Issue: The Canadian one-dollar and two-dollar coins
are currently only authorized to be produced using
nickel compositions. In recent years, nickel prices
have been very volatile and have increased
dramatically leading to higher production costs. Also,
as an actively traded commodity, lead times to
acquire nickel can fluctuate based on world supply
and demand and this could result in a shortage of
material required to meet Canadian coin demand.
Description: The Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) seeks an
amendment to the Royal Canadian Mint Act to allow
for the composition of the one-dollar and two-dollar
coins to be produced using its patented multi-ply
plated steel (MPPS) technology as the core material.
This would result in significant cost savings and also
reduce the risks associated with price volatility and
availability should there ever be a shortage of nickel.
Cost-benefit statement: Producing the one- and two-
dollar coins using the MPPS technology would result
in an estimated annual $16 million cost savings to the
Government or a present value of $107.5 million over
10 years. There would be an estimated one-time cost
to the vending industry of $40 million to recalibrate
its automated coin acceptance equipment to read the
new coins; however, as part of the industry’s capital
planning, such updates already occur on a somewhat
regular basis. The cost to the nickel industry would
be lowered demand for nickel which would be offset
by a benefit of increased demand to the steel industry
as the primary metal source used in the coins would
be steel. However, the change would represent less
than 0.05% of the total worldwide nickel annual
demand and less than 0.00005% of the total
worldwide annual steel demand so it would have very
little quantifiable impact on prices or the industries as
a whole.
Business and consumer impacts: The change in
composition to MPPS for the production of one- and
two-dollar coins would be transparent to consumers.
The vending industry and other industries using
automated coin acceptance and processing
equipment would be required to update and
recalibrate their equipment to accept the new coin
composition. Also, small retailers or organizations
using weight-based coin sorting or counting
equipment could be affected due to the slight
difference in weight of the new coins relative to the
existing coins. Although this will vary from company
to company, it is estimated that the overall impact
would be minimal. With two versions of each coin in
circulation, no capital outlay to modify equipment
would be needed but a requirement of an additional
process to pre-sort the one- and two-dollar coins
prior to using weight-based equipment would be
possible. The RCM has plans to recover, and remove
from circulation, the current nickel alloy coins
through its Alloy Recovery Program (ARP) to minimize
these impacts as time progresses.
Domestic and international coordination and
cooperation: The RCM is working closely with the
vending and coin acceptance industry. Sample tokens
were provided to the Canadian Automated
Merchandising Association’s (CAMA) members in late
2009 and their feedback was taken into account when
determining the best coin composition. The RCM
regularly consults with CAMA and hosted an
educational seminar at the CAMA 2010 Expo, in
Calgary in late September 2010, to further educate
the industry members of the change and address any
concerns. Based on the success and positive feedback
from the seminar, CAMA extended an invitation and
the RCM will deliver another session at the CAMA
2011 Expo in Montréal to further update their
members ahead of the coins being released into
general circulation. The RCM has also hosted
stakeholder information sessions in 2010 with
invitees from the parking, transit, casino gaming,
retail and pay telephone industries. The purpose of
these sessions was to provide information on the
change in coin compositions to the large stakeholders
from the industries that handle and process a large
volume of coin in order to assist them in their
preparation for the transition. These sessions also
allowed the RCM to address any concerns that the
groups may have had with the introduction of the
new one- and two-dollar coins. Based on feedback,
the RCM committed to provide these industries with
access to samples of the new one- and two-dollar
coins a minimum of six months prior to their
anticipated launch to ensure there would be enough
time for all required updates and calibration to take
place. In April 2011, sample coins were sent out to a
variety of automated coin acceptance equipment
manufacturers and suppliers for this activity to take
place. The RCM will continue to accept and respond
to requests from other companies requiring samples
until the coins are launched into general circulation.
-funny how people in shit-hole countries understand
what this means far more than most "educated"
canucks.
What the hell happened to the cantarre thread?
are currently only authorized to be produced using
nickel compositions. In recent years, nickel prices
have been very volatile and have increased
dramatically leading to higher production costs. Also,
as an actively traded commodity, lead times to
acquire nickel can fluctuate based on world supply
and demand and this could result in a shortage of
material required to meet Canadian coin demand.
Description: The Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) seeks an
amendment to the Royal Canadian Mint Act to allow
for the composition of the one-dollar and two-dollar
coins to be produced using its patented multi-ply
plated steel (MPPS) technology as the core material.
This would result in significant cost savings and also
reduce the risks associated with price volatility and
availability should there ever be a shortage of nickel.
Cost-benefit statement: Producing the one- and two-
dollar coins using the MPPS technology would result
in an estimated annual $16 million cost savings to the
Government or a present value of $107.5 million over
10 years. There would be an estimated one-time cost
to the vending industry of $40 million to recalibrate
its automated coin acceptance equipment to read the
new coins; however, as part of the industry’s capital
planning, such updates already occur on a somewhat
regular basis. The cost to the nickel industry would
be lowered demand for nickel which would be offset
by a benefit of increased demand to the steel industry
as the primary metal source used in the coins would
be steel. However, the change would represent less
than 0.05% of the total worldwide nickel annual
demand and less than 0.00005% of the total
worldwide annual steel demand so it would have very
little quantifiable impact on prices or the industries as
a whole.
Business and consumer impacts: The change in
composition to MPPS for the production of one- and
two-dollar coins would be transparent to consumers.
The vending industry and other industries using
automated coin acceptance and processing
equipment would be required to update and
recalibrate their equipment to accept the new coin
composition. Also, small retailers or organizations
using weight-based coin sorting or counting
equipment could be affected due to the slight
difference in weight of the new coins relative to the
existing coins. Although this will vary from company
to company, it is estimated that the overall impact
would be minimal. With two versions of each coin in
circulation, no capital outlay to modify equipment
would be needed but a requirement of an additional
process to pre-sort the one- and two-dollar coins
prior to using weight-based equipment would be
possible. The RCM has plans to recover, and remove
from circulation, the current nickel alloy coins
through its Alloy Recovery Program (ARP) to minimize
these impacts as time progresses.
Domestic and international coordination and
cooperation: The RCM is working closely with the
vending and coin acceptance industry. Sample tokens
were provided to the Canadian Automated
Merchandising Association’s (CAMA) members in late
2009 and their feedback was taken into account when
determining the best coin composition. The RCM
regularly consults with CAMA and hosted an
educational seminar at the CAMA 2010 Expo, in
Calgary in late September 2010, to further educate
the industry members of the change and address any
concerns. Based on the success and positive feedback
from the seminar, CAMA extended an invitation and
the RCM will deliver another session at the CAMA
2011 Expo in Montréal to further update their
members ahead of the coins being released into
general circulation. The RCM has also hosted
stakeholder information sessions in 2010 with
invitees from the parking, transit, casino gaming,
retail and pay telephone industries. The purpose of
these sessions was to provide information on the
change in coin compositions to the large stakeholders
from the industries that handle and process a large
volume of coin in order to assist them in their
preparation for the transition. These sessions also
allowed the RCM to address any concerns that the
groups may have had with the introduction of the
new one- and two-dollar coins. Based on feedback,
the RCM committed to provide these industries with
access to samples of the new one- and two-dollar
coins a minimum of six months prior to their
anticipated launch to ensure there would be enough
time for all required updates and calibration to take
place. In April 2011, sample coins were sent out to a
variety of automated coin acceptance equipment
manufacturers and suppliers for this activity to take
place. The RCM will continue to accept and respond
to requests from other companies requiring samples
until the coins are launched into general circulation.
-funny how people in shit-hole countries understand
what this means far more than most "educated"
canucks.
What the hell happened to the cantarre thread?
Comment