Oh yeah, big-time fake. But still cool-looking. I'm actually looking forward to Jamie Grant's design, coming out soon!
me too, although I hope there is a plain brass option. I'm not a fan of the design on it at all!
I'd be shocked if a plain version wasn't available. Whether it will be in brass is another story. Most go for aluminum or steel. Both are cheap and aluminum is lightweight. Anything with copper in it these days costs a bit more than it used to.
Some interesting trivia:
Brass is made of copper and zinc mixed into an alloy.
US Pennies are no longer 100% copper. They're 97% zinc with 3% copper to coat it.
The US Mint was forced to make the change because some people finally realized that due to increasing market rates, a single copper penny contained more than a penny's worth of copper! The change took place roughly two decades ago.
The reason the US Mint is pushing for a successful dollar coin release is that it costs the Mint more than a dollar to make a one-dollar bill, and they have an average life span of only eighteen months.
The US is one of the few countries still producing paper currency for its "dollar" or local equivalent.
The largest factor working against the removal of the one-dollar bill is that Americans in general dislike carrying around change, preferring lighter paper currency over coins.
"Paper" currency isn't actually made of wood-based paper in the US - it's 75% linen, 25% cotton, 0% wood pulp. A wood pulp dollar bill would have an average lifespan of about a month or less.
I'm bored. Can't you tell?