$1 Gold Coins Dead in the Water

Last summer I noted that the US Mint had halted the $1 gold coin free shipping program because people were abusing it (they were ordering the coins to get the credit card rewards but they weren't circulating the coins -- the intent of the program -- instead they simply returned them to a local bank.) That said, you still could at least order them (you just had to pay shipping yourself.)

Well, now the party is over completely. The details:

Vice President Joseph Biden announced that the U.S. Mint would halt the production of those pesky $1 coins for circulation, because they’re not exactly in demand.

It's a sad day for me -- I really liked and used the coins. That said, I used them for special occasions and gifts, not for everyday use since, to the article's point, they aren't really that convenient to carry.

But they aren't totally dead. There are a "few" left over:

The U.S. Treasury Department said there are 1.4 billion surplus $1 presidential coins just sitting in the vaults of the Federal Reserve, and that the government would save taxpayers at least $50 million per year in production and storage costs by suspending their production.

According to the piece it will take over 10 years to filter out those 1.4 billion coins. So I guess my needs will be taken care of on this front for quite some time.

By the way, couldn't someone see the handwriting on the wall a bit sooner, like at $200 million extra coins? Seems like it would have saved a lot of time and money.

But never fear, the government has a plan to make this all work out financially:

U.S. Mint will produce a limited number of the coins, which “will be sold at a premium to collectors, so it will ensure that the coins will not be produced at a cost to taxpayers,” said Treasury spokesman Matt Anderson.

Hmmmm. I'm wondering how many collectors of these there will be. Maybe more now that future runs will be limited? I guess we'll find out.

I still have a couple thousand dollars of gold coins scattered between my home safe (for emergencies), my pantry (for gifts), and my car (in the coin tray -- for those simple purchases from car washes to movie tickets), so I'll be good for a while. Still it's sad to say goodbye to an old friend...

Comments

[JoeTaxpayer]

The way congress authorized these coins was crazy, for each presidential coin, they still needed to mint the Sacajawea coin, and all coins had hugely high volume requirements.
They should have only minted the presidential coins as fast as people actually wanted them, and kept Sacajawea as "collector only" selling mint/proof/silver versions at a premium. Check out Planet money podcast issue 330.

[JXU]

I started ordering these a few years ago for the free air miles, but once I had accumulated some of them, I actually found them really useful. These were perfect for vending machines - much easier than dealing with those paper bill slots.

[KaseyD]

I've used up all of mine just before they restricted the program. I looked at the Mint's website and got some additional information:

for collectors you can buy a $25 roll for $39 plus S&H of $4.95. (Hence, 10 rolls with a $250 face value will cost ~$404.45 or $1.62 per coin) http://catalog.usmint.gov/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=10001&categoryId=10142&langId=-1&parent_category_rn=10156&top_category=10156

for circulating business buyers, you can get $250 for face value plus a $12.50 S&H fee, no credit cards. (Each coin costs ~$1.05 each) http://catalog.usmint.gov/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&identifier=8100

Has anyone tried buying moeny orders at the Post Office to get cash back? A 2% cash back would lower the cost to ~$1.03, which still might be reasonable when using the coins as gifts.

[Matt]

I prefer to not have coins in my pocket. So I would not use the dollar coins and would have paper. Once I get coins I put them in a . I roll them up and save the money for purchases.

I like having coins on hand for emergencies. I also have about $300 in small bills, nothing over a $20 for if we were to loose power you can purchase stuff at the local store with exact change.

[jim]

Its too bad, cause the $1 coins would have been cheaper to make than the dollar bill. But I really don't see people really accepting a $1 coin unless we get rid of the $1 bill first. The only place I ever saw the $1 coin was in change from the vending machine at work. I've had 4-5 of them sitting in my desk drawer for a year or two.

[JR]

They make great Tooth Fairy money!

[BD]

Ugh, I can't stand the $1 gold coin. When I'm selling my art at conventions, I always get a couple people who pay for my wares in gold coins. They're heavy to carry, and I'm already carrying a ton of stuff to these conventions! I don't need any more awkward, loose, jingly weight. :/

[cmadler]

I love dollar coins, but I haven't seen one in years. If not for this blog, I would think they were out of circulation.

[08graduate]

@jim +1, this is the wrong solution. In addition to abolishing the dollar bill, we should do in the penny and nickel. Use the free space in the change drawer for $1 and $2 coins. Whenever I'm in Canada or the EU, I find it really useful to have coins that are actually worth something. Toss some in your pocket and go, no wallet required.

Here's a great video about the pointlessness of the penny:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5UT04p5f7U