Are you in favor of continue producing cent?.

The cent should go. It serves no real purpose, and has a vanishingly small purchasing power. When the Mint and our coinage system was conceived it was decided to include the half cent as a way to help the poor by giving them a small denomination they could use. Todays cent has less than 1/50th the purchasing power of that original half cent. Are we so poor we need a coin that small?

It is said that we need it to make change. Does that mean that if we round to five cents we can't make change? Can people only count by ones?

People say we need it for sales tax because they will always round up. Strange, if you calculate the exact tax today you will find that they don't "Always round up". If the tax come to less than an extra half cent they round DOWN because they know it will even out. Sometime up, sometimes down. And I don't see anyone calling for a return of the half cent or mils to stop that rounding problem.

Yes the intrinsic value of the cent has dropped and is down to .3 cents but the labor cost still brings it back up to just about the break even point. Before much longer the cost of making a cent will exceed the face value even if the materials were free. rather than wait for that, we are at a convenient breaking point with the 100 year mark, lets stop it now.

75% of the mints output are cents. That is because they are NOT used, or rather used once. Mint to bank to store used for change and then tossed in a jar and removed from circulation. They have to make so many because they are not used because people don't want to use them.

Yes the cent is traditional and many of us have a fondness for them. I loved my old car too, but when the driver seat started falling through the floor it was time to let it go. It, like the cent, had outlived its usefulness. Todays generations of collectors remember starting out collecting cents. The next can start by collecting nickels. "But that is so much more expensive!" Not really. The cents of my childhood had the purchasing power of todays dimes. The next generation will be start with coins worth half as much as I did, even though the face value is five times as much.

 

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We have seen this economic viability debate of the cent before, several times in fact. I started collecting with cents in the 1950's, the cent is in constant circulation and as noted previously the mint continues to produce massive quantities. I'm gonna vote to keep it

 

if the cent stop. will it affect the young and new collectors?. i remember during the 50's and 60's where the stamps that we collect ranging from 1 c to 10 c. so many of us were then collect stamps. but the price keep going up. now is .42 c and by may it is .44 cent. the collectors seem all gone. i mean very few.

 

Maby a cashless society would be a great idea. Think about this: how much time are we loosing right now because some people don't have any money ? some people can't fund their researches to make scientific discoveries to go further.... what's the difference between 1400 and 2009 ? the answer is scientific research and discoveries. Ants do very well in there collonies without their pocket change and grand cafée latté. We have grown to a society that looks out for themselfs , but ofcours self preservation is in our nature. Think of Bernard Madoff... would that ever happen and effect so many things in a cashless society ? don't get me wrong i'm not preaching comunism

 

i think that cashless society is a bad idea.

1st i hate it when cashiers look at my card and say "thank you ____" and they know my name. i feel that myself, you should be anonymous and no one should know my name. i always wonder if everyone like the store employees to know your name and what you buy.

2nd for me - it easier to send my son into the store to grab something quick with cash - i dont think stores accept plastic from minors

3rd - there is somethings that need cash only & not from a regular store like my yard sale last year, paying my parents for stuff. money in birthday cards, money in the offering plate,kids need money too - just a quick thought on this topic.

 

Yes.

I am in favor of continuing cent production.


Why?
Simple, I believe that any change from a purchase belongs to me, not some rounded up number that 'relieves' me of small change.

I am still upset that they eliminated the half cent!

Over the past 50 years I can imagine the change that I have lost to rounding!

Keep the Cent!
Get rid of politicians!

 

I hate to but it's time.

I hate to but it's time.
There is really no credible argument that under scrutiny would support keeping the cent around much longer, it just ain't so I'm sorry.

Being a Lincoln Cent specialist it's especial hard but then time as come.
Further for most daily commerce not even the 5 cent piece or the dime as any value anymore. It's just chump change now.

I would really (for the sake of our country and economy) just as soon go to the dollar as our lowest denomination. I mean whats wrong with rounding up or down from .50 cents? These coins have literally no value, they are now worth so little that except for the quarter they don't even circulate and the only reason the quarter does is because of car washes and coin laundry and parking.
Really ask your self, "what do I really do with most change I bring home:? I wait until it's "x" amonut and turn it back in for dollars.

It's sad though and this does not mean I like it - a complete era has come and gone in my lifetime. When I was a kid we were paid in silver coin for mowing and paper routes. Franklin's, Walking Libs, silver dimes and quarters. They were worth something then, a big something! You could go down to the drugstore and hang out all day long with .75 cents, get a sundae, a coke, some peanuts, and comic books and still have change left over. Those were the days! Go to the drug store today and see if you can find even one item for .50 cents or less - I don't think you can.
When I started smoking cigarettes were .24 cents a pack now they are the better part of $6, but I digress and I'm not that old, (so people keep telling me).

Doing away with small change is not something I want but if it would save our nation some money I'm all for it. After all we do have billions and billions of pieces of small change that should keep us pretty well happy for a couple more generations.

 

But kids today get $5 or $10 for mowing the lawn, and they go down to the drug store (or 7/11) and get slurpees, etc. . . . . same thing (except that it's paper rather than silver)

 

Try having your wallet show up MIA or being hit with idenity thief in a cashless society. I do not think cash will ever go away. Plus you will also find that having those buckets of change real handy while you spend a week waiting on new IDs and bank cards.

 

To favor getting rid of the cent implies that one believes there's an advantage to doing so. Other than perhaps the mint costing less money to run, is there an advantage to getting rid of the penny?

To Conder101: The fact that the purchasing power of the penny when you started collecting it is equivalent to today's dime does not negate the fact it would cost future collectors five times as much to start with the nickel vs the penny. Not five times what it cost you, but five times what it could have cost them.

 

.......i like the cent. so i vote to keep it and i think it will be eliminated just like the half dollar. since 1987 the half was obtainable ONLY from the mint for collectors and not put out to the public thru bank channels etc.

 

Correction. The mint produced 1987 business production halves in mint sets only like it did in 1970. It resumed normal production of halves for circulation in 1988. !n 2002 the Kennedy half was produced as a collector coin at the mint and has been ever since. They are now sold for a premium through the mint because of the amount currently sitting unused in bank vaults across the country. And as for the mint keeping production of cents going for collectors sake, I would doubt that. They produce commemoratives EXCLUSIVELY for collectors and we still don't get what we want. Why would they operate at a loss just for collectors. They keep production going because some hard headed individuals in Washington speculate that ceasing production would cause increased inflation. Talk about your conspiricy theorists! I think when you weigh the benefits and disadvantages, we'd be far ahead creating a decent design on the reverse for one year and then hanging up the cent altogether.

 

it looks like in favor is way ahead in the poll. but remember most of us were collectors. general public might have a different views.

 

And what are the benefits of discontinuing the cent?

 

there is no real answer to that. i think it will always be 50 to 50 in favor or against it.

 

lincoln cent roll sold 97,149. very strong. but i don't see the price will survive at high level. check westward nickels.

 

I think producing a coin that costs more to produce than it's worth is foolish. I also think the purchasing power is so small, we could get by just fine without it. Then we could discontinue the dollar bill, since we'd have an extra spot in the drawer for dollar coins no one can figure out how to make circulate. That would save the treasury more money. Now that the mint wouldn't bet so focused on producing billions of coins with little worth, they can focus on getting our orders on time. I'll think of more reasons when I'm trying to fall asleep tonight.

 

i think the mint should listen to us. continue producing cent by changing the composition. but it should be copper plated. and the size should be the same. weight can be higher or lower. and the design at least should change too.

note: general circulation cent and mint cent rolls - 97.5% zinc. sets with cent . like proof set, silver proof set, mint unc set and 5 pc set with a silver dollar - 95% copper.

 

Yes I hope the one cent or penny will still be made!

 

I'd settle for a limited production cent sold exclusively through the mint at a small premium, kind of like they've been doing with the Kennedy halves. It would keep collectors happy, and keep the mint out of the red.