3 ms·
I have to say though... are the value in coins intrinsic or as a medium of exchange? Although I've heard pennies just end up in a drawer, don't they have value
by m463 2y ago
I have to say though... are the value in coins intrinsic or as a medium of exchange?
Although I've heard pennies just end up in a drawer, don't they have value to the economy to exchange (many times) goods and services back and forth for coins?
is it just convention nowadays, left over from storing gold?
- throwaway314155 2y agoWhat's your question exactly?
- ragnese 2y agoI have a similar question. I always heard/read that the whole "pennies cost more to make than they're worth" argument was a red herring, in that it doesn't really matter how much they cost to make "at rest". But, rather, the value of a penny is in how much wealth it allows to be transferred over its life in circulation. In other words, if a penny does cost about 3.69 cents (or whatever they say the number is today) to mint, then it is "worth it" as long as the penny is used 4 times EVER. I'll admit that I really haven't given much thought to the topic in any case. But, even in just the time it's taking me to write this comment, I'm realizing it's probably a little of both "sides" being right. After all, a penny is both a medium of exchange as well as a store of wealth/value, depending on how you use it...
- JohnFen 2y agoIt matters because if you can extract more than a penny's worth of metal from a penny, then you make money by buying as many pennies as you can get and melting them down to sell the metal.
- collingreen 2y agoWhich is simultaneously illegal, antisocial, and logistically difficult.
- JohnFen 2y agoTrue, but that won't stop people.