Printing a U.S. Cent and a 1000 Lebanese Liras

Vahe H. Apelian

Lebanese Bank Notes No Longer in Circulation 

The least denomination in the U.S. is the lowly 1-cent Lincoln penny. In Lebanon, it is 1000LL. The latest exchange rate of the Lebanese Lira (LL) against the standard bearer,  the almighty Green Buck, although the $ may not be so mighty anymore - is 33,600 LL. 

According to Wikipedia, seigniorage is the “the profit made by a government by issuing currency, especially the difference between the face value of coins and their production costs.”

Not all currencies make a profit to the government, be it the United States. The cost of paper, colors, metals and labor add to the cost for  printing a bank note or minting a coin. According to a more recent report in Coinnews.net, dated February 7, 2020, by Mike Unser, “in 2019, to make, administer and distribute the 1-cent coin eased to 1.99 cents form 2.06 cents.” It means that it costs twice its face value to print a lincoln penny.  Printing 5-cents is costly too. It costs 7.53 cents to mint a nickel (5 cents). 

It is no wonder that our northern neighbor Canada ceased minting penny in 2019. Bills have been introduced in the U.S. congress to phase out minting the costly penny but to no avail. Let us face it. The “lowly penny” evokes sentimental feelings. I bet many of us have picked a penny and set it aside or in a jar. I have. Penny has its honored place in the American culture and language. There are well-known sayings that reference the penny, such as “penny saved is penny earned”, “penny-wise, pound-foolish. It appears that the costly penny will remain with us for the foreseeable future,  although "untold billions are parked in collection jars and other dark, forgotten places."

50-Piasters, 1952

There is the other side of the coin as well. The metal in the coin may be worth more than the nominal value of the coin itself. Such was the case for the Lebanese 50-cents in the hey days of Lebanon. Sometimes in the 1960’s the 50 piasters disappeared from circulation in Lebanon. It turned out that its silver content was for more valuable than its trading face value. Lebanon being Lebanon, it would not surprise me a bit that those in the higher up bought all the available 50-piasters from the banks at their face value and had them processed for their far more expensive silver content. It even would not surprise me that Lebanese officials, being Lebanese officials, had the government continue on minting the silver containing 50-piasters while they hoarded the minted coins, until the government ran of its silver stock and legislation was passed to have the composition of the 50-piasters changed.

After the news, or should I say after the rumors became widely known. What Lebanese government official in his right mind would have alerted the people?  I too kept the few silver-containing 50-piasters I laid my hands on. They surely felt different in the pocket. They were heavier than the 50 piasters that replaced them. I do not know what happened to my few silver-containing 50 piasters. Recently I checked online about them and found out that they are available for purchase for those to whom the silver-containing 50-piasters evoke memories of the bygone days in Lebanon. But its expensive In a good condition each is retailed up to $40 U.S. dollars. 

I was told that the lowest Lebanese Lira denomination nowadays is 1000 LL. At the current market exchange, it means that 1000 LL is worth around 3 cents. It would not be farfetched to envision that it costs the Lebanese government more than 3 cents to print a 1000 LL bank note.  Why print a 1000 LL then? By the same token it costs more for the U.S. Government to  continue on minting the 1 cent.

There was a time when a 25-piaster coin is all you needed to secure a seating in the circulating taxicabs in the city, and 50-piaster coin to have a tasty manaesh from the baker across the American University of Beirut. Around 3500 LL (around 1000$) is what the student needed to meet the American University of Beirut tuition cost in my days. 

The 50-Lebanese piasters are now worthless. So are the circulating bank notes in my days such as 1, 5, 10, 50 or 100 LL. But should  a person have kept them in mint conditions, they may fetch a hefty price on ebay. In mint conditions, as noted, a 50 piasters may fetch up to $40.

Who can possibly dispute to the contrary that those were the days in Lebanon?  Quoting from the popular song of the 1960’s, the generation of my day in their youth dared to sing in Lebanon.....

We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way