This is the beginning of the end of our beloved penny/cent. I know it has been discussed here, at length. This is just the first time I've seen it being integrated into commerce. I took the grandsons to BK for a shake. Here's their notice to the cash paying customer. It brought a tear to my eye.
The tear was absorbed by a french fry…:-( Yes, it is a shame…but the shortage is not my fault! Since 2020 I have returned to circulation over 2500 pennies, close to 40% of my cent collection at that time. Those returned constituted cents I had kept in error: damaged, excessive wear, die deterioration or corrosion. Also returned to the wild were Zinc cents suffering poor manufacture: planchet issues including egregious split-plating. Oh, I kept a few as specimens just so I could point to them and say “…see how badly they were made?” The rest are now owned by my sons, I enjoyed collecting them over the past 63 years, but it is now time for passing that baton. Just as it is that time in history for the passing of the cent. To stir the pot a little consider this…do you think anyone shed a tear when the half-cent, 2-cent or 3-cent coins were phased out? I would wager a few, but not very many. I will remember collecting cents…starting with IHC and wheat ears in 1962. @masterswimmer @SensibleSal66 @fretboard