New Legislation Would Allow United States Mint to Change the Metal Content of Coins to Save Money
Jose Nino
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On April 20, 2023, a bipartisan bill to grant the United States Mint to change the metal content of coins in order to save taxpayers was introduced.
The bill’s introduction came days after a new report from the US Mint revealed that in 2022, rising costs for raw metals propelled the price of minting a single nickel past 10 cents, which is over double the value of the coin itself.
Iowa Senator Joni Ernst and New Hampshire Senator Maggie Hassan said their legislation is designed to slash the surging expense of minting pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters.
“It’s absolute non-cents that American taxpayers spend ten cents to make just one nickel,” Ernst said in email correspondence to CNBC. “Only Washington could lose money making money.”
The legislation is titled the Coin Metal Modification Authorization and Cost Savings Act and was originally introduced in both the House and Senate in 2020.
In 2020, the bill was passed in the House with robust bipartisan support. However, it died in the US Senate. Nevada Congressman Mark Amodei was the main sponsor of this bill in 2020 and is the current sponsor of the 2023 bill in the House.
“This bill will save millions of dollars per year by modifying the composition of nickels, dimes, and quarters with less expensive metals,” Hassan said in an email to CNBC. “I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support our bipartisan bill.”
“This commonsense, bipartisan effort will modify the composition of certain coins to reduce costs while allowing for a seamless transition into circulation,” Ernst continued. “A penny saved is a penny not borrowed.”
Indeed, the US has monetary problems. The aforementioned reforms are very much needed. However, to get the US’s monetary house in order, there needs to be reforms designed to limit the Fed’s power and ultimately abolish it. Central banking will ultimately lead to the economic downfall of the US.
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