"A penny saved is a penny earned."
Benjamin Franklin
Dr Paul has preached that inflation is a hidden tax on the poor and middle class. That when you madly print dollar bills like we do now it is a chief cause of inflation. Lowering not only the dollars worth, but every coin in circulation. To prove this point you need to go no farther then the lonely forgotten penny.
Copper isn't a precious metal, but has been used in our coinage since the beginning of US mint. Among others it was in Half, Large and Small Cents. We started minting the Lincoln Penny in 1909. It was made up of 95% copper and 5% tin and zinc. Except in the year of 1943 where a shortage of copper for the war effort forced the US Mint to produce pennies that were Zinc covered Steel.
The composition of the Lincoln Cent made a dramatic change in 1981. It went from being 95% Copper to an alloy of 99.2% Zinc and only .8% Copper. Why? Because between material and production it cost more to produce a penny than the 1 cent face value.
In the 1960's the US Mint slowly took silver out of the our coins. What happened? Silver coinage left circulation when American's figured out the metal content was worth more then the coin's face value.
Today we are faced with a pre-1982 penny being worth 2.44 cents. Why would anyone want to pay for anything with a penny that is worth more then double it's face value. These pennies will probably leave circulation just like silver coins did. BE WARNED that the mint has come out with a regulation that has made it ILLEGAL to MELT or EXPORT U.S. COINAGE!
But we still have a problem. The mint estimates it will cost 1.23 cents to produce a penny and 5.73 cents to produce a nickel in fiscal year 2006. http://www.usatoday.com/money/2006-05-09-penny-usat_x.htm What's next? Either we use wood or the penny and nickel will cease to be minted.
So next time a friend disputes inflation in America. Pull out a pre-1982 penny and ask would he spend it at face value or save it for it's metal value.
Maybe Franklin's quote at the start of this thread should be updated to; "A penny saved is two and a half pennies earned."
You can see what each coin's metal value is by going to;
http://www.coinflation.com/
Benjamin Franklin
Dr Paul has preached that inflation is a hidden tax on the poor and middle class. That when you madly print dollar bills like we do now it is a chief cause of inflation. Lowering not only the dollars worth, but every coin in circulation. To prove this point you need to go no farther then the lonely forgotten penny.
Copper isn't a precious metal, but has been used in our coinage since the beginning of US mint. Among others it was in Half, Large and Small Cents. We started minting the Lincoln Penny in 1909. It was made up of 95% copper and 5% tin and zinc. Except in the year of 1943 where a shortage of copper for the war effort forced the US Mint to produce pennies that were Zinc covered Steel.
The composition of the Lincoln Cent made a dramatic change in 1981. It went from being 95% Copper to an alloy of 99.2% Zinc and only .8% Copper. Why? Because between material and production it cost more to produce a penny than the 1 cent face value.
In the 1960's the US Mint slowly took silver out of the our coins. What happened? Silver coinage left circulation when American's figured out the metal content was worth more then the coin's face value.
Today we are faced with a pre-1982 penny being worth 2.44 cents. Why would anyone want to pay for anything with a penny that is worth more then double it's face value. These pennies will probably leave circulation just like silver coins did. BE WARNED that the mint has come out with a regulation that has made it ILLEGAL to MELT or EXPORT U.S. COINAGE!
But we still have a problem. The mint estimates it will cost 1.23 cents to produce a penny and 5.73 cents to produce a nickel in fiscal year 2006. http://www.usatoday.com/money/2006-05-09-penny-usat_x.htm What's next? Either we use wood or the penny and nickel will cease to be minted.
So next time a friend disputes inflation in America. Pull out a pre-1982 penny and ask would he spend it at face value or save it for it's metal value.
Maybe Franklin's quote at the start of this thread should be updated to; "A penny saved is two and a half pennies earned."
You can see what each coin's metal value is by going to;
http://www.coinflation.com/
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