Is it time to stop using Pennies. Yes, the government should stop using Pennies.

[Glidergider]

I've been wishing for that the US would wise up and abandon the Penny. What can you buy with a penny? Not since I was 18 years old, have I gone to the store with a penny and return with a treat. That was 35 years ago, and then I bought only bubble gum.

Heck, our merchants could still charge $9.99 for a six pack of micro brew, but when I get to the store counter, I'd gladly let them round up (or down) the final payment to the nearest nickel.

It seems like such a waste of resources to produce such a worthless coin. It probably effect our global warming too. (I had to put that line in to make this topic fit the forum).

So what do you think, are you ready for the government to stop producing the penny. To allow our grocery stores and general merchants to roundup the final tally to the nearest nickel?

Keep in mind that all of us in the States have been living successfully with a rounded up transaction. In fact you let your gasoline attendant sell you a gallon of gas for $2.9799. Did you ever notice the extra little 99/100cents on the price of your gallon of gas. So, rounding up the final purchase is not a big deal, we've been doing it for years at the gas station pumps.

What do you think, can we dump the penny? Am I un-American for thinking such a thing? My friend at work accused me of that very sentiment. I disagree. I think inflation is Un-American. But we deal with inflation, and now its time to deal with the least valuable coin in our inventory.

[dertsap]

it would be a nasty can of worms that wouldnt work to any benefit to the consumer .
so many things round of to the nearest penny as it is , take taxes interest rates and fuel , if they were to get rounded off to the nearest nickle then it would mean rediculous amounts of extra revenue for the governments , fuel companies and the banks , it would be rounded off to their benefit before ours

[Glidergider]

dertsap,
Rounded correctly, the merchant would only round the final total price. Let's say the total price of your shopping was $95.72. You would pay $95.70. Yes, rounding down is OK too.

Sometimes your bill would round up and sometimes it would round down. In the long run, you break even.

I try to think of a single item I can buy with a penny, and I can't come up with even one item. Maybe one item, a restaurants checkout counter, they sometimes have a candy bowl. Nah, even a mint costs a nickel or dime these days.

I contend that our lowest valued coin should be large enough to buy something.

[tumutbound]

Different country but same problem.

The smallest denomination coin in Australia is 5 cents. The 1 and 2 cent coins were withdrawn from circulation in the early 90s (1992 I think)
There was some initial concern about being ripped off by rounding up instead of rounding down but these days, no one gives it a thought.

[ImanCarrot]

Since 1982 US pennies are made of copper plated zinc.

Now, while the mint makes all other coin blanks, the zinc blanks for pennies are bought from an external supplier. I have no doudt that this external supplier would have a vested interest in keeping the penny going...

Or am I being paranoid?

[jhowelb]

Why not just do away with all currency and coin? Just convert to an electronic measure and as a side benefit we would no longer be tied to terminology like "dollar" or "Pound".
And besides, then the government wouldn't even have to actually print phony money. They could just inflate or deflate the "value" of the unit at will to the advantage of which ever group had favor at the moment.

What a wonderful social engineering tool! Why haven't we thought of this before?!

[Glidergider]

jhowelb, It won't be long, and you'll get your wish. But that's another topic. Soon your phone will buy a softdrink from the Pepsi machine. But I doubt that money will go away.

Geoff, Thanks for the info. Amazing that you it was 17 years ago that you guys got rid of the penny.

I visited Germany last year. Germans still have a penny, but I noticed that I almost never had to use one. All my purchases miraculously ended up rounding up to a nickel.

[dertsap]

Originally Posted by jhowelb Why not just do away with all currency and coin? Just convert to an electronic measure and as a side benefit ?!

its an idea that could work but in day to day dealings such as buying used goods it may be difficult , unless cash machines could print out certificates worth x amount of dollars .
it would be one way to have a great impact against organized crime if they had to do things electronically rather than bundles of cash , in Canada the banks have to contact the police on deposits above $10000

[jhowelb]

My comments were tongue in cheek jab at the fact that the dollar is already currency based on nothing but the hot air spewed by politicians. Soon, I fear, one will need a wheelbarrow full of cash to purchase a loaf of bread.

I can foresee a future where goods and services are the coin of the realm and government is viewed as nothing more than an obstacle to commerce.

Imagine that!

[dertsap]

think about the days when salt was currency , one hole in the roof during a rain storm would have broke down a rich man to a poor man

[High Seas]

All very interesting. Seems like a few years back there was a call for all to turn in the pennies kept in piggy banks and change jars because it was costing more to make new ones than their value because they were "out of circulation."

Here is an interesting tidbit - on how one country deals with a similar problem.
In Cambodia - virtually every thing is marked and sold in USD. ATMs and banks dispenseUSD - not local currency. They use their local currency for only giving change on the sale.

They haven't gotten rid of the "small change" just opted for a different measurement for sales. 100 Cambodian Riels to US Dollars is 0.02437 USD . So 100 is about 2 cents! AND- they have paper notes from 1,2 , 5, 10, etc. Nice collectors item - but hardly of any value. They have some coinage - but rarely seen - the 50 - is worth about a penny, 100, etc.

Rambling on -- Wasn't there a scam of taking the last 10ths of a transaction and aggregating that into millions? So who gets the round up difference? The local government? The company?

How would you feel if the round up all went into the state sales tax "pool?" Could it/would it reduce local taxes - or be used for improved services? It could be a useful source of revenue.

Cheers - Jim

[billystein]

You might be a little premature. If things don't straighten out in california soon then My house might go for a few pennys and I might even have a penny sale at my shop. what about the stock market? I heard xm radio was $.08.
not much room to round up or down.


just my 2 pennys worth
billy