Here's a fun statistic...
I have a spreadsheet list of my coin collection. For each coin, I state its weight (in grams) and its known mintage.
What if I multiplied each of those numbers, then summed them by type of metal? I would have an estimate for how much of each metal has been used for coins, based on what I own at least.
So, let's do the numbers…
ALUMINUM = 110,096 metric tons (MT, that's 1,000kg or 1,000,000g)
BIMETALLIC = 169,650 MT (of any two metals)
BRASS = 733,205 MT (includes aluminum-bronze and similar alloys)
COPPER = 974,413 MT (includes bronze)
COPPER-NICKEL = 1,974,664 MT
NICKEL = 110,334 MT
SILVER = 45,776 MT (not actual silver weight, also includes alloyed metal content)
STAINLESS STEEL = 192,960 MT
STEEL = 574,891 MT (includes iron and also any steel coins plated or coated with any other metal)
ZINC = 973,717 MT (includes tin-zinc and copper-plated zinc)
SUM TOTAL OF ALL METAL USED IN WORLD COINAGE* = 5.86 MILLION METRIC TONS OF METAL.
(*as represented by specimens in my collection)
My collection is mostly base metal coins of the industrial age, 1850 to present. Silver is not a focus of my collection, so it is underrepresented here, and I don't own any gold, so it is conspicuously absent.
Still, that's enough metal to cast 28,725 full size copies of the Statue of Liberty (204 MT)
Maybe one of those "I own one of everything" users on Numista can export their collection and tally it up to give us the actual total of world metal consumption for coinage in human history. But of course, even with that approach, we'll never be able to account for the billions of coins produced by nations who rarely reported their mintages, like China, the USSR, and the ancient empires.
