I know a little about coins but am confused about this. I thought that the little "p" on the back of the coins this year means that they are plated. Some kind of alloy over copper right. If so then why do they need to plate a penny. I got one with the "p" on the back and was curious as to whether it was common.
Why do they plate it?
I think it is cheaper to plate copper than to use a solid coin of another metal. The plating plant is in Winnipeg and cost a lot of money to make.
The reason the mint is now plating all the coins is because they claim they've discovered a new technologically advanced way to produce a high quality coin. The fact is, I think, that they are WAY cheaper to produce, thus saving the mint millions of dollars in the long run.
The changeover was about 1996. I'm saving all my pennies before that. When I have a bag I'm going to melt them into a solid copper ingot and use it as a paper weight. The coins from 1997 to present are copper-plated zinc and weigh less than the older pennies. And they are a lot cheaper to mint.
Before they started the plating, it was about 0.9 cents to mint a penny. I think its now half that price to make the. Also, starting in 2001, the mint made the smaller denomination coins(.01, .05, .10, .25, .50) lighter. This also helped save more money.
Ya, and did you notice the problems with the new dimes right off the bat? Pay phones, vending machines, parking meters, nothing would recognize them. All the machines had to be reprogramed to accept them. I haven't found anything recently that won't take them, but I spend them as soon as I get them anyway!
Yah the old pepsi machchines wont take the new quarters.
That problem was fixed in a matter of months. They had to be programmed to read the ligher coins.
Yah, I went camping out in the boonies and there was one that didnt take it. guess they missed that one
Speaking of not taking money, the transit system out here in the lower mainland won't take the new $5 or $10 bill. Only the old ones due to lack of new machines and programming. So if you want to ride the skytrain for free just have a new $5 on you!
That didnt make any sense…they dont take new 5s so you ride for free with an old five that they do take?
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