C.S. 166
CONFIDENTIAL ## 機密
XCC(74)66
(c) the consequential costs of adapting government-
operated machines; and
(d) compensation for costs incurred by the private
sector.
12
The once-for-all costs of providing the new and revised coins from 20 cents to $2 are difficult to estimate at this stage, particularly as the likely displacement of existing denominations by the new coins cannot be forecast confidently. Whatever assumptions are made, however, the changeover is likely to show an eventual profit, at current prices, through the recovery of the scrap value of old coins withdrawn. This is because each revised coin will replace a larger old one and each new coin will replace two larger old ones. On the assumptions made by the committee, the cost at current prices, over the period 1975-1977, would be of the order of $43 million, while the metal value of existing coins withdrawn from circulation would be about $53 million. Of course, the income would be later than the expenditure, and metal prices could change in the meantime.
13
The once-for-all costs of providing coins to replace the $5 banknote would be about $61⁄2 million at current prices and on current circulation figures. There would be no offsetting income like that obtained from replacing coins.
14
The new range of coins would sharply reduce the running cost of maintaining the coinage. The metal and minting costs of the coins bought over the past three years would probably have been $6 million a year lower on average, at current prices, if the new range (up to $2) had been in existence; and there would have been savings also in storage, insurance and transport costs.
15
Although the cost of producing a $5 coin is currently about 4 or 5 times that of producing a banknote, the coin could be expected to last more than 50 times as long. If the trends of the last few years were to continue, the cost of printing $5 notes over the next ten years would be about $9 million more than the cost of minting $5 coins. The balance of advantage of other factors, such as relative storage costs and the cost of destroying used banknotes, is difficult to assess, but it is clear that there would be an overall reduction in maintenance costs over the next ten years sufficient to outweigh the once-for-all replacement cost mentioned in para- graph 13.
CONFIDENTIAL ##
機密