How serious is this. I have read that in the past legislation has been introduced to quit making pennies because it cost more than one cent to make each coin. Then certain other factors come to play to stop the proposed measure. What's the latest? I really love the Lincoln and collecting them, but wahts the value of a penny in circulation now a days?
I believe that for right now, the penny is here to stay. The current US cent's melt value (According to coinflation.com) is only $0.0066659. So I don't see them quitting... The nickel is currently costing them more to make then it's worth but I believe they make up the loss with the profit from all the other coinage made currently. Whether or not the penny is still economically feasible in the US is what I believe will eventually kill the penny. [FONT=Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Arial, Helvetica][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
However there is more to the cost of producing a penny than just the metal value... there is the cost of production, storing, transportation, etc. Here in Canada the government has recommended that the penny be removed from circulation due to the combined cost of producing the coin, which is around 1.5 cents/penny. And our pennies are mostly composed of steel, which I believe is much cheaper than Zinc.
Frankly I'm on the fence... I think there are fiscal arguments to get rid of it, but as a collector I'd be sad to see it go. Pennies are a great way for beginner collectors to get into the hobby at very low cost. I love pennies, but it may be time for them to go!
It cost about a penny more than it's worth to make one. Then everytime it gets used at costs about half a cent of wasted time and effort plus about three cents because it's displacing a coin we need in circulation. Our currency system is obsolete but al of this can't be laid on the cost of the penny even if it is the poster child for buggy whips. Eventually these toxic slugs will have to have safe disposal so that's another 3c or so. This disposal could be far more expensive if they use large advertising campaigns to encourage redemption or screen some of the garbage or garbage stream. So what are they worth? A bright shiny new penny is worth about -2c. By the time it's worn down to AU it's worth about -$1 and if one ever makes it to VF it will be -$20 or so. But we're America and we can afford this and are plenty strong enough to wear this albatross. As a nation this white elephant poses no difficulty at all. We don't need no stinkin' dollar coin because we got four quarters. Oh wait. No one even uses quarters any longer because coins are obsolete.
You do realize there need be no price increase whatsoever caused by this? Prices are simply rounded to the nearest nickel and taxes kick in in 5c increments instead of 1c. You've been paying for gasoline in tenths of cents your whole life and it has never cost you a penny. Coin don't define prices, people do. This system of rounding to the nearest nickel is already being used by numerous countries and it's about universally agreed that it works well.
Yup, swedish rounding. Nothing is rounded until the entire purchase is tallied, so the most you will have to pay above the transaction amount is 2 cents. And just as often as that, you will get a 2 cent discount (rounded down). AND only cash transactions are rounded, not electronic transactions.
CladKing, Not entirely true! As I work and operate in an industry that every cent counts. The trucking industry. The loss of a cent or 2per mile would put many people out of business and the increase would affect everyone in all their goods that they purchase. So lets try some examples: Current load 845 miles x $1.77 +$0.26 mile fuel surcharge on your theory of rounding down I lose .03 per mile (actual) 845X$1.77=$1495.65 845x.26=$219.70 1495.65+219.70=1715.35 (rounded down) 845x$1.75=1478.75 845x.25=211.25 1478.75+211.25=$1690 1715.75-1690=25.35 loss (to the truck) Where as the increase 845x1.80=1521 845x.25=211.25 (rounded down but some loads would be round up in which would change the outcome) 1521+211.25=1732.25 1732-1715.35=$16.65(increase to the receiver who buys the goods) So if you consider this is one load of food to the warehouse and you times that buy the Hundreds of deliveries they receive a year, who do you think will pay the increase the consumer. Which inturn drives up wages to keep up with the cost of living. Then you may go to a higher tax bracket and pay more in taxes. I have to charge more since fuel goes up and we start the whole cycle over again. Lets say you receive 35 loads a day 6 days a week (small warehouse)that's 3496.50 a week times that by 52= $181,818 per year added expense to the warehouse I know that I would love to get more per mile but as we all know they will want to round down so on this theory I average 140,000 miles a year a 3 cent round down would cost me $4200+ a year. So yes I do notice every little cent Ps. Sorry I'm not very articulate (to many diesel vapors )
Instead of killing the penny because of costs, how about making the penny cheaper to produce? How about molding the penny using plastics? They are about worthless anyway.... I know the mint could MOLD enough plastic pennies a year to keep up with demand and it would only cost a small fraction of what it does now to manufacture them. Yeah, they wouldn't have a long survival rate but the amount they could make a year would offset that. Just an idea............
I believe that you've misunderstood the rounding theory based upon the calculations you've presented. The MOST you could lose on any one trip would be 2 cents. Tax on grocery items or anything else for that matter are not calculated on a "per piece" basis. They are calculated on the "entire" bill, the total of the taxable items if you will, which is where the rounding occurs. Unless of course, you buy your fuel one gallon at a time. Then the losses would be significant both in time and money.
No matter what you make it out of it remains a drag on commerce. The problem isn't that metal is too expensive or plastic is too expensive the problem is that one cent no longer has in value whatsoever except in theory. It takes more time (time is money) to tender and count a penny than it is worth. This can't be changed. The time of the penny ended in about 1974 and they wouldn't bury the damn thing so now it's an albatross we all have to bear. Just get rid of it. Recall them for proper disposal. Of course the government could make a small profit in melting them and God knows a profit is anethema to our politicians. They'll recoil in fear at the very concept of a reduction in waste and a small profit in the bargain. The increase in efficiency in our monetary system would throw them into tremors. Of course this is exactly why a penny isn't money any longer. The more you waste the more you print and the less it's worth.
In the not-to-distant future transactions will be made my smartphone (or the going technological facsimile). There is a whole generation of youth coming up right now who don't want to be bothered with coins or cash; they use their various cards (loadable student IDs, e.g.). Eventually all transactions will be digital, saving time and resources. Personally, I never pay with cash; I charge everything and earn rewards points. I've never been interested in modern coinage so it has no impact on my "hobby."
I believe it's a guy named Jim Kolbe. Represenative of Arizona. This has been talked about since 2006. It cost's 1.4 cents to make a penny. That doesnt make much sense. The great thing about America is that we have smart people to analyze every conceivable problem, so we know what we should do. But the less great thing about America is that politicians don't always care what's smartest, because they face other pressures. Kolbe is up against something called Americans for Common Cents, a pro-penny lobby funded partly by the zinc industry. The zinc guys have already secured a quiet victory. In 2009, the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth, the U.S. Mint will issue four commemorative zinc-filled pennies.
19Lyds,I understand the rounding theory completely in my eyes it's flawed. Yes if your just talking your total bill theory it wouldn't make that big of a deal at first. Okay so it starts out on the retail end eventually they will get wise and figure out the price to have the majority of their products to come up with a round up total, more money in their pocket (a penny saved is a penny earned).Then to make things easier everything will be priced in 5 cent increments. Do you actually think that the manufacture,supplier,vendor will round down their products high doubtful. Hence the reason I posted what I did earlier IMO there would be businesses going to the 5 cent increment almost immediately. They more than likely had the same theory when the half cent became obsolete as well.
