An Obsolete coinage system and how to reduce the deficit without loosing one single job

An Obsolete coinage system and how to reduce the deficit without
loosing one single job
By Carlos T Mock, MD
March 23, 2011
From Barcelona, Spain

The first proof that our coinage is obsolete is that use of the
Kennedy half-dollar, Susan B. Anthony and Sacagawea dollars is not as
widespread as that of other coins in general circulation; most
Americans use quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies only. In 1982 the
US mint had to change the composition of the copper penny. Due to an
increase in copper prices, the penny was costing 1.7 cents to mint so
the mint changed its composition from copper 95% and tin 5% to a core:
made of zinc 97.5% and a plating made of copper 2.5%.

The lack of use of the dollar and fifty cents coins costs an average
of 500 million dollars/year to the US mint. Coins last in circulation
for an average of thirty years, but bills only last an average of six
months. The fact that Americans refuse to use these coins, means that
the US must print more one dollar bills than necessary.

Any person that has a wish to reduce our deficit should take a look at
this obsolete coinage system and might come up with the following
solutions:

The reason the Kennedy half dollar is not used is because it is too
big. Reduce its volume by one half, and not only will it be cheaper
to print, but it will easier to carry in our pockets. The second
solution to our problem is that we need to eliminate the one, two, and
five dollar bills from circulation. For God’s sake, a pack of
cigarettes costs more that five dollars these days—isn’t it time we
printed a five dollar coin?

To encourage the use of these new coins and to make them easy to
identify and use, we would keep them between the size of a current
nickel and a current quarter but so as we don’t confuse their value
and to be clearly identified by the public I propose the use of
alloys. Just like the Euro and Mexican coins, the one 1 and 2 and 5
dollar coins would be two-toned. The "gold" would be an alloy made of
75% copper , 20% zinc and 5% nickel. The "silver" alloy would be
75% cupronickel and 25% nickel. The 25, and 50-cent coins would be
made from a proprietary alloy known as "Nordic gold, made of 89%
copper, 5% aluminum, 5% zinc and 1% tin.

We could either have a competition by the public to create the new
coins, or we could have the mint use its artists.

I believe that it is long overdue to return President Eisenhower to
the one dollar coin. I think Reagan could be a candidate for the five
dollar coin, and perhaps Truman for the two dollar coin.

If we force this changes on the American public, the treasury would
save 3 to 5 billion/year EVERY year, depending on how quickly the
change is made. The changeover period during which the former
currencies' notes and coins were exchanged for those of the new
currency lasted about two months in the case of the Euro. In our
case the official date on which the national currencies ceased to be
legal tender would vary from State to State.

Not only we would not lose one job from this proposal, but we would
create jobs, because we would have to adapt all of our machines to the
new coinage. After firing teachers, policemen, firemen, and public
employees to balance our budgets, I think this simple solution should
be considered before we implant more pain on our American citizens.



Dr. Mock has published four books with Floricanto Press, Berklety, CA. His articles have appeared on publications like The Chicago Tribune and several gay and lesbian newspapers. He was inducted in The Chicago GLBT Hall of Fame in 2007. He can be reached at: www.carlostmock.com