Trump "fixed" the penny probem but now we have a nickel problem

https://www.moneymetals.com/news/20...oblem-but-now-we-have-a-nickel-problem-003845

 

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I don't know why people keep saying this... Canada eliminated their penny 12 years ago, and it did not create a greater need for nickels (well 5 cent pieces as they haven't actually contained nickel since 1981). You'd never need more than 1 nickel on either side of a transaction. There's no proof that eliminating the penny will create an increased need for nickels.

Would take an act of Congress to do it (deciding how many of a coin is minted is up to the Secretary of the Treasury, but re-designing an existing coin would take legislation), but obvious solution would be to make the nickel out of cheaper and/or less materials.

 

Great to see you again!

 

Yeah, this argument seems to assume that people are counting out piles of cents (much more than five at a time) in every transaction. I hardly ever see it, and when I do, I usually wish they wouldn't, especially if I'm behind them in line...

 

Happy to see you back!

 

The other reason this won't significantly increase the need for nickels is that although we won't be minting any more pennies, the pennies that have already been minted are not being recalled and they are still legal tender, so the billions already in circulation will continue to be around for quite a while. This will give people plenty of time to adjust before any rounding of cash transactions to the nearest nickel will be necessary, and cash transactions are becoming less and less common all the time. By the time there's not enough pennies to go around most people won't be using cash much anyway. That will more than offset the chance that any given transaction will need a nickel where a nickel wasn't needed before.

 

Welcome back!

 

The problem is, the vast majority of those billions "in circulation" are sitting in jars or drawers or cupholders. Most people who get them in change don't want to bother spending them. So businesses have to keep getting more from banks, which have to keep getting more from suppliers, which have to keep getting more from the Fed.

Which, really, is another argument for doing away with the denomination.

 

Just counterstamp "5¢" on pennies!

 

I was about to suggest that if we want people to turn in all the cents they've been accumulating, a "receive double face value" drive would do a dandy job.

 

Since they want to eliminate the cent because it cost more to produce it than it’s worth, when will they be doing the same to the nickel? After all, it costs more to make a nickel than it face value.

 

13.8 cents!! Should be Silver if you ask me.

 

How many old coffee mugs do you need for 20 million nickels?

https://coinweek.com/the-nickel-hoarding-billionaire/

 

In boxes, they'd take up a bit over 833 cubic feet. A 10x10 room with a standard ceiling would hold most of them. If it had a strong floor and foundation. (Around 22 tons total weight...)

 

I don't know about that. Most people I know who use cash accumulate change quickly and cash it in somewhat regularly.

 

Contrast to a single gold good delivery bar, currently worth a bit more than $1.17 million, weighing around 27.5 pounds, and a little less than one foot long, 2-3 inches wide, and maybe 2 inches thick.

Which do you choose? Depends on whether you're paying someone to move it or trying to keep someone from moving it, I guess...

 

To be fair, I do see people dumping change into CoinStars regularly. I guess losing, what, 11%? off the top is more attractive than just dumping cents in the trash. Me, I'd at least pick out the quarters and roll them first.

Aw, who am I kidding? I'm here, right? Since I'm picking over every coin anyhow, I go ahead and feed them back into self-checkouts as I go.

 

Any change I accumulate I prefer to roll. The wrappers are no cost to me at my bank. After I roll them I take them to the bank and receive every cent of there full minted value. I’ll not pay for the service of not rolling them. Rolling them also gives me a chance to look at every coin.

 

Or make it a 3 cent coin

 

Either eliminate it too, or make it out of something cheaper, I say.