Working in a convenient store for 4 years of my life, let me say this once and for all, there are many people who still use this denomination, they are used more than most people think, yes, there is a change holder next to most all registeres in convenient stores, and those are used quite often. As well as the number of people who are using the cents from their own change is still strong, it is faulty to believe that the cent has no place in our economy, it has been around since the 1800's no? Lincoln cents are more widely used in normal everyday purchases than: 1: Sacagewea dollar ( misspelled? ) 2: Susan B Anthony dollar 3: Kennedy Half Dollar 2: 2 Dollar Bills No, I do not believe that average Americans would stand with the idea of replacing the paper dollar with the sac dollar, there is a reason we pay taxes on the paper currency, it makes things a little bit easier in everyday transactions, take waiters and waitresses for example, they make an average of 50 - 100.00 on a good night in ONE DOLLAR BILLS. And wouldn't that be so nice to carry around 100 sac dollars? ( no resteraunts do not normally let waiters/waitresses exchange 1's for 20's and 50's ) No it would not, the idea of trading one currency for another will greatly effect too many peoples lives, I've got an idea though.... How about we round every transaction up to the nearest 5.00??? That works right? We will just see what rounding everything up to the nearest 5 cents would be like, in a quicker amount of time. Let's talk about rounding everything up to the nearest 5 cents, shall we? I hear a lot of the whole " everything will come out equal in the end " Well, let's put it this way, what is the most commen price you find in any retail store that is under 5.00? .99 , which comes out to 1.07 if your state has an 8% tax on every dollar, total would come out to 1.10, let's say that you go into the same convenient store for 20 years, and always buy the same thing ( coffee, chips, candybar whatever ) that is priced at .99...... Here is the extra amount you will be spending during that time simply because everything is rounded up to the nearest .05 ...... 219.00. Even at that small price, that's a large chunk of change, even if added out to a period of 20 years. Many say that it will all balance out in the end, this is false, there is no way of knowing, because everyday purchases will become a gamble to see if you win or loose that paticular day, everyone knows that when people gamble, you either win or you loose. Lincoln cents are not always used in simply cash transactions either, many people use them frequently to come out even on checks that they write, as well as credit card purchases. Many people are stating that the cent is no longer in use, well, let me make this loud and clear from experience, THEY ARE IN FACT STILL IN USE. Once a coin is dropped in that little change holder next to a register, sure enough the next person in line who needs a couple of cents, is going to sure enough use them, that's why they are there, they aren't there to hold change so we as employees can snatch them up in hopes of exchanging them for a quarter later on.
Your idea has merit and has been discussed many times. While the rounding theory works for those of us in the real world....unfortunately we often do not live in a world with real rules. Those against the idea of rounding make the point that retailers would automatically round up instead of down. Looks like a good arguement on paper, but as most people know, things are already rounded up. The credit card and check purchases would still be to the single digit with no rounding. That is how things get wrapped up with no solution. If rounding is going to work, it has to be across the board. No exceptions. Now I like the cent, but it for the most part does have limited use in general commerce. Yes they are used and collected, and they do serve a purpose. I don't see the cent being removed in our lifetime. Too much pressure to keep making billions. As far as losing the dollar bill, I don't see that happening either. Wouldn't miss either personally. Just make them more collectible.
Yeah, this thread wasn't going to be about the dollar, it just ended up that way somehow as I started to rant.... All in all, I don't see why something should change, that has worked for over 200 years.
Stated before and I will state it agaiin... The average $1 bill lasts only 16 months and costs US taxpayers over $500 million per year to produce. Coins last at least 50 years and would work IF there was no choice between bills and dollar coins. As for that waiter that may make $50 to $100 in tips, they can always exchange it for larger bills. Ever try to put a wrinkled dollar bill into a Coke machine? I would rather use the SAC dollar instead of looking for an ironing board when I need my soda fix. Look, $1 bills were removed in Canada and Europe and people balked at the idea at first...then everything fell into place and dollar coins now work just fine. It has saved millions of dollars and nobody wishes they had paper dollars anymore. Of course a nice design would be nice: http://home.earthlink.net/~smalldollars/dollar/2000ml.html Sure would be better than putting ALL of the Presidents on dollar coins, which Congress is proposing! As for the penny...everybody knows that retailers will always round up and even in this day and age with gas prices over $2 dollars, how many of us look for that station to save that extra penny? It is here to stay and I doubt it will go away.
We lived in caves for thousands of years - should that not have changed ? We have driven vehicles that poison our air & water - thus ourselves as well for over 100 yrs - should that not change ? Change is as inevitable as the sun coming up in the morning. One way or another - it will come.
The cent has not worked for 200 years because it quit working decades ago when its value collapsed to the point that it became a drain on the American people and on the economy. The average American earns one cent every two seconds. If you reach in your pocket to get a cent to pay a bill then you've already lost money. The people in line behind you have lost money and the store has lost money. And for what? What really is gained? There is something else lost though. It's not only the lives and fortunes wasted in the production and handling of this worthless and highly toxic coin but also billions of dollars in trade are lost every year because the cent is the largest impediment to getting a one dollar coin to circulate. This coin would greatly streamline the economy and result in far higher sales from vending machines.
Seeing the subject from an external point of view. I can say that the $1 banknote is very important for our transactions. Here in Paraguay many of the electronics and computer-related things have their prices in US Dollars. If you "delete" the $1 note we should have to round all the prices to $5, which is much money here. I think this is not only in Paraguay, everybody knows that the dollar is an international accepted currency, but the money exchange houses don't give you coins, and to be sincere, i never saw a $2 note! About the cent, we have coins of 1, 5, 10, 50, 100 and 500 Guaranies; but only 50, 100 and 500 are "in use". I don't agree such thing, because the prices are like "10,990 Gs." what is rounded to 11,000 Gs. I think if you are going to stop using a coin (like the cent) you must do the demonetization of that coin. Sorry for my bad english...
I agree that fiscally the dollar coin is a better idea...but we all know if we save the U.S. taxpayers that $500 mil it's never going to find its way back into our pockets Regarding Canada and Britain, hats off to them for making it work. Canada has Loonies and Twonies, the smallest note printed currently is a $5. Same for Britain...1 and 2 pound coins, smallest note is a fin. It's working well for them and would work well for us. I'm sure the $1 note will disappear forever...just can't say when. People always resist change. Nick
