From the mailbag:
As part of the Obama Administration’s Campaign to Cut Waste, Vice President Biden today announced the U.S. Mint would suspend the production of Presidential dollar coins for circulation. Today, nearly 1.4 billion surplus dollar coins are sitting in Federal Reserve vaults due to lack of demand for the coins. By halting this unnecessary production, the Administration will save taxpayers at least $50 million per year in production and storage costs….More than 40 percent of the $1 coins that the United States Mint has issued have been returned to the Federal Reserve, because nobody wants to use them….As a result, nearly 1.4 billion excess dollar coins are already sitting unused in Federal Reserve Bank vaults — enough to meet demand for more than a decade. But until today, the Mint was on pace to produce an additional 1.6 billion dollar coins through 2016.Â
Okey dokey. Chester Alan Arthur is the unfortunate target of this ruthless attempt to pare back government. However, James Garfield, who was released on November 17, should be in plentiful supply for years to come.
