Mint Clad

Does the U.S. Treasury still make Silver/Silver Clad Dollars and Half Dollars? If yes, Why?

Does it make sense if the US Mint still produces Silver Clad 50 cent and Dollar pieces? I just got a Abe Lincoln Gold piece with some change the other day and I thought, Why? What purpose does it serve the American people to have these? If we didn’t strike these high dollar coins, could we (as a country) save any tax dollars?

There are no silver-clad coins being made. The last (and only) circulating silver-clad coins were the Kennedy half dollars 1965-1970, and the last silver-clad coins were the Bicentennial quarter, half and dollar from 1976 that were sold only as collector coins in Proof and Mint sets.

Since that time, silver (90%) and gold (90%) collector coins and silver (.999) and gold (.999) bullion investment coins have been produced. These coins are sold for a profit and actually make money, helping to offset some of the cost of running the mint and making circulating coinage. Producing and selling collector coins provides a benefit to taxpayers, it doesn’t cost them.

The Lincoln, and all of the Presidential Dollar coins, are mostly copper, with smaller amounts of manganese, zinc and nickel. The total current market value of the materials used to make one of the coins is less than 8 cents. So we’re not exactly losing any money on these.

We are losing money on pennies and nickels, but so far, Congress has been slow to work on changing the composition of these coins to something cheaper.

1999-2009 Complete Set of S-Mint Proof State/US Territ…