6 ms·

At what point is the nickel not worth the effort to keep around as well? It might be easier to sell everyone on the idea of rounding to the nearest 10 cents to

At what point is the nickel not worth the effort to keep around as well? It might be easier to sell everyone on the idea of rounding to the nearest 10 cents to keep prices nice and even.

Shivetya 10y ago
well I suspect they would just push us to a digital currency and be done with it. slowly take away the small currencies and try to convince people that if they want to save money long term (as in get the penny values back) they need to convert
- madeofpalk 10y ago
  Places like Australia got rid of 1c and 2c coins (with the 5c being the smallest denomination) long before 'digital currency' was on the minds of anyone.
jejones3141 10y ago
The problem with that rounding is that I suspect I know which direction the rounding will always go... and for things like gasoline or water (or even pork chops, which differ in size) there's no way to prevent a price that would require rounding.
- mikeash 10y ago
  I believe other countries solve this by legally mandating fair rounding.
- MBlume 10y ago
  ...so what?
- madeofpalk 10y ago
  Many other countries solve this by just rounding the final price up or down regardless. So if your fuel comes to $100.02, all you pay is $100. If it comes to $100.04, you pay $100.05. It works fine, no one dies.
djsumdog 10y ago
New Zealand phased out their 5cent coins a decade ago.
- robocat 10y ago
  Context: NZD0.05 is worth about the same as 0.05USD ‡† ‡ Purchasing power to a citizen of the corresponding country, rather than exchange rate (exchange rate only makes ~30% difference). † probably quite a good approximation given years difference.
abrowne 10y ago
Yes, the nickel is just as bad. New Zealand got rid of their 5¢ coin about 10 years ago, but they had (and have) a 20¢ coin instead of 25¢, so they could easily drop the decimal. My proposal would be to drop the penny and nickel, keep the dime, and replace the quarter with a 50¢ coin.
Coincoin 10y ago
The problem with phasing out nickels is you have to phase out quarters first and replace them with 20c.
- bryanlarsen 10y ago
  Or drop the dime too and round to the quarter like Denmark did.

At what point is the nickel not worth the effort to keep around as well? It might be easier to sell everyone on the idea of rounding to the nearest 10 cents to keep prices nice and even.

Shivetya 10y ago

well I suspect they would just push us to a digital currency and be done with it. slowly take away the small currencies and try to convince people that if they want to save money long term (as in get the penny values back) they need to convert

madeofpalk 10y ago
Places like Australia got rid of 1c and 2c coins (with the 5c being the smallest denomination) long before 'digital currency' was on the minds of anyone.

jejones3141 10y ago

The problem with that rounding is that I suspect I know which direction the rounding will always go... and for things like gasoline or water (or even pork chops, which differ in size) there's no way to prevent a price that would require rounding.

mikeash 10y ago
I believe other countries solve this by legally mandating fair rounding.
MBlume 10y ago
...so what?
madeofpalk 10y ago
Many other countries solve this by just rounding the final price up or down regardless. So if your fuel comes to $100.02, all you pay is $100. If it comes to $100.04, you pay $100.05. It works fine, no one dies.

djsumdog 10y ago

New Zealand phased out their 5cent coins a decade ago.

robocat 10y ago
Context: NZD0.05 is worth about the same as 0.05USD ‡† ‡ Purchasing power to a citizen of the corresponding country, rather than exchange rate (exchange rate only makes ~30% difference). † probably quite a good approximation given years difference.

abrowne 10y ago

Yes, the nickel is just as bad. New Zealand got rid of their 5¢ coin about 10 years ago, but they had (and have) a 20¢ coin instead of 25¢, so they could easily drop the decimal. My proposal would be to drop the penny and nickel, keep the dime, and replace the quarter with a 50¢ coin.

Coincoin 10y ago

The problem with phasing out nickels is you have to phase out quarters first and replace them with 20c.

bryanlarsen 10y ago
Or drop the dime too and round to the quarter like Denmark did.