U.S. Dollar Coin Contains 2% Nickel

Could images of presidents on a dollar coin convince Americans to drop their beloved dollar bill? By Virginia Heffernan

Nickel Magazine, March 2007 -- The new George Washington coin, the first of a series of one dollar coins honouring deceased U.S. presidents, began circulating at the end of February 2007.

The new coin is identical in colour, weight and size (important for vending and coin sorting machines) to the Golden Dollar, minted in 2000. That coin features Sacagawea, the Indian woman guide on the Lewis and Clark expedition of the western United States in 1803-06.

The composition of both coins is 88.5% copper, 6% zinc, 3.5% manganese and 2% nickel. The corrosion scientists responsible for developing a durable dollar coin developed this composition because it provides resistance to both corrosion and wear-and-tear without compromising the desired golden colour.

By adding manganese, the composition also duplicates the electromagnetic signature of the Susan B. Anthony copper -nickel coin that was released in 1979 and put to rest in 2000, sparing retailers the expense of having to retro-fit vending machines and other coin-operated devices.

Although the U.S. government waged a multi-million-dollar marketing campaign to urge citizens to use the first Golden Dollar in their day-to-day transactions, the coin never took off as an object of commerce. The U.S. Mint ceased making the coins for general circulation in 2002, though it continues to mint some for collectors.

This time, the Mint hopes things will be different. “Americans will soon be receiving presidential dollar coins in their change and will find them convenient to use at retailers, car washes and vending machines,” says Mint Director Edmund Moy in a press release.

The government would save hundreds of millions of dollars annually if dollar coins were to replace the paper dollar, according to a 2002 U.S. Government Accounting Office report. The Golden Dollar coin costs 12 cents to make and was expected to last 30 years. A dollar bill costs less much less to make but lasts only about 18 months in circulation.

The Federal Reserve has ordered 300 million George Washington dollar coins for the initial run. After Washington, the coin will feature portraits of U.S. presidents in the order that they served at a rate of four presidents per year until 2016. This year, John Adams will be next to grace the face of the coin, followed by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

The dollar coins are being introduced as a result of the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005, which requires the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue dollar coins honouring the United States presidents. Their success is expected to mirror that of the 50 State Quarters Program, a 10-year initiative that began in 1999 whereby every 10 weeks a new state is honoured on the quarter in the order that states were admitted into the Union. The U.S. Treasury makes a profit of about 20 cents on every quarter issued under the program.

Virginia Heffernan is a Toronto-based freelance science writer.

PHOTOS: U.S. Mint

Company Details

<< Previous   --   Next >>