Is the US cent being phased out?

I've heard local rumor that the cent is going to be phased out. They say that it has more value in raw metal scrapping than what the Government will back it for. Does this sound right? Are they trying to "bring it back" with these commemorative reverse designs?

P.S. I liked the 2009 cent reverse's, but I am not big on the Union Shield reverse. Kinda plain considering the detail in the others.

 

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No.

 

IMHO, no, never will. The U.S. has always had pennies/cents and they always will.

 

It is true that it costs more to produce it than it's worth, but there are no current plans to phase it out.

 

I personally think it is the best design on circulating coinage since the buffalo nickel and the mercury dime.

 

The cent will be here as long as taxes are imposed.

 

Although phasing out the cent has been talked about, seems like forever, most believe someday it will actually happen. Since its purchasing power is practically nothing and it's a nuisance to most consumers, I'd give it no more than 10 years. However, I, like many, do collect them, so they'll probably still be made for collectors.

 

I think the cent will be phased out soon enough, along with the other coins and paper money, probably only to skyrocket the costs for different items in the market.
Better stock up now.

 

maybe they could keep the cent, just make the cent larger and add 499 cents to the face value

 

This guy hit the nail on the head. It is because of taxes that the penny must always remain.

 

Just as payments including tax are rounded to the nearest "full penny" amount now, they could be rounded x.y0 / x.y5 tomorrow. (Or a little later. ) See the very recent discussion about the cent/penny here ... http://www.cointalk.com/t115931/

Christian

 

In my opinion the cent along with a lot of other currency will eventually be phased out. In this electronic world, currency is becoming out dated.

 

We can only hope so.
BUT
It would be political suicide for members of Congress, so it won't happen for a while.
Tax is probably the major reason.

I was in Australia/New Zealand in 1994 and they had already gotten rid of their 1d coins.
Prices were linked to 5d breakage.
I don't believe their economies have collapsed because of that.

 

One of the 'advantages' of digital transactions is the ability to carry taxes out to to fractional amounts of the cent. No amount is too large or too small for those have their hands in our pockets and bank accounts.

 

FWIW, they got rid of their 1d coins in the 1960s. They had 1p coins (decimal) when you were there.

 

You mean all those countries that have gotten rid of their 1 cent equivalent coins don't have taxes!!!