US Coins and currency

[Slothead56]

Please do not get political!!!

A recent pet peeve post had one of our Canadian members peeving about US currency, specifically our continued use of pennies and dollar bills. He stated that in Canada they have eliminated pennies altogether (all cash purchases are rounded up to the next nickel though CC purchases remain to the cent) and have gone to $1 and $2 coins (the Loonie and Twonie) rather than have paper money in these denominations.

This makes so much sense to me. Haven’t I read somewhere that it actually cost more than a penny to make a penny? I can’t even imagine how many pennies-probably millions of dollars—are in mayonnaise jars and drawers because they are such a pain to deal with. The cost for retailers making change all day, while not huge, is probably in the millions as well.

Why don’t we (the US) make this change? I would gladly give up pennies and dollars and not even look back. Has this even been a legislative bill that’s been discussed and debated?

(BTW-my next post will likely be about Saturday mail delivery!)

[rmp]

as a bit of a collector, I followed a few articles some time back where there were plans to stop making pennies, but yet, they continue to mint them.

I really do agree, but won't the next problem be making change with cash purchases.

like dropping a 20 down for a $18.47 do they give ya back $18.45, or $18.50

Saturday Mail Delivery? don't even get me started!!

[HodgdonExtreme]

Originally Posted by Slothead56

eliminated pennies altogether (all cash purchases are rounded up to the next nickel...

That's the problem, right there. Soon nickels will become low man on the totem pole and they'll eliminate them, rounding up to the nearest dime, and so on...

I agree Pennies are annoying, but they serve an important purpose as a placeholder.

Dollar coins made perfect sense to me, but it's been tried (several times) in the USA, and Americans flatly rejected it each time. Oh well, whatevs.

[ras1500]

"I can’t even imagine how many pennies-probably millions of dollars—are in mayonnaise jars and drawers because they are such a pain to deal with."

I have a plastic jug in my closet that contains 18 pounds of pennies.

[RedJoker]

Originally Posted by HodgdonExtreme

That's the problem, right there. Soon nickels will become low man on the totem pole and they'll eliminate them, rounding up to the nearest dime, and so on...

I agree Pennies are annoying, but they serve an important purpose as a placeholder.

I bet most could not care less if they rounded up to the nearest nickel. At most, it would be 4 cents on any transaction. They wouldn't have to round up for each item, just the final purchase total.

[HodgdonExtreme]

Originally Posted by RedJoker

I bet most could not care less if they rounded up to the nearest nickel. At most, it would be 4 cents on any transaction. They wouldn't have to round up for each item, just the final purchase total.

I care.

Also, I suspect statistics and algorithms will be used to set prices to take most advantage of the "round up".

[David Eastwood]

Originally Posted by HodgdonExtreme

I care.

Also, I suspect statistics and algorithms will be used to set prices to take most advantage of the "round up".

Seems to me that the same thing could be said for the resulting sales tax revenue, also.

[HodgdonExtreme]

Originally Posted by eatswodo

Seems to me that the same thing could be said for the resulting sales tax revenue, also.

I don't see how a store/business front has any vested interest in Tayloring their price structures to maximize city/state/local tax revenues.

Of course, they DO have a vested interest in maximizing their own revenues. My point, is bean counters would carefully evaluate shopping experiences and Taylor their price structure to collect that extra $0.04 as much as possible.

I would.

[David Eastwood]

Originally Posted by HodgdonExtreme

I don't see how a store/business front has any vested interest in tayloring their price structures to maximize city/state/local tax revenues.

Of course, they DO have a vested interest in maximizing their own revenues. My point, is bean counters would carefully evaluate shopping experiences and taylor their price structure to collect that extra $0.04 as much as possible.

I would.

I wasn’t suggesting that the stores do it. I was thinking more of the taxing authority itself putting the most advantageous spin on rounding.

[blue]

It's hard to not get political because it comes down to socio-economics when you look at broad snapshots of who uses cash (and therefore needs there to be pennies, nickels etc.) and who can go cashless.

So from my perspective, the "take a penny leave a penny" bowl is used anywhere there is one. I wouldn't mind them going away. But there's a cash based class out there that needs them. Unless the governement is willing to "round down" to the nearest number ending in "zero" on sales taxes. Which I doubt they would be willing to do.

[C-ville Brent]

I am one of the few cash dinosaurs left - write checks and snail mail my bills. This came from the many years of being on a tight budget - can only spend the cash you have on you. It seems most people do just find cashless though. I don't have a hoard of pennies, I always carry them all (unless I get a wheat penny) and use them regularly.

I've also heard that it costs more than 1 cent to mint pennies. I believe the U.S. has made pennies out of other materials in the past, maybe during World War II. Other coins used to be made of silver, generally 1964 and earlier, so I'm not sure why the penny can't be made from another, less expensive metal.

I recall dollar coins in the form of Susan B. Anthony and Sacajawea. I think there was a presidential series also. They would seem to be many times more durable than paper bills, but never seemed to catch on.

So... I'm not sure why some of these changes haven't been implemented, but I don't like the idea of always rounding up to the detriment of the consumer. My 2 cents.

[Fogducker]

The Lincoln penny came out in 1909, Lincoln's 100th birth year. The designer was a guy named Victor David Brenner VDB, and put those initials on the front of the new penny. All hell broke out for putting his initials so prominently on the new penny. He moved them down to be below Lincoln's shoulder, they're still there but you have to look really close to see them. The prominent 1909 VDB penny is worth some money but especially the San Francisco mint 1909S, VDB penny. The 1943 zinc penny has a bit of a premium too but not like the VDB penny.

Other than that and 1964 and earlier for real silver coins that's about all the "coin stuff" I know!

Fog

[Slothead56]

Originally Posted by HodgdonExtreme

Dollar coins made perfect sense to me, but it's been tried (several times) in the USA, and Americans flatly rejected it each time. Oh well, whatevs.

FWIW, Canada stopped making $1 bills 21 months after the intro of the Loonie. Citizens had no choice but to adapt.

[Slothead56]

Originally Posted by blue

So from my perspective, the "take a penny leave a penny" bowl is used anywhere there is one. I wouldn't mind them going away.

I can’t imagine this will survive COVID-19...I’m not dipping my fingers in there!

[keith.rogers]

I never pay cash, so I would gladly see all the small coins go away. What a waste. We visit(ed) Sweden routinely and have watched that switch to cashless. So easy with today's smartphones. (Yes, I understand that's not accessible to everyone today, but smart cards are very doable - it's just resistance to change.)

I have some $5s I will stick in my wallet when we used to go out, e.g., valet parking where necessary, and now for pickup meals so I can tip those folks in cash, but pennies, nickels and dimes? Pointless.

The rounding up thing is easily solved by simply rounding down. The actual prices will adjust to meet overall profit targets, and it will be easier to sell to folks that don't understand that, in the end, it doesn't matter.