Another "Get Rid of the Lincoln Cent" Thread

So, I know this is a commonly debated thing here and elsewhere.

Those who are in favor of getting rid of the cent state that nobody really uses it in commerce anymore (with the exception of dealing with sales tax), that most transactions are digital now, and that is costs more to make than it is worth. All of these statements are accurate.

Some of the arguments to keep it include making change for sales tax, it keeps prices simpler, and frankly...it's traditional (the whole "we've always done it this way" argument). These statements are accurate as well.

Yes, I know I'm missing some of the arguments on both sides...but I had a different thought that I wanted to mention. Something that I haven't seen mentioned before (maybe I've just missed it).

It seems to me that with all the cent production over the years, there are plenty in circulation to meet the need. Do we really need to produce billions more per year? If we aren't going to get rid of the cent...why not do what we did with the Kennedy Half? Make them in small numbers but not put them into circulation? It would certainly reduce costs and as I understand it, would not take an act of Congress.

This way people and businesses who wanted/needed them can still get them but we aren't producing billions of Lincoln cents at a loss just to wind up in jars.

 

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That makes too much sense, that's why they don't do it.

 

Removing congressional control of the US Mint would go a long way towards solving this issue (similar to Canada), but that likely won't happen anytime soon. Congress needs to eliminate the cent and it doesn't (understandably) seem to have been much of a priority over other legislation.

This page "Penny Debate in the United States" lists some of the legislation put forward, some lobbyists (such as zinc and "Citizens to Retire the Penny") for and against and some of the arguments on both sides. It's likely not exhaustive.

In the end, despite the arguments, Congress needs to issue legislation to eliminate the cent. Noting else will do it. But I don't ever see this becoming an election issue for any politician.

 

There's probably billions sitting in sock drawers, ashtrays, and glove compartments. Just need to figure out how to incentivize people to dig them all out and release them back into the wild.

 

Hey, I need them, it fills in the time between quarters & dimes when I metal detect.

 

I like this. If there were ever a penny shortage, why do i still find wheats in circulation? Plenty to go around, forever, lol.

 

I thought about this before I posted. I am fully aware that being an old guy set in his ways that I am firmly in the "don't make me change my life again" camp.

I still do far more cash transactions than I do card transactions. Being a coin guy I tend to watch those around me when I am at a check out counter and I do recognize that I am in the minority here. However, there are still many cash transactions taking place. I know the banks aren't overstocked with cash and the way we are printing the stuff it has to be going somewhere.

I always watch the floors on my way out of a place of business. The folks that don't want to trouble with cents often drop them on the floor. Being a miser, I pick up every one I see..... But, think for a moment about how our society has left the days of politeness in the dust. How many times will the till ring up $4.98 and when the fellow hands over his five and doesn't receive his two cents.... The guy having a bad day just may jump over that counter to get his change. This sort of crazy acting happens all the time these days over ridiculous stuff.

And here's the other thing. Yes, I do believe we have minted enough cents to fuel cash transactions well into the foreseeable future. Thing is, we all know what will happen. As soon as the mint announces the cent will no longer be struck for business use, everybody will then hoard their cents and the supply will dry up faster than a puddle in the Texas sun.

Just my two cents!

 

You can't ask the mint or government to do anything rational. They are still making the "gold dollars" and putting the vast majority in the vault. If the expense and use of a dollar means nothing, then, I would think a penny would not even register.

 

Yup, tons of 2000 and 2001 Sac dollars still sitting in the Treasury vaults, to my knowledge. Wonder whether there'll eventually be a Treasury release akin to the 1962-64 release or they'll just destroy them. Seems like Americans have never really liked dollar coins at the time they were minted.

 

No they never have. I was overseas in the Army late 70's to the early 80's. All those SBA dollars that nobody wanted to use? They sent them to us!

 

Lol. Now the mystery is solved.

 

I get what you are saying...but the cent costs nearly 2 cents to make. It just seems silly to me (yes, I know it costs over 7 cents to make a nickel...but those still have some use).

I just can't imagine that the supply would dry up that fast...plus, in this scenario the mint is still making them. If there was ever a need for more Kennedy Halves in circulation, the mint has the capacity to do that since they are still making them every year...they just haven't been issued for circulation since 2001.

I have always felt that the only way to make the dollar coin stick in the US is to get rid of the $1 bill at the same time.

 

I get that. In my house or in your house... When something economically doesn't make sense, we tighten our belts and eliminate the problem. In government it doesn't work that way. You have to spend all that you are allotted. And if that means making cents for double the overhead or buying $750.00 hammers, you have to spend all that is allotted. Otherwise, the next funding cycle your budget gets cut. So there is no incentive for any federal office to cut costs.

 

I've heard Sac dollars actually circulate extensively in Ecuador. Ecuador switched from the rampantly inflating sucre to the US dollar in 2000, and it's not uncommon to find heavily worn Sac dollars in circulation there (guess the culture is just different). PCGS census has a 2000-P graded in AG3.

Back in the early-mid 1900s when coins were much more heavily used in the States to make everyday purchases, coins could actually wear all the way down to AG/G after 20 years of circulation. Nowadays, that doesn't happen. You can’t buy anything with a cent, nickel, or dime anymore - it gets given in change, winds up in a jar until it’s rolled up and exchanged at a bank, and then the rolls end up in a cash register and the cycle starts again.

 

Let me explain something. Everything that's just occurring to us, now, they thought of long ago...

Maybe I'm just cynical for Chicago politics, but the way a "good idea" works around here, if they can't figure out how to get the money to the right folks, it simply ain't happening. And that's the biggest challenge it's always facing, the status quo, that's got that all worked out.

 

One of the bases I was stationed at did away with using cents by rounding the purchase amount up or down. If the price was $1.22 you paid $1.20, if it was $1.23 you paid $1.25. Simple enough but I still missed the pennies!!! LOL

 

My boss wanted to add U S Army potable water tank trailers to our product line to fill some gaps. I ordered the specs. I received four big boxes of Hollerith Cards with specs and microfilm on them. They specified a brand and model of air brake and then included an exploded view with all the individual parts listed. It was like that for everything. We trashed the idea real quick.

 

Oh...you are 100% right here. It's not how it should be, but that's how it is.

 

I would like dollar coins much more if they were made a little thicker and with writing all around the edge, similar to an old UK pound coin. They just seem more substantial and special to me than a coin you can get confused with a quarter.

I know that probably wouldn't be practical, especially because of vending machines, but I would love to see it.

 

I liked the SBA's. They actually felt like they had value. The gold dollars look like something you want to peel to get to the chocolate.