quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by 9mmepiphany:
There is perceived intent and reality

There is nothing to indicate that those pennies living in cans and jars are going to suddenly go back into circulation.

Someone who puts them into jars/cans obviously doesn't use them as everyday currency...we're not talking about kids who save up their coins to buy candy (do they still do that?)...rounding up prices isn't going to make them start digging into their stash (since they weren't using them anyway

I understand what you're saying, and that my stance is perhaps contrary to yours.

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1) "Let's stop making new pennies; it's roughly 4x costly to do it."
Fine. That makes economic sense. Stop the presses.

I completely agree with this

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2) "Doing so will cost consumers more, because retailers will game the rounding issue!"
Ehh, it certainly could. But the issue wasn't about stopping using pennies, it was about not making more of them.

Now. How to encourage people with socks and buckets full of pennies to put them back into circulation? I don't know that answer.

Perhaps this is the sticking point for me.
There is no plan to get them back into circulation.

So the obvious result, in my mind, is rounding up prices to avoid making change...or more likely, only making change to the nearest nickel...not a big thing for me because I usually leave change on the counter when paying in cash

I only carry quarters in my car...well that and four of dollar coins (I spent the other one)

I hate to see it, actually.

Most transactions these days are electronic, so this has little to no effect, but for as long as everyone here has been alive, we have had the Lincoln penny.

The oldest penny I ever got in change is dated 1924. That was around 1970.

The other day, I found a penny in a parking lot, heads-up. I adhere to the silly superstition of found coins being lucky if they are heads-up, and unlucky otherwise, in which case I leave the coin in place and turn it over for someone else to find.

Too much of our culture has faded away.

The US Mint determines what coins are needed based on the requests from the Federal Reserve forecasts from their member banks. If there is no demand for a particular denomination, then there is no need to mint it.

There are quite a few years in which various denominations were never minted. In 1932 and 1933 no nickels or dimes were minted. No quarters minted in 1930 and 1933. No half dollars were minted between 1924 and 1927, and again between 1930 and 1933.

Minting can be suspended at any time for any reason. Suspending of the minting of coins is different than the elimination and withdrawal of same. ALL US coins that have ever been minted remain legal tender at face value regardless of when minted.

I used to collect coins. I inherited a collection from my father and stuck with collecting. i am getting older and i gave my collection to my son about a year ago. When I heard about ending penny production, my collecting brain had a thought. It's been only a little over a month for the mint to produce 2025 pennies. So not many 2025 pennies should be in circulation. Also, if 2025 is the last year of penny production, and on top of that the volume of the 2025 pennies has to be low, it makes sense to me to check my change for 2025 pennies. I'll give them to my son to add to his collection. Anybody going to get rich doing this? Not a chance. But it would be an interesting coin to add to a coin collection. In 10 years they may be worth a few bucks.

Another alternative that might 'make cents' is to maybe reconsider 1974's idea of an aluminum penny.

As of the latest report from the US Mint (updated monthly) in January 2025, 242,400,000 one-cent (pennies) were minted.

https://www.usmint.gov/about/p...ing-coins-production

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Originally posted by joel9507:
Another alternative that might 'make cents' is to maybe reconsider 1974's idea of an aluminum penny.

Aluminum is slightly less expensive than zinc, but not enough to make a significant difference in the economics of penny production.

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in January 2025, 242,400,000 one-cent (pennies) were minted.

For perspective, that's enough for every single bank branch throughout the US to receive $31 worth.

A box of pennies is $25.

A) No sense in losing money for a coin most people no longer bother with.

B) I really think we should go back to coinage, in antimicrobial alloys.

COVID was BS, but there are bad contagious diseases in history (money wouldn't help w. measles, etc but it could be a useful part of getting an influenza under control.)

Here's a use for them. Man pays traffic ticket in pennies (YouTube) The government is supposed to accept legal tender.

Adios, penny. Per the WSJ:

quote:

The Treasury Department will stop putting new pennies into circulation by early next year. Afterward, there won’t be enough pennies to use in everyday cash transactions, and businesses will need to start rounding up or down to the nearest 5 cents, the Treasury said in a statement.

The move is the culmination of a long bipartisan effort to do away with the lowest-denomination unit of American currency, which is more likely to end up lost or buried under couch cushions than to be used for transactions.

Non-paywalled article link:
WSJ: 5/22/25 "Treasury Sounds Death Knell for Penny Production"

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Afterward, there won’t be enough pennies to use in everyday cash transactions, and businesses will need to start rounding up or down to the nearest 5 cents, the Treasury said in a statement.

https://news.wfu.edu/2025/02/1...n%20couch%20cushions.

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Estimates indicate that about 240 billion pennies are in circulation. That comes to about 700 pennies per person.

They can stop making them, but there are clearly enough pennies laying around to last us awhile.

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Originally posted by a1abdj:
They can stop making them, but there are clearly enough pennies laying around to last us awhile.

Exactly. We just have to get people to get them out of their closets, Mason jars, cup holders, ash trays, ....

Pennies and nickels are only needed for rounding-up/down for CASH transactions. The “rounding up” that everyone keeps yelling about will only occur with CASH transactions. When was the last time that you payed with CASH for anything? The only time I use CASH is when I’m buying a fast food lunch or something at the local Stop-n-Rob as those locations are too susceptible for debt/credit card skimming.

A) Just because it doesn’t exist as a coin/should not effect digital transactions.

B) Rounding it down, will be less than the processing fee the merchant pays.

C) We should have all coinage/and larger bills available, ideally in antimocrobial metals.

Cash is now something more likely kept/carried for emergency uses/privacy uses. Coins have a longer life span, TMK.

More importantly, in the event of disease outbreak (Spanish Flu, etc) it’s one less disease vector.

Late 1970s I worked in Barcelona. There was a shortage of peseta coins (worth about 1.4¢ at the time). Would go to a bank to cash an expense reimbursement check. They were frequently out of peseta coins, and would give us matches instead. No idea why they gave us matches, it's not like we were gonna start fires.

The last time I used cash to make a purchase was Tuesday, when I stopped at a local Amish store for bacon.

We round an amount smaller than a penny every time we buy gas, and nobody seems alarmed by it.

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When was the last time that you payed with CASH for anything?

This morning, and every other morning. Magoo’s cafe charges extra for the use of a credit card. The other dining establishment I like in town doesn’t accept anything but cash.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: arfmel, May 22, 2025 01:49 PM

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When was the last time that you payed with CASH for anything?

Everyday, stopped using cards except Credit Cards at the grocery and online. My cards stopped being hacked when I went back to cash.

I pay cash everytime I eat at a non-corporate restaurant. Every family owned restaurant around here charges +4% on non-cash payment. Round up to a nickle will still save me money.