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PaperclipPerfector  3mo ago (text post)   3522 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for February 13, 2026

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A bill passes unanimously through US congress, regarding an issuing of coins commemorating the 250th anniversary of the foundation of the US. While it authorizes the 2.50 USD coin only in commemorative quantities, it also directs a study to be conducted regarding it being issued in circulating quantities.

If the latter goes through, the most valuable circulating USD coin would be worth slightly ore than the most valuable circulating EUR coin (2 EUR=2.37 USD).

Weaklings ... make a coin with value e ...

They can’t do that. It would ruin financial derivatives.

Naturally.

I still like my idea for a five-dollar coin better, but this would be an improvement on that status quo if it also retires nickles.

Ban all fractional prices. Everything must be rounded to the nearest dollar. Coins are now one, five, ten, and 25 dollars. The paper bills are now $100, $500, and $1000. I know the government does not like making large denomination bills because of drug dealers, but we really need some back or paper money is just going to be useless pretty soon. Maybe that’s what they want.

That is 100% what they want. In the US there's still that old anarchistic streak alive, but in Europe push for digital money (controlled by the governmental Central Bank, of course) is in full swing. Not sure it'll be successful - when I was in Berlin some years ago, I was astonished how many places didn't accept anything but cash - but they will definitely try to push cash as much to the sidelines as possible.

EU has regulation confirming the availability of cash as a legal tender in the legislative pipeline, though.

The new push for digital euro is about hopefully eventually replacing Visa/Mastercard as digital payment structure (for obvious sovereignty reasons, especially considering the recent events in US/EU relations).

Getting from under the US financial boot is one of the reasons, but I suspect the control that CB would enjoy over any digital currency is another (actually very similar - EU doesn't like US controlling their finances, but they very much would like the same power for themselves).

Of course they do. Governments hate cash because they can't control it. Transactions they can't tax? Trades in illegal goods and services, such as weed or prostitution? A medium of exchange they can't debank you from for wrongthink? Unacceptable! Cash makes the state blind, and that is unforgivable to a bureaucrat. Which is why India declared war on cash.

...

Considering the utter flop of the $1 presidential coins, I don't see the use of a $2.50 coin.

IMO the coin flopped because most register tills couldn't accommodate any more coin types, so cashiers never provided them as change. Now that the penny is going away, that opens up a slot. There's also now no reason not to retire the $1 bill.

The Eisenhower Dollar flopped because it was too large and cumbersome to be convenient to use. So they replaced it with the Susan B. Anthony Dollar, which flopped because it was too similar to a quarter. They then replaced it with the Sacajawea Dollar, which was similar in size, but which the Mint thought would be distinguishable because of its gold color. Unfortunately, while it was visually distinct it wasn't so much when people are reaching in their pockets for change, so it flopped. Then they started the president series, which they thought would work because of the public interest in the 50 state quarter series. But it didn't have the desired effect, probably because it's easier to get people to collect an existing coin than to rely on collector demand to force the coins into circulation. Since Trump was able to effectively end the penny by simply telling the mint to stop producing them, maybe he could do something similar whereby he tells the Bureau of Printing and Engraving to stop producing dollar bills and print more 2 dollar bills, and has the mint ramp up dollar coin production. But people had been calling for the end of the penny for years, while the dollar bill remains popular, so I don't know that it would fly.

Don't forget that in size and weight they're virtually indistinguishable from a quarter. Were they larger and heavier, like a fifty cent piece or a British pound, I expect they'd be more popular.

I miss silver dollars so much! They are such a great size even the base metal ones are a pleasure to hold. Susan B/Sacajawea/Presidential dollars are so much worse. I wish we could get a nice 2.50 coin with some substance.

Numbers for reference:

  • 1878 silver dollar: 6/7 ounce

  • 1971 copper dollar: 1/3.5 ounce

  • 1979 copper dollar: 1/4 ounce

  • Quarter: 1/5.5 ounce

the most valuable circulating USD coin

Pedantically, aren't Double Eagles still, in theory, legal tender? They're worth far more than their face value, so I doubt anyone uses them as "currency" per se.

There was a case years ago where a shop in Vegas was in court with the IRS because they were paying employees in silver coins and listing the face value for tax purposes. I'm not sure how it turned out.

There's a lot of numismatic coins US Mint is producing. Most of them AFAIK has a nominal value, and I am sure anybody would accept them at this value, without even needing to consider if they are legally bound to do so, given as their actual value is hundreds of times more than nominal. Here's a dollar coin: https://www.usmint.gov/american-eagle-2026-one-ounce-silver-proof-coin-26EA.html sold at $175. If anybody is willing to give me that one for a dollar, I'd take as many as they have.

Another definition of "circulating" could be "its numismatic value is equal to the face value" or "has no numismatic premium". This would then exclude your objection.

Text of bill

The Secretary may mint and issue—

(A) not more than 100,000 $2.50 numismatic coins, each of which shall weigh 4.1795 grams, have a diameter of 0.425 inches [smaller than a dime], and contain not less than 90 percent gold [i. e., around 1/8 ounce];

(B) not more than 300,000 $2.50 numismatic coins, each of which shall weigh 26.73 grams, have a diameter of 1.5 inches [same as the pre-1979 dollar coin], and contain not less than 90 percent silver [i. e., around 4/5 ounce]; and

(C) not more than 750,000 $2.50 numismatic coins, each of which shall weigh 11.34 grams, have a diameter of 1.205 inches, and be minted to the specifications for half-dollar coins.

The Secretary of the Treasury, acting through the Director of the United States Mint[,] shall conduct a comprehensive study to evaluate the feasibility, practicality, and potential public benefits of minting and issuing a $2.50 coin for wide circulation in the United States.

Current coins for reference

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