Going Back to the Half Dime

With the cost of producing the nickel at around 6c and the price of producing thr dime around 1c, why not go back to the half dime instead of the nickel?

 

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The public would probably confuse them with dimes just like folks claimed Suzy B's were mistaken for quarters. Quite frankly I never did, but the American public isn't known for their smarts.

 

Alternatively, we should produce coins with the same purchasing "value" of coins produced 100 years ago (rounded to the nearest even denomination).

In other words...

1913: 1¢ - $20.00

...would become...

2013: 25¢ - $500.00

http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm

 

That's why I said "rounded"

I have no idea why everyone seems to be so attached to the worthless Cent (aka. Penny).

 

I wish my store clerks 'rounded off' like that........

 

Nearly every store I visit anymore truncates their price to the nearest nickel so they don't have to mess with cents.

In other words, if the total comes to $19.24 and I pay with a $20 bill, they give me 80¢ in return. The customer is happy and they don't have to buy, count, or exchange cents...a Win-Win!

 

My local tobacco shop does the same thing but none of the major stores or eatery's do this yet.

 

I like the idea of going back to the half dime. For no other reason than finally being able to put the Roosevelt collection to bed.

 

wow when the $10,000 bill was taken out of circulation in 1969 it had the buying power of $63,636.51 in today's dollars

 

My proposal, for some time now, has been to eliminate cents, not just as physical pennies but as a notional division of the dollar. Just work everything in dollars and dimes, no "rounding" needed. As yakpoo's post shows, that still gives us a finer gradation of prices than we had a hundred years ago.

 

Then, if we want to add new coins in that scheme, the denominations to look at would be two-dime, two-dollar, five-dollar, etc.

 

Definitely get rid of the cent , and the dead presidents too . Long live Miss Liberty .

 

Yes, bring back the old coins. Politicians on coins should be banned forever.

 

yep...just the Eagle and Miss Liberty!

 

I don't think this is accurate. According to the link you provided...the buying power of one cent in 1913 is equivalent to $0.24 today...not $20.

 

I gave a range of 1913 denominated coins (1¢ - $20 "double eagle") and their 2013 monetary equivalents (rounded to nearest even denomination) or (25¢ - $500).

In other words, the 1913 "1¢" has the purchasing power of 24¢ (25¢ being the closest coin denomination). The 1913 double eagle ($20) is worth $471.81 today ($500 being the closest even denomination). The gold value is worth much more, but $20 is worth $471.81 when adjusted for inflation. That would be a good argument for further PM declines...but I digress.

The point being...our coins today are valueless. The dollar today isn't even worth a nickel in 1913 (notice that I didn't say a 1913 liberty nickel ).

In order to have coins that, as nearly as possible, approximate the value of coins in 1913, the quarter (25¢) would have to be the lowest denomination coin and a $500 coin the highest.

 

Heck, why not just drop the whole system? Can we say Bit Coin?

 

Those figures are not the cost of production, they are the metal values. When cost of production is included the nickel cost 11 cents and the dime costs close to 6 cents so a half dime in coppernickel clad would be between 4 and 4.5 cents. Yes profitable, but for how long? And have you tried actually handling half dimes as a spendable coin? Believe me you don't want to. (Might help people save though since NO ONE will want to handle them. They will all get tossed into a jar every night when people get home just to get them out of their pockets.

And frankly I would double those purchasing power values from 1913 to 2013. The CPI index they use in those inflation calculators have been severely manipulated in order to understate inflation

 

When I was a kid, you could actually buy things for 1¢. Vending machines sold full size sticks of gum for 1¢.

I defy anyone to buy anything today in ANY store for 25¢. I tried...can't be done. Even gumballs are 50¢.