@Tante: you`re not causing trouble at all! In fact, you are explaining very well the technical details to non-IT-people like myself! Thank you!
So, 22 Million is the definitive maximum and about 14 Million is the minimum? Those two numbers do not change regardless of what the hashrate does, correct?
Yes, correct, though those numbers are not exact, just rounded ;P
Not to be rude, but I think your response is a bit misleading. For one, 22 million is not a hard maximum and I think your 14 million number is a bit low. The key about that chart is the kink in the red line which represents when it was assumed that we are consistently at the 5 coin reward. The line behaves smoothly after that point because the only remaining effect is the 7% yearly reduction.
After that kink 11 million coins are going to be minted. We are at 4.2 million now-- meaning a hard minimum of 15.2 million. Furthermore, I doubt we are going completely lock into 3000+ minimum difficultly in the next week or month (average is about 1500 now) so I think 16 million is a better minimum estimate.
Also, if for some reason DRK gets unpopular or somebody makes a DRK-buying multipool or whatever then I think there is a chance of exceeding 22 million -- though I will agree that is unlikely.
@ Macno
All you have to remember is the faster DRK gets popular (in terms of net hashrate) is the slower it is minted. Also, only 11 million coins will be minted after the point when the minimum difficultly (DGW difficultly adjustment is sinusoidal) is
consistently above 3000 -- which is probably still a ways in the future.