Admittedly, I’m no psychic. Yet, I can take credit for one prediction. When the discontinuance of our penny was announced, I warned the next-level, lowly nickel could soon also be on the chopping block. For the record, I disagree with eliminating either, for several reasons.
Just a week ago, a front-page headline on the newspaper USA Today read, “Do nickels still make common cents to use?” The article referenced minting costs higher than the face value.
The prospect of eliminating the nickel came right on the heels of our penny being terminated. Canada stopped producing their pennies in 2013. Once it was realized their move didn’t stop the world from spinning, in 2025, we followed suit. Both decisions were based on production costs....
Consequently, half the coins in our pocket change are profitable. The others…not so much. However, it seems to me, if you balance it all out, between pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters, we actually break even. Certainly, breaking even is a pretty good thing considering how often the government never seems to.
Examples of government waste and ineptitude are so common they’ve become low hanging fruit for critics. We’ve all heard instances aplenty but a few recent ones stand out. Several of the latest include the U.S. Department of Defense dropping $43 million on a compressed natural gas station in Afghanistan. Later, reports concluded it should have cost only $500,000. $27 million was spent on Moroccan pottery classes and $20 million more went to a Middle Eastern version of Sesame Street.
The US Air Force spent $32,000 on just two dozen re-heatable coffee cups and $150,000 for several soap dispensers. Larger tragic notables include $28 million on forest-pattern camouflage uniforms the US paid for the Afghan army. That despite the country having only 2.1 percent of area in forest. Incidentally, they were chosen because a defense minister simply liked the pattern.
On the subject of uniforms, a whopping five billion dollars went for a new universal pixelated US military uniform. After being designed, produced and distributed, not only did they fail to camouflage any soldiers, they were reported to actually make soldiers stand out in most environments. In the end, the entire initiative was scrapped and all the money lost. Examples go on and on, and they get increasingly depressing.
At this point, what’s important to find are initiatives that worked and emulate those. One would be the annual Duck Stamp both hunters and collectors love. Issued annually since 1934, 98 percent of the proceeds go to procuring and saving waterfowl habitats. Of the $1.3 billion collected, over six million acres of wetland have been acquired or preserved. It’s a government initiative that works and works wonders.
Most coins too have been a win/win for retailers and collectors. The 50 State Quarters Series of 1999 – 2008 was massively successful. It taught kids and adults about each state and US Territory. They also created loads of new collectors.
Coin collectors love history and appreciate the significance of our coins be they early or contemporary. Even though a lowly penny was technically our first official coin in 1793, the nickel is a close second. By definition, the first “nickel” was struck in 1866 following the Civil War. However, five-cent pieces date back much further, to 1794. The earlier varieties were known as “half dimes.” One of those even dates back earlier, to 1792.
In colonial parlance, the 1792 version was called a “Half Disme” (pronounced ‘deem’). Struck from silver, history suggests the US didn’t have enough of the precious metal needed to create the coin. Consequently, Martha Washington donated her silver tea service to be melted and used for the coins. Clearly, patriotism abounded in our earliest days.
The Buffalo nickel was the perfect image representing westward expansion. That same image of a majestic buffalo and American Indian are still being used on one-ounce US gold coins. Nickels have also become a staple of idioms including “not having two nickels to rub together” and advice to “not take any wooden nickels”
The nickel has remained a staple of commerce and collecting over the centuries. To eradicate it simply to save a few dollars when other government waste is rampant would be ridiculous. It is an essential and historic element of commerce. Canada still actively produces, uses and loves their nickels. Should we choose to eliminate ours I’d say our judgement won’t be worth a plugged nickel. That’s just my five cents worth.
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