4 ms·

Abolish the Penny?

3 points by m463 2y ago

m463 2y ago
I think we should have easier ways to convert coins to paper money or maybe something like direct deposit.
hprotagonist 2y ago
in ~2009 or so -- right after the housing crash -- i remember reading about people who were collecting all-copper pennies and storing them in anticipation of when the penny becomes deprecated and the metal becomes salable. Guess they're in for the long haul, but the photos of $20k in pennies were something to see!
neonate 2y ago
https://archive.ph/A65vR https://archive.ph/A65vR
WheelsAtLarge 2y ago
The best fix would be to stop making the penny altogether but that's a no-go. A possible one is to stop making the penny but keep the prices the same, down to the cent. When you check out your total is priced to the nearest nickel. If you pay in electronic form you get the total down to the penny. also, if you want to deal with the cent total you can bring in the pennies you have at home. As they come back to the bank, they would get sent back to the mint for recycling. In time people will just lose interest and it won't matter anymore.
- ggm 2y ago
  Other nations managed it. Australia withdrew the 1c & 2c coin in 1992. It's a no-go because... ?
  - WheelsAtLarge 2y ago
    Public push back, people don't like that their purchases get price to the nickle. It's psychological. There's a reason why 99 cents is a bargain but a dollar is not. It's all in our heads. if it was easy it would been done ages ago.
    - ggm 2y ago
      Wanted to be sure there wasn't some structural/legal position e.g. massive amounts of street furniture nationwide assuming 1c and 2c coins for function. If you ditched the dime and the quarter, I think that would be a real issue. "voters won't be happy" is the reason? Fair, but stupid.
mikequinlan 2y ago
Pure clickbait. >While writing an article about all of this for The Times Magazine, I’m pretty sure I found a loophole buried deep in the forgotten annals of the U.S. legal code that could end this pointless penny plague. I think there is one person in the United States who can unilaterally kill the penny this afternoon if he or she wants to. It’s not the president of the United States or the director of the Mint or the head of Coinstar, the private coin-recycling company that has become a crucial cog in the U.S. monetary system (though I had a lovely long talk with him). In fact, it’s probably not anyone you would think of. Find out who in the magazine story.
cfyvcf77 2y ago
[flagged]

3 points by m463 2y ago

m463 2y ago

I think we should have easier ways to convert coins to paper money or maybe something like direct deposit.

in ~2009 or so -- right after the housing crash -- i remember reading about people who were collecting all-copper pennies and storing them in anticipation of when the penny becomes deprecated and the metal becomes salable. Guess they're in for the long haul, but the photos of $20k in pennies were something to see!

neonate 2y ago

https://archive.ph/A65vR https://archive.ph/A65vR

WheelsAtLarge 2y ago

The best fix would be to stop making the penny altogether but that's a no-go. A possible one is to stop making the penny but keep the prices the same, down to the cent. When you check out your total is priced to the nearest nickel. If you pay in electronic form you get the total down to the penny. also, if you want to deal with the cent total you can bring in the pennies you have at home. As they come back to the bank, they would get sent back to the mint for recycling. In time people will just lose interest and it won't matter anymore.

ggm 2y ago
Other nations managed it. Australia withdrew the 1c & 2c coin in 1992. It's a no-go because... ?
- WheelsAtLarge 2y ago
  Public push back, people don't like that their purchases get price to the nickle. It's psychological. There's a reason why 99 cents is a bargain but a dollar is not. It's all in our heads. if it was easy it would been done ages ago.
  - ggm 2y ago
    Wanted to be sure there wasn't some structural/legal position e.g. massive amounts of street furniture nationwide assuming 1c and 2c coins for function. If you ditched the dime and the quarter, I think that would be a real issue. "voters won't be happy" is the reason? Fair, but stupid.

mikequinlan 2y ago

Pure clickbait. >While writing an article about all of this for The Times Magazine, I’m pretty sure I found a loophole buried deep in the forgotten annals of the U.S. legal code that could end this pointless penny plague. I think there is one person in the United States who can unilaterally kill the penny this afternoon if he or she wants to. It’s not the president of the United States or the director of the Mint or the head of Coinstar, the private coin-recycling company that has become a crucial cog in the U.S. monetary system (though I had a lovely long talk with him). In fact, it’s probably not anyone you would think of. Find out who in the magazine story.

cfyvcf77 2y ago

[flagged]