Why do they bother making new coins?

I can reach into my pocket and pull out a coin 30 years old, totally spendable. There must be billions of them in circulation between now and then. Is it a way to keep the metals market afloat? There pretty hard to damage and if they get lost somebody normally finds them. Do the banks haul them in for a big melt down? If so, why? The ones from the 70's still look good to me. If their made for the sake of just putting a new year date on them, why bother? a coins a coin.

that is actually a better question than i expected.
the answer to your question is clearly:
if they didnt make new coins every year, how would future people know that year happened?
it's just to keep enough in circulation and keep them in usable condition. your 1970 dime is ok, but i have one i found at the beach that is almost corroded beyond recognition.

Yes but the overall supply increases.. I mean they don't get rid of the coins that become corroded or useless, do they? They still remain in circulation and can be spent.

The other day, I was just discussing with a cashier about why do we even have coins at all. It has to be cheaper just to print them on paper and easier to manage. Maybe this is the plan to pay off the national debt. They will have the whole country go to their local CoinStar and cash in their change and then hand all the receipts to the Chinese government so they can stand in line at the grocery checkout and get some cash for them. That is a hilarious mental picture. A bunch of hacked off Chinese government officials standing in line all day to cash in their CoinStar receipts.

[edit on 5/17/2009 by justsomeboreddude]

I haven't researched it so none of what I say is not fact in any way just opinion.

I've found the new penny they made, seems to be lighter and less durable, which I assume they lowered the metal content in it, to maybe even have no copper, it cost the same, its just metal wise cheaper.

Which is a shame.

I've found a Buffalo Nickel from before the great depression, in great shape, although its only worth 3 dollars. Hoping big money, still holding on to it though!

[edit on 17-5-2009 by Republican08]

the short answer is that as the Treasury supposedly grows, they need to produce a mint of equal value and send it to the market place for trade consumption between the citizens that occupy their region. there was a time when we believed in the gold standard and we had a gold brick for every suit case full of bills, but we abandoned that decades ago apparently.

another thing is, over time, banks get coins that are, as mentioned before, scarred beyond recognition. the coins are actually collected and re-smelted so we can have the shinnest coins in our pockets.

THE REAL QUESTION IS: how will the growing number of electronic card transactions adversely effect the paper money trade over the next 20 years?......

reply to post by Republican08


Do you know it costs more to make a penny than it is actually worth. There is almost no copper in new pennies. They continually change the metal content to make it more affordable to produce them.

Coins are just more expensive to make then dollars. Plus like you said coins stay around way longer. So why make more of somthing when you have plenty of it. You just have to maintain what you have and replace what you think needs to be replaced for that year. Just do some math and that should give you an answer. What you already have minus what you lost= how much you need to maintain that specific stock.. Its easy just have to think a little harder.

reply to post by korath


1. Coins are much cheaper to mint than paper money. Paper dollar bills only last 18 months at the most, while dollar coins last much longer. I am among those who think they should get rid of the penny and the paper dollar bill.

2. There are many third world countries that prefer US coins than their monetary systems. Many of the older coins get sent to those countries for use.

3. Coin collectors like to get new coins every year. I know that is a small amount, but they garner interest in the mint which makes its money from the coins.