Search Results
Newsletter
What’s a penny (or a nickel) really worth?
On December 14, 2006, the United States Mint announced new regulations to limit the melting and exportation of pennies and nickels. The goal is to prevent a shortage of small change in circulation. This article looks at the problem in historical context and suggests solutions.
Working Paper
The evolution of small change
Western Europe was plagued with currency shortages from the 14th to the 19th century, at which time a `standard formula' had been devised to cure the problem. We document the evolution of mon- etary theory, policy experiments and minting tech- nology over the course of six hundred years. In a companion paper, we use a cash-in-advance model of commodity money to provide an analytical frame- work for the problem of small change.
Working Paper
Handicapping currency design: counterfeit deterrence and visual accessibility in the United States and abroad
Despite the increasing use of electronic payments, currency retains an important role in the payments system of every country. Two aspects of currency usage drive currency design worldwide: deterring counterfeiting and making paper currency accessible to the visually impaired. Further, among the world's currencies, only U.S. banknotes are widely owned and used in transactions outside their country of issue (although the euro also has some external circulation). In this article, we compare and contrast major currencies and their design features. We conclude that the designs of the two most ...
Journal Article
The fate of one-dollar coins in the U.S.
The United States has introduced two one-dollar coins in the past 25 years, both of which have not circulated widely. Many other countries have replaced lower-denomination notes with coins and have achieved wide circulation and cost savings. Lessons from those countries suggest that achieving widespread use of a dollar coin is much harder if the note is allowed to remain in circulation.
Working Paper
Forecasting coin demand.
Shortages of coins in 1999 and 2000 motivated the authors to develop models for forecasting coin demand. A variety of models were developed, tested, and used in realtime forecasting. This paper describes the models that were developed and examines the forecast errors from the models both in quasi-ex-ante forecasting exercises and in realtime use. Tests for forecast efficiency are run on each model. Real-time forecasts are examined. The authors conclude with suggestions for further refinements of the models.
Journal Article
Quarters commemorating 50 states to debut in 1999