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The E-Sylum:  Volume 4, Number 48, November 25, 2001, Article 3

U.S. MINT LAYOFFS

  The economy is taking its toll on the U.S. Mint, too.
  From an article in the November 21st Philadelphia Inquirer:

  "Officials at the U.S. Mint, which produces all the coins in
  circulation, said that, with the economic downturn, the
  nation will consume vastly fewer new coins. It therefore has
  begun laying off 357 workers in Philadelphia, San Francisco,
  Denver and other places to curtail coin production and protect
  its profits for the U.S. Treasury.

  Mint officials believed as recently as the summer that the nation
  would need 23 billion new pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters
  in 2002. But the Mint bean counters reduced that number to
  15 billion when it became apparent that the economy would
  not rebound quickly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

  "This all happened fairly rapidly," a Mint spokeswoman, Susan
  Valaskovic, said yesterday. "Now you understand  why we're
  reducing employees in Philadelphia."

  The decline in demand for coins from the U.S. Mint is
  "staggering," and reflects the slumping national economy and
  other factors, said James Benfield, executive director of the
  Coin Coalition, a lobbying group in Washington that supports
  the dollar coin.

  The U.S. Mint has produced too many coins in the last year,
  and now is coping with tens of millions of dollars in unexpected
  coins flowing into the economy as people scrounge through
  drawers, old suits, jars and cans for coins.

  "As the economy slows down, this stuff comes out of the closet,"
  Benfield said. "When you're out of a job, you cash in all your
  coins."

http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/11/21/front_page/COIN21.htm

  [Anthough coin output typically grows from year to year, that
   isn't always the case.  At several points in history, coin
   production has declined due to economic, political, and other
   factors.  Is anyone aware of contemporary references to earlier
   cutbacks in mint employment?  -Editor]

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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