Politicians in Washington hardly let a few minutes go by without mentioning how broke the government is. So, it’s a little surprising that they’ve created a stash of more than $1 billion that almost no one wants.

Unused dollar coins have been quietly piling up in Federal Reserve vaults in breathtaking numbers, thanks to a government program that has required their production since 2007.

And even though the neglected mountain of money recently grew past the $1 billion mark, the U.S. Mint will keep making more and more of the coins under a congressional mandate.

The pile of idle coins, which so far cost $300 million to manufacture, could double by the time the program ends in 2016, the Federal Reserve told Congress last year.

I’m familiar with the US States Quarter program, but this one’s been flying under my radar, as this is the first i’ve heard of it.  I wonder if they have the same support that the state program did?  My stepdad has a large board that he’s put all of his state quarters in, I think it’d be cool to have one of the state ones right next to the presidential one.

via NPR.

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