5 ms·

$100 bill surpasses $1 bill in circulation for first time in U.S. history

13 points by hker 7y ago

SOLAR_FIELDS 7y ago
USA could stand to have a major update in how it treats currency. As an easy example: why is the penny still legal tender and widely used? Every other first world country had been essentially rid of cent level denominations for years now. Canada is too easy, let’s instead look at Ecuador who uses USD as currency. In Ecuador, outside of touristy areas, salary and prices of everything are in general at most 1/4 of what USA charges. Yet somehow, Ecuador functions without the penny. All prices are rounded to the nearest 5 cents and Ecuador has not imploded from the rounding issues. Why is it that we insist on pricing and dealing with pennies? Every other first world country had adjusted their own currencies accordingly.
- anfilt 7y ago
  Nothing is wrong with a penny, really the problem has been inflation. Like about a hundred years ago a penny had the same value as quarter today. Given a enough time with constant inflation a dollar itself will be about like a penny today. Although, I’ll probably be dead before then assuming no sudden changes. The dollar could be rebased in that time period to make the units still make sense. Like 100 “old dollars” equals one “new dollar”. Like we are talking 200-300 years from now to where a dollar that furture year is about the same value of a penny today. Again assuming no sudden inflation rate changes.
  - beatgammit 7y ago
    Sure, but until then, we should phase out useless coinage. I avoid cash largely because I have having a pocket full of coins. Eliminating the penny (and preferably the nickel and dime as well) would encourage me to use cash again.
    - jakeogh 7y ago
      Or we could fix the root problem...
- AlchemistCamp 7y ago
  > Every other first world country had been essentially rid of cent level denominations for years now. Canada... Japan is a first world country much larger in both population and economic size than Canada and has a common coin worth 6% less than a penny.
- jobigoud 7y ago
  > Every other first world country had been essentially rid of cent level denominations for years now Apart from Japan, in the Eurozone we also have a one cent and two cents coins. They are a pain in the butt though, I'm very much in favor of getting rid of them. When I get some they usually go straight to my "red" jar along with the 2c and 5c (they are all copper). Apparently some countries like the Netherlands aren't minting them anymore already.
- jjeaff 7y ago
  In part, due to lobbying by the company that provides all the blanks for making pennies. https://youtu.be/_tyszHg96KI https://youtu.be/_tyszHg96KI
- perl4ever 7y ago
  It will never happen, but I wish that the US would keep all currency but revalue it at ten times the present value. Within living memory, the dollar was worth ten times what it is now, and back then, pennies, nickels, dimes, and so on were useful. This makes a lot more sense to me that changing the physical coins.

13 points by hker 7y ago

USA could stand to have a major update in how it treats currency. As an easy example: why is the penny still legal tender and widely used? Every other first world country had been essentially rid of cent level denominations for years now. Canada is too easy, let’s instead look at Ecuador who uses USD as currency. In Ecuador, outside of touristy areas, salary and prices of everything are in general at most 1/4 of what USA charges. Yet somehow, Ecuador functions without the penny. All prices are rounded to the nearest 5 cents and Ecuador has not imploded from the rounding issues. Why is it that we insist on pricing and dealing with pennies? Every other first world country had adjusted their own currencies accordingly.

anfilt 7y ago
Nothing is wrong with a penny, really the problem has been inflation. Like about a hundred years ago a penny had the same value as quarter today. Given a enough time with constant inflation a dollar itself will be about like a penny today. Although, I’ll probably be dead before then assuming no sudden changes. The dollar could be rebased in that time period to make the units still make sense. Like 100 “old dollars” equals one “new dollar”. Like we are talking 200-300 years from now to where a dollar that furture year is about the same value of a penny today. Again assuming no sudden inflation rate changes.
- beatgammit 7y ago
  Sure, but until then, we should phase out useless coinage. I avoid cash largely because I have having a pocket full of coins. Eliminating the penny (and preferably the nickel and dime as well) would encourage me to use cash again.
  - jakeogh 7y ago
    Or we could fix the root problem...
AlchemistCamp 7y ago
> Every other first world country had been essentially rid of cent level denominations for years now. Canada... Japan is a first world country much larger in both population and economic size than Canada and has a common coin worth 6% less than a penny.
jobigoud 7y ago
> Every other first world country had been essentially rid of cent level denominations for years now Apart from Japan, in the Eurozone we also have a one cent and two cents coins. They are a pain in the butt though, I'm very much in favor of getting rid of them. When I get some they usually go straight to my "red" jar along with the 2c and 5c (they are all copper). Apparently some countries like the Netherlands aren't minting them anymore already.
jjeaff 7y ago
In part, due to lobbying by the company that provides all the blanks for making pennies. https://youtu.be/_tyszHg96KI https://youtu.be/_tyszHg96KI
perl4ever 7y ago
It will never happen, but I wish that the US would keep all currency but revalue it at ten times the present value. Within living memory, the dollar was worth ten times what it is now, and back then, pennies, nickels, dimes, and so on were useful. This makes a lot more sense to me that changing the physical coins.