SHOULD THE U.S. CENT COIN BE RETIRED?

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by Robert Ransom, Jul 5, 2020.

  1. Robert Ransom

    Robert Ransom Well-Known Member

    On a coin for coin basis, I accumulate more cent coins in change than any other which I toss into a bucket. The last time I cashed in at the coin machine, I had two satchels and two totes weighing nearly 100 pounds, most of which were cents.
    Would eliminating the cent coin be a smart move?
     
    xCoin-Hoarder'92x likes this.
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  3. Bill H.

    Bill H. Active Member

    Yes. Business' should round off for cash sales purposes. For sales tax reporting and submission, keep it to the penny on paper. Easy. It costs the Treasury more than a cent to mint a cent.
     
  4. UncleScroge

    UncleScroge Well-Known Member

    I don't think so. A cent in 1776 was worth 1¢. A cent today, because of inflation, is worth about 29¢.
    If we did, then should we also drop the nickel, dime and quarter? I don't think so!
     
  5. Robert Ransom

    Robert Ransom Well-Known Member

    I don't understand your point.
     
  6. UncleScroge

    UncleScroge Well-Known Member

    If we drop a cent that's worth 29¢, then should we be dropping all coinage that was worth up to 29¢ in 1776, that's now worth much more? No, I don't think so!
     
  7. kanga

    kanga 65 Year Collector

    It should have happened long ago.
    I was in Australia in 1994 and they had gotten rid of the pence then.
     
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  8. Robert Ransom

    Robert Ransom Well-Known Member

    Maybe I drank too much last night and that's why I can't comprehend your post. I guess it's me.
     
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  9. chascat

    chascat Well-Known Member

    Yep...don't need em.
     
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  10. John Wright

    John Wright Well-Known Member

    First, the FIRST US Cent was a pattern in 1792 and circulation in 1793, not 1776 -- though the colony/state of Massachusetts (not US) did make a 1/2c and 1c coin in 1787. Second, you have the 'inflation' backwards. What a cent would buy in Early US days would cost MANY cents today. My vote would be to obsolete both the 1c and 5c coins and replace the $1 and $2 bills with $1 and $2 coins. What does a cent buy today?
     
  11. Garlicus

    Garlicus Debt is dumb, cash is king.

    A cent is always worth a cent, in general commerce.

    However, what you can buy with a cent in a given year, versus previous years, may be different. If what you can buy is less, then that is because of inflation. Your cent is not worth more. Instead, it takes more of them to buy what you used to buy with one, thus it is worth less, not more.

    In your example, that cent is not worth 29 cents. It is now worth 1/29 of a cent, meaning you need 29 to buy what used to cost 1.
     
  12. LA_Geezer

    LA_Geezer Well-Known Member

    I think they have tried this several times in the last half century, haven't they? I'm all for replacing the paper dollar with a coin, too, but Ike, SBA, Sacajawea and the dead presidents have all failed to become the preferred medium.
     
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  13. xCoin-Hoarder'92x

    xCoin-Hoarder'92x Storm Tracker

    Canada did this in 2012. They have denominations from 5¢ to $2 in coin.

    The US should seriously mint something interesting for a 2 dollar coin
    and make it bi-metal, we've never done a circulating coin like that before.
     
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  14. Bill H.

    Bill H. Active Member


    100% agree, that would be cool. However, it would be colossal waste of time and money if unless the 1 dollar note is discontinued.
     
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  15. harrync

    harrync Well-Known Member

    I believe the overseas military PX's did away with one cent pieces decades ago [round off to 5c], and the world did not end.
     
  16. Bill H.

    Bill H. Active Member


    I'm with ya (not the drinking too much, ha)

    Garlicus sets him straight I believe.
     
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  17. xCoin-Hoarder'92x

    xCoin-Hoarder'92x Storm Tracker

    Various countries do larger denomination coins than we do. The Swiss 5 Franc ($5.20), Japanese 500 Yen ($4.56), 2 Euro ($2.25), and I'm sure there's others I cannot think of right now.
     
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  18. Anntron

    Anntron Member

    The US Mint only needs to continue producing three coin denominations for circulation, the nickel, quarter, and dollar. Prices on retail and wholesale goods can still be marked to the penny. Merely round the aggregate total of the purchase to the nearest nickel. Consequently, the nickel and quarter sum to any amount of change for a dollar. If you suspect merchants will devise nefarious formulas to get your extra two cents, you are probably correct. However, competition ultimately levels the playing field. No, they will not round up items on shelf stock to the nearest nickel. Remember, gasoline has been xxx.9 forever! For a gimmick, merchants can display a big green “¢” to signify they round down all purchases. Rounding is already an accepted standard with several of our local merchants. The transactional viability of nickels, quarters, and dollars is already established. The three coins are simple to distinguish by touch, weight, or sight. Reaching into a pocket or purse to make exact change becomes easier through the attrition of pennies and dimes from the mix. To maximize the cost-benefit, an alternate metal composition for the nickel is inevitable.

    The Mint is enterprising. To capitalize on existing resources, the penny and dime can extend their reign through the annual collector sets. However, if the Mint really wanted to increase their bottom-line (and please collectors?), they now have a lucrative opportunity. There are very talented designers and engravers at the Mint and plenty of artistic ideas. Put them together by creating annual commemorative reverses for the non-circulating coin denominations. The Sacagawea-Native American reverses are exemplary. A circulating bi-metal two-dollar coin would be nice too.

    The BEP could simultaneously consider a gradual phase-out of One-dollar bills. Reserve the reverse of the One-dollar denomination as a venue for limited run circulating commemorative bills. Dollar bills will disappear from circulation overnight! This would inevitably encourage the use of the orphaned dollar coins too. In addition, the BEP already has the channels to sell special sets directly to the public. There are many incredible images generated by the BEP engravers in the last 200 years not to mention the potential for new designs. It is a shame to relegate this art and beauty to card stock. It is time to put those images on the bills where they belong. It would be enjoyable to collect affordable, low denomination, modern series commemorative notes from circulation, if you could find any.

    All of these proposed changes minimize political engagement, use existing resources, represent considerable cost-saving, and/or generate revenue. This is simply common sense with the potential for affordable collectability. We need some new change.
     
  19. Bill H.

    Bill H. Active Member


    AWESOME ideas which is exactly why it won't be done. You hit it out of the park!
     
  20. Dimedude2

    Dimedude2 Member

    I am concerned that schemers like those in the movie Office Space will not be successful.

    What is the US and the mint doing wrong in dollar coin distribution? It is due time for this and more practical. I guess American are reluctant to change...
     
  21. Bill H.

    Bill H. Active Member


    What's the mint doing wrong?

    Ha! A loaded question. There is no political will for congress to discontinue the 1 dollar note. Then and only then will there be a circulating dollar coin. See Canada the last 30 years!
     
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