...And like most garbage, waste, CO2 production, and political nonsense a few people get wealthy at the expense of everyone else. We spend 3c to produce a type of garbage that is actually a liability. It costs another half a cent every time it is used and if you throw it away as a public service they'll make another one for 3c. People who want pennies should be charged a nickel apiece for them and people who spend them should be charged a penny apiece.
The Wheat cent was a decent coin but I was not particular to the Lincoln obverse. Patrick Henry would have been better. Since the Mint wants to commemorate the War of Northern Aggression, I recommend a "new" cent with General Sherman on the obverse, with a burning building on the reverse.
Me: "...and here's the last cent to make up my total." Merchant: "I'll need to charge you another cent for that." Me: "Cool, give me my nickel"
Face it, all U.S coins are ugly as compared to the history of coinage. Foreign designers have been far superior to the US from the beginning to the present. I have many of all and I like them all. Look at the Apollo coin design? I call it the 2019 hubcaps edition like the baby moon hubcaps from the 50s. Please don't hate me for this, it's just an observation, I am new to the hobby and inherited thousands of coins which led to my extensive study of numismatics.
The copper plated zinc cents composition was selected for its cost of material in relation to metals cost and also the manufacturing feasibility and also to meet certain criteria such as acceptance in vending machines. Many people complain About the cents of old being worth more in copper than face value. Well, they know that too. This is their solution for money. The coins are made for commerce, not designed for collecting. If you notice most people get them in change after buying stuff. If you like to collect then they designed the proof coins for collecting.
Are there still vending machines that accept cents? For that matter, except for the gum ball machines I remember as a kid, have vending machines ever accepted cents? Perhaps, but I can't think of any.
I know the vending-machine lobby has had some sway in past composition decisions, but for cents? Zincolns are less conductive and 20% lighter than bronze cents. The only thing they have in common is surface conductivity (if you catch them in the brief time before they rot) and size/shape. And, as @Maxfli said, vending machines tend to ignore them (although I honestly don't remember if that was true in 1982). Coin acceptors for self-checkout stations still accept cents (and most around here now accept half dollars), but I suspect they may rely more on software and less on hardware than older models. If that's true, a software update might be all they need to accept a new composition. And if I were a coin-machine lobbyist, I like to think I'd lobby against Zincolns, with their tendency to drop bits of corrosive zinc chloride and loose metal wherever they go...
Good point, hadn't thought about that . . . probably because I can't recall ever inserting coins into one of those. Instead, I'm always inserting bills and getting coins in change, which then get dumped into the coin jar on my bedroom dresser . . . and then rinse and repeat the next time I use cash at a self-checkout station.
I'm noticing this is a pattern with users of other nations' currencies, too. Not like it's a "new" thing, but what is it: Is it that we don't have as much tolerance for carrying and using coins (because electronic payment alternatives are more convenient), or is it that they don't represent enough value to carry in the first place? I suspect it's both.
Yes, we have to remember the decision for the current Zincoln was not today, but in the early 1980s and possibly before. And yes, my local Meijers until recently had some gumball machine that was 1 cent and their horse ride is STILL one cent. I have some pictures/post that showed that a few months ago when chatting about coin machines. I haven't used a vending machine in ages, but I recall back in college things for .99 cents or $1.49. So at some point even in the 80s they accepted pennies. I always wondered why they just didn't round it up to $1 or $1.50 but then you just have to think about gasoline. It's not my decision. But if you check, the modern quarter is a bit lighter than the past quarter. 6.25 grams vs 5.67 grams which is noticeable especially if you hold 2 or more of them. Of course Dollar coins then went from a large 38.1 diameter / 22.58gr to everyone's preferred and loved (ack) 26.5mm/8.1 gr coin. Until everyone rounds everything up to an even .05 or .10, etc and state TAX rates support that, I think we're stuck. The Mint's job is also to economically produce coinage. So they look at alternative metals for the coins, to make sure they can be manufactured easily without much of a change of the current process *and* that it is as low a cost as possible.
Enjoy metallic money while you can, it will be all plastic/bytes before long. Most of my shopping this year has been Costco, Aldis, Amazon,Frys, Barnes & Noble, more and when I paid with cash, I always got a hand full of crinkled bills and sad coins. I only need to carry a quarter for Aldi's cart deposit and at the end of the year taxes are so much easier to do. Jim
You may be right, but I have to confess I do it for an entirely different reason. I enjoy dumping out that coin jar every couple of months or so and having $30-$40 of "found" money. It's not a lot, but it's kind of fun, much like finding coins in a parking lot. When I'm in a foreign country, I have no problem walking around with a pocketful of coins.
Yup ... https://www.salestaxinstitute.com/resources/rates excerpt It really messes stuff up. For instance, if you buy something for $1.00 (like a bottled water) in Michigan, you pay $1.06 in the end with State Sales Tax. So somewhere in there you either pay a penny (and nickel) or get back 4 cents or more. I Guess in Connecticut that same $1.00 item is $1.0635, or Colorado $1.029. PLUS some of those states also allow Local Municipalities to add sales tax I guess ... what fun (is that a percentage of the sale + state, or do they add the %s together first before calculating against the sale ?). Why in the world do they have fractional percentages for sales tax and other tax rates? (yes, for more fractional money that adds up quickly).