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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;ewomack, post: 8653242, member: 15588&quot;]Over the years, many threads about the death of the cent have come and gone here. I haven&#039;t seen one for a while. I&#039;ll sum up what I usually say in these threads.</p><p><br /></p><p>Should the US abolish the cent? Yes, but legislation around how the pricing structure should work without it would need to get passed first. After that, the legislation to order the mint to stop making them would need to get passed. Special interests (zinc, etc.) would probably try to stop it or at least slow it down. In any case, neither of these items appear particularly high on the docket of Congress. When legislation has been presented (an internet search away) it has died in committee.</p><p><br /></p><p>Also, pocket change, all of it, has become increasingly irrelevant and pretty much all of it exists now merely to make change. Going back far enough, only the half cent once existed purely to make change, but back then the cent, nickel and dime all had decent purchasing power. No more. None of it can really do much anymore except make change. Give a kid a quarter today and you would probably, and justifiably, get a dirty or confused look back. I never gave my (no longer) young nephew anything less than $20. The cent has quickly reached the same status as the Japanese one Yen coin, the one made from aluminum that can float in water. Both have equally null purchasing power. Both should go.</p><p><br /></p><p>As for the cost to make cents, yes, it does cost more to make a cent than a cent is worth. Same for the nickel. But, as the tour guide at the Denver mint told us, they lose money on these coins, but they more than make up for them with the quarter, so it all comes out as a wash. The Mint tends to make a profit overall. That&#039;s likely why, or at least one reason why, obliterating the cent remains low on the priorities of Congress.</p><p><br /></p><p>So, the economy needs direction on what to do without cents and the mint needs to get told to stop making them. Both require acts of Congress. If it happens anytime soon, I&#039;d honestly be completely shocked.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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