Suppose the U.S. stopped making pennies?

[Whistlin' Will]

Thinking out loud here...

Would it be a good idea of the U.S. stopped making pennies?

Frankly, I don't think there's anything that you can buy with a penny anymore. And I remember hearing somewhere that it costs 2 cents to make a penny, so I doubt they are actually very profitable.

So, let's see:

Pros:

• The lowest coin, value-wise, would be the nickel, 5 cents. That would mean all change would be in multiples of 5, so making change would be much easier.
• The U.S. government would no longer have to buy the raw materials used to make the pennies, or maintain the presses used in the process of minting pennies. Less cost.

Cons:

• It would be harder to track price changes in items such as gasoline.

However, so much of it is electronic (credit/debt card) that I'm not sure that this would be a problem.

[chas]

They should stop making pennies and dollar bills. It costs more than a penny to make a penny, and long-term it's much cheaper to mint dollar coins than to print dollar bills, which only last several weeks in circulation before needing to be taken out. For the pennies, all change can be rounded, and it's fair: 1 or 2 cents becomes zero, 3 or 4 becomes 5. For electronic transactions, which are increasingly dominant, nothing would need to change.

[Seonachan]

The Netherlands stopped producing 1 cent coins at some point, back in the days of the guilder. But then we all saw the horrors that befell that country in the aftermath.

I think $1 coins work well when there's a $2 coin or bill in circulation, like in Canada.

[Dale]

Sensible people, from time-to-time, propose the elimination of pennies and I've never even heard anyone counter any of the arguments for eliminating it. My personal opinion is that members of Congress are far too busy sucking to squeeze in the time required to outlaw pennies. Common voters like us probably really don't appreciate how much effort it takes to suck as bad as these people suck. In fact, Democrats and Republicans, rather than actually governing, are in a constant, heated argument about which party's ideas suck the most. Eliminating pennies would be useful, for example, and these guys have sworn a solemn oath, an oath, I tell you, to avoid doing anything sensible and useful. But this is just my opinion. Perhaps I've hijacked the thread. Would this even take an act of Congress? Perhaps not. Carry on.

[Innocent Bystander]

As a damned foreigner, I can't really comment on the shoulds and shouldn'ts. But I can point out that Pound (sterling) coins and Doubloons (two-pound coins) are jolly useful. I do miss the old pound notes, but mainly used them as bookmarks, before their demise. Old ha-pennies were fun (that is halfpennies, when they were worth a 24th of a shilling) but new hapennies were a pestilence and a pain. Happy to see the back of them. Personally I'd be content to return to the use of cowrie shells, but have you ever tried to cut one in half?

[dwest]

If they eliminated pennies I would have no reason to purchase large jars of sauerkraut, I'm afraid the ripple effect this would cause could be devastating to the economy. My penny collection still has a few holes, they can stop once those are plugged.

Personally I'd be content to return to the use of cowrie shells, but have you ever tried to cut one in half?

A wet diamond blade will do a great job, no pocket models as yet.

[I.D.10-t]

I would rather that a penny was still worth something. I support scrapping the whole monetary system for payment with forever stamp books.

[dwest]

I would rather that a penny was still worth something. I support scraping the whole monetary system for payment with forever stamp books.

I'm against all stamps, my mom still has rationing books from the war, completely worthless, tried using one for petrol recently, guy looked at me like I was nuts, he didn't even have a stamp for canceling the coupon.

[Redwolf]

The problem with a dollar coin is that the U.S. government is so dismally bad at making them. They either end up being too big to carry comfortably in your pocket or the same size as quarters (And looking so much like them that both merchants and customers get confused. Remember the Susan B. Anthony dollar?).

I liked the 1 pound coin in England. Rather than making them larger in diameter, they make them thicker than the other coins...distinctive enough to tell them from the other coins by feel, but still comfortable to carry in a pocket or coin purse.

Redwolf

[I.D.10-t]

In the past the US has not done a very good job of making currency denominations that are easily recognizable in its bills or coins. Security, vending machine compatibility, and coin collecting seem to be higher priorities.

I'm still trying to figure out where I can find the 1/10 penny so I can get change back on a gallon of gas.

[chas]

Every time I get cash in person at the bank, I ask for 10 Sacagewea or President dollar coins. I'm not crazy about carrying them in my pocket, but I am so philosophically in favor of them, I feel obligated to. If we convert entirely over to dollar coins, I guess I'll have to get a man-purse.

[Nanohedron]

If we convert entirely over to dollar coins, I guess I'll have to get a man-purse.

I was just thinking the exact same thing. I can see it now: haberdashers will offer a broad spectrum of decidedly masculine-relevant iterations of the answer to the question of pursery, and this will refresh the fashion industry. Owing to certain designs, belts will as a result also see a small boost. The very word "purse" itself will once again be free, gender-neutral, rescued from the distaff connotations artificially imposed upon it since the day paper money spawned the invention of the wallet. But the word "cutpurse" will also revive out of unfortunate necessity.

Of course the Scots have always had that jauntily quaint tote that doubles as a guard for one's vulnerables; I predict its use will also see an upturn from style-minded quarters outside the otherwise almost exclusively usual, yet notably disparate, worlds of pipers and gentlemen.

Thinking myself a wit I once asked a bekilted fellow, "Is that money in your sporran, or are you just happy to see me?" "Neither one," he snapped. He didn't even have to stop and think. The very icon of a true Scot, if ever there was one.

[I.D.10-t]

The very word "purse" itself will once again be free, gender-neutral, rescued from the distaff connotations artificially imposed upon it since the day paper money spawned the invention of the wallet. But the word "cutpurse" will also revive out of unfortunate necessity.

Sounds like a job for the MetroSafe200!

Seems strange that wallet has become so specialized and come to mean a small thing to hold credit cards and paper.

[Nanohedron]

Sounds like a job for the MetroSafe200!

It's a start.

Seems strange that wallet has become so specialized and come to mean a small thing to hold credit cards and paper.

I suppose that the word "wallet" could just as well be transformed back to its original meaning, too. I'm cool with that. In any case and whatever you call the thing, you just know that guys won't be keeping only money inside; it's just the nature of the beast. Unlike women, though, instead of lip gloss we'll be keeping multipurpose tools and sandwiches in there. Best to have only coins, in that case; wiping butter or juices off of paper bills just doesn't cut it, really. Everyone wins.

[dwest]

I carry something like this:

You never know what checkout at the grocery store is going to be like. Women can be so aggressive and they never pay any attention to the maximum number of items allowed in the express lane.