Should the United States bring back the 2-cent piece?

Of course, it'll probably never happen, but because the minting of pennies is becoming a hassle and not worth the money anymore, and the government doesn't want to abolish the penny, why not mint a 2 cent piece? The government could cut back on penny production by 75%, and instead mint a 2 cent coin which will be worth more than what it costs to make.

My 75% figure comes from the fact that the most number of pennies that will be given back is 4. With a 2 cent coin, you would only need 1 penny at most in change. I'm sure people would like getting less pennies back in change.

And, hypothetically, what would be on the design? I would love to see Liberty back on our coins, but if we're going to have real people, Teddy Roosevelt would be the most deserving. On the back would be an eagle. The coin would be the size of a nickel, square shaped to distinguish it from the penny, and copper colored.

 

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That would be cool, but it will never happen.

 

I agree...neat idea, but I don't see it happening. As for a square shaped coin, that won't happen either. For one, there's a vending machine lobby that has a lot to say about the shapes and weights of coins these days, as well as casinos, who still use small coins in more places than you might think. Plus, they'd be tough to wrap.
Guy~

 

Not even a neat idea..... We should think of nothing less than 5 cent increments...

 

As a collector, yeah that would be cool. But as A consumer, nahh.

 

Sounds good to me. I think it would only fly as a supplement to mint/proof sets for marketing purposes.

 

I don't think the vending machine lobby would care what size/shape a 2 cent coin would be as vending machines don't typically take coins less than a quarter. Also, square-shaped wrappers could be made, and square rolls would be easier to stack.

 

I agree 100% :thumb:

 

All the vending machines I have ever used took nickels and up to quarters, a few take sacs.....

 

Not a bad idea but, I believe a truly circulating dollar coin has a better chance of use, as well as being minted continuously, than coin that has not been produced since 1873.

Mark
Coral Springs, FL

 

From time to time government officials talk about how much the mint is losing on minting cents. Although this may be a venue that isn't profitable, the mint is far, far, far from losing money. Keep the penny. I don't want my purchases rounded up.

As Lincoln is on the cent and this is one of Illinois claims to fame, the cent will not go quietly. Remember the uproar over temporally removing Monticello from the reverse of the nickel?

 

i think the government should make everything in 5 cent incriments too. it would be easier to count out change, and give back change. i would like it if they just stopped makeing cents and did this. think about it, vending machines don't take cents, people don't like them, and just throw them on the ground. cents also get really corroded too if they are on the ground too long. people don't really care about them.

 

I agree. We don't need the cent anymore or the two-cent coin. What we need more is to get rid of the $1 bill.

 

If money was actually worth something nowadays the penny would be fine. Repeal the federal reserve act of 1913

 

I don't know how many people throw pennies on the ground... but regardless, the penny is absolutely necessary to the American economy. Those who want to eliminate the penny are either very impressionable, disgruntled numismatists, or conspiracy theorists. Those who "throw pennies on the ground" are just buffoons.

 

I thought about this too: Would a two cent piece go the way of the two dollar bill? But if the Mint drastically cut down on the number of pennies minted, businesses would have no choice -- they would either have to use the 2 cent piece or risk not being able to get enough pennies (or not ordering 2 cent pieces and rounding prices to the nearest nickel anyway).

 

I hardly use vending machines, so I'll take youre word for it. But I'm like 99% positive that the vast majority of vending machines will not accept pennies. I think we would live if vending machines couldn't take 2 cent pieces.

 

Dump the cent.
It's not used in commerce much more than the half dollar is except as change for the consumer.

I was in NZ in 1994 and they had discontinued the penny.
Everything worked just fine.

My question is:
"Why is it that the USA is the last to get clued in on a smart monetary system?"

Dump the cent; go to nickel breakage.
Dump the circulating half dollar; use it as a commemorative value.
Dump the paper dollar; resize the dollar coin to the current half dollar size. That will alleviate the recognition problem. And with the dollar bill gone, two dollar bills will circulate rather than molding away the the Federal Reserve vaults.

 

Agree with all these ideas.

kanga for president?

 

How is it "absolutely necessary"? Since the (monetary) value of it is so much less than it used to be how would it hurt us to round all purchases off to the nearest 5 cents?