical bill in the last session of Congress, however since that time the circumstances of the program have significantly changed. During 2011, the Presidential $1 Coin Program had come under a great deal of scrutiny following media reports about a growing hoard of $1 coins held in storage at Federal Reserve Banks. The build up was an unintended consequence of a requirement for the Reserve Banks to make each release of the program available to depository institutions in unmixed quantities during an introductory period. For each of the four annual releases, financial institutions would order quantities that they deemed necessary to meet the needs of their customers. When many of these coins went unused or ultimately redeposited, they would be returned to the Federal Reserve Banks.

Bill Seeks to Terminate Suspended Presidential Dollar Program | Coin Update

 

[Diver_Down]

Instead of terminating the dollar coin program, the printing of one and two dollar FRNs need to cease. Force the change on the public. Not only will the the US taxpayer save money (storage of dollar coins; printing of notes that have an average lifespan of 3 years which need to be processed/destroyed; etc.), but the Mint will increase it's seigniorage and overall profitability that will offset the loss of individual denominations that cost more (cent and nickel).

 

[Generic_Lad]

Kill the dollar coin, reduce inflation, mint coins of value. For example a circulating $5 coin with a copper or brass outer ring with a 1/10 oz silver inside would be great. People could buy all they wanted for $5 at the mint and they'd be legal tender at $5, yet the Mint could make an easy $1.50-ish profit on each coin. I believe Canada did something similar with that (though I think it was a $20 coin and was limited mintage). Such a coin would be the best of all worlds:

1) It would have enough intrinsic value that it wouldn't be totally worthless when the dollar hyperinflates
2) It would be low enough in intrinsic value (until our next round of inflation) hits to allow the mint to mint it at a profit
3) It would be a risk-free way of saving cash, have $100 in cash which will be worth nothing when the dollar collapses, or have $100 in bullion and if the bullion market falls out and silver plunges to $7 again, you also lose out. This way if the bullion market falls its still worth $5 and if silver appreciates (or more likely, the dollar depreciates) your investment is still worth something.

The only way to make it successful though is to:

1) Make it be unlimited mintage
2) Fix the supply problem that the mint has
3) Fix the distribution problem the mint has
4) Don't put an awful design on it like the mint has done for the past 30 years

I still don't understand how coins have gone from:



To



To



To



To



And then fast forward to the late 20th, early 21st century and we have these monstrosities:











Have we really gone so far downhill? Even the better looking coins (pennies, quarters) end up looking cheap due to the fact that our coins are minted in next to no relief anymore. Some of the commemorative stuff isn't too bad but I really haven't seen a coin designed within the past 20 years that looks as good as some of the older stuff. The Britannia series of bullion coins are an exception as is the diamond jubilee crown (although incredibly overpriced by the Royal Mint at present...)



But other than that most of the coins we see today are quite simply crap and I'm very glad to see the worst offender of them all (in the US) to be terminated.

 

[sagittarius98]

The Churchill crown isn't that bad, but maybe it's because it has a great obverse. The 50 pence is bad though.

 

[smokeythecat]

If some of the people pictured on the coins showed up at my house, I'd be thinking I was having a nightmare!

 

[Generic_Lad]

The Churchill crown isn't that bad, but maybe it's because it has a great obverse. The 50 pence is bad though.

The Churchill crown does indeed have a good obverse. The reverse didn't have to be bad (I mean, I don't think a coin with Churchill on the back of it could ever be beautiful) but it was rendered in such low relief, especially when compared to the obverse, along with the unattractive design. All things considered choosing to make the reverse so low-relief doesn't seem to make much sense, especially since the coin was a commemorative.

Nearly every other nation or private mint that has produced a coin with Churchill on it has turned out better than the crown! I particularly like this one:

http://www.thelondoncoincompany.com...urchill_%a35_Five_Pound_Silver_Proof_Coin.jpg (for some reason it won't let me post it as an image, it keeps saying invalid URL...)