Time to retire the penny?

[turtlegirl]

Re: Time to retire the penny?

Dont coinstar them, dont waste hours rolling them, take them to your local casino!!

Really, me & the BF did that with a bag full of loose change that we gathered before we moved here. It was silly to bring a bag of change, so we played it on slots and won enough money to pay for our move!!!

your actual results may differ....

[Amati]

Re: Time to retire the penny?

If the penny is retired, then the lowest valued coin will be the nickel. So instead of the ..... say, gas station.... raising the price of a gallon of gas from $3.50 to $3.51, they'll raise it to $3.55 (remember, there are no pennies anymore). Gum, from $1.06 to 1.10 (since there are no pennies). EVERYTHING will need to be rounded up the the nearest nickel, and EVERYTHING will increase in price by a nickel at a time. No thanks!!

[AlohaKine]

Re: Time to retire the penny?

The poll didn't include a straight question of leave the penny the way it is.

[Walkoff Balk]

Re: Time to retire the penny?

Can you still have your two cents say?

[salmoned]

Re: Time to retire the penny?

If the penny is retired, then the lowest valued coin will be the nickel. So instead of the ..... say, gas station.... raising the price of a gallon of gas from $3.50 to $3.51, they'll raise it to $3.55 (remember, there are no pennies anymore). Gum, from $1.06 to 1.10 (since there are no pennies). EVERYTHING will need to be rounded up the the nearest nickel, and EVERYTHING will increase in price by a nickel at a time. No thanks!!

You are so wrong. Losing the penny will not mean all prices and charges will be unitized into 5 cent increments. Only that cash transactions will be rounded to the nickel, electronic transactions (credit cards, checks, bank balances, etc.) will still retain 'penny' integrity. Prices will not be 'forced' into 5 cent incrementation - if that were true, we wouldn't currently have gasoline prices with tenths-of-a-cent increments.

[helen]

Re: Time to retire the penny?

One problem with the penny is that it is not acceptable by vending machines. Not that I would be carrying $1.40 worth of pennies for a bottle of soda but I wouldn't mind putting in 5 pennies in place of nickel for that soda.

I know a long time ago parking meters would accept pennies, I don't know about now.

[joshuatree]

Re: Time to retire the penny?

You are so wrong. Losing the penny will not mean all prices and charges will be unitized into 5 cent increments. Only that cash transactions will be rounded to the nickel, electronic transactions (credit cards, checks, bank balances, etc.) will still retain 'penny' integrity. Prices will not be 'forced' into 5 cent incrementation - if that were true, we wouldn't currently have gasoline prices with tenths-of-a-cent increments.

I think you will see push back from people who pay with cash and with stores that encourage cash only transactions. Any savings from paying the merchant fees on card transactions will then get negated. Arco is an example of one such business that encourages cash transactions. Yes, I'm aware of the debit card but it adds another layer for some.

One problem with the penny is that it is not acceptable by vending machines. Not that I would be carrying $1.40 worth of pennies for a bottle of soda but I wouldn't mind putting in 5 pennies in place of nickel for that soda.

I know a long time ago parking meters would accept pennies, I don't know about now.

Postage vending machines still do but I am aware that the USPS is planning to remove all of them because the maintenance costs of the machines outweigh the sales.


How about just using a different material for the penny? Plastic chips? Will last longer in appearance, no oxidation.

[salmoned]

Re: Time to retire the penny?

I think you're assuming everyone would round up - if they're encouraging cash transactions, they'd be likely to round down for savings to cash customers. Ergo, no 'push back'! The reasons to nix the penny include improved business efficiency of not having to handle/inventory the low value stock that pennies represent (how much does it cost to count and transport pennies?). Dollar coins could easily replace the penny cup in cash registers.

[joshuatree]

Re: Time to retire the penny?

I think you're assuming everyone would round up - if they're encouraging cash transactions, they'd be likely to round down for savings to cash customers. Ergo, no 'push back'! The reasons to nix the penny include improved business efficiency of not having to handle/inventory the low value stock that pennies represent.

That's possible so long as greedy merchants won't start conveniently pricing items at the tipping point, ie, $1.33 or $5.67, etc. But in a time of corporate bailouts and lavish exec payouts, I won't be holding my breath.

I don't see improved efficiency if as a business, I now need to create two pricing structures, with cashless transactions, one set of pricing, cash, another.

The only advantage is for the US Treasury in not having to spend more than $0.01 producing the penny. But I'm more than happy with alternate material for the penny.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Time to retire the penny?

From a retail perspective, the odd-pricing method ($4.99 or $4.97) always gave an impression of lower than let's say $5.00. The retailers association would balk at such a removal of currency.

As long as we have varying sales taxes nationwide, we need a single unit count in order to keep transactions accurate and fair. Not everyone has debit or credit cards to use for daily transactions so cash is still a necessary method of payment.

I still use pennies to count out exact change wherever I go on cash transactions. To me they are still a vital part of our money system.

[Random]

Re: Time to retire the penny?

Can you still have your two cents say?

Nope.

Nor can you offer a penny for someone's thought.

[Kaonohi]

Re: Time to retire the penny?

The poll didn't include a straight question of leave the penny the way it is.

Mea kulpa.
I thought of this after the fact; I thought the 'I don't care' option would be enough, but it's not, you're right.

Hope you clicked on the "See my comments" selection....

[Kaonohi]

Re: Time to retire the penny?

How about just using a different material for the penny? Plastic chips? Will last longer in appearance, no oxidation.

We did OK with steel in the 1943 penny, and they didn't rust - likely plated with another metal, though I'm not sure. Magnets did pick them up....

[Walkoff Balk]

Re: Time to retire the penny?

What kind of coins will fall from heaven?

[TuNnL]

Re: Time to retire the penny?

Make the penny out of material that is cheaper than what it is being used today.

You took the words right out of my mouth, Helen.

However, I disagree with the basic notion that there would be a benefit to eliminating pennies. Basically, what it would do is accelerate the transition from paper/coin currency to plastic. And that is exactly what the banks and big government want. They want us to use more credit cards and run up our debt so we are forever dependent on them for our financial wellbeing. That’s how this whole global economic crisis began in the first place.