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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;iPen, post: 2634476, member: 69760&quot;]I know that this was brought up myriad times on this forum, but this <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2016/12/27/the-penny-cost-more-to-make-than-its-worth-again/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2016/12/27/the-penny-cost-more-to-make-than-its-worth-again/" rel="nofollow">WSJ Article</a>&nbsp; from last month sparked my interest in the topic some more. So I reread older proposals that predominantly suggest that we follow suit with some of the European countries and our neighbors to the north, and simply eliminate the penny altogether. But, this seems to be going nowhere as lobbying by Zinc producers remains strong due to the profits made from the <i>billions</i> of pennies produced each year. Not to mention, I&#039;ve also read that the 2 and 5 euro cents also cost more to produce than their face value, so the European minters seem to have held only a short run solution to the matter. </p><p><br /></p><p>So, I brainstormed a bit and thought about this solution:</p><p><br /></p><blockquote> <ul> <li>Eliminate the 1 cent <i>denomination</i></li> </ul><p> <ul> <li>Convert the penny as we know it into the 5 cent, with a higher copper content.</li> </ul> <blockquote><blockquote><p><b>+</b> This appeases the mostly zinc producers who lobby heavily against previous proposals to simply eliminate the penny altogether</p><p><b>+</b> Go back to 95% Cu 5% Zn, or some variation of Cu &amp; Zn with a much higher Cu content than the present 2.5% Cu content</p><p><b>+</b> Add edge reeding to help consumers and banks to more easily differentiate between older 1 cent pennies and newer 5 cent copper coins of the same size. </p></blockquote></blockquote> <ul> <li>Convert the nickel as we know it into the 10 cent</li> </ul> <blockquote><blockquote><p><b>+</b> Add edge reeding to help consumers and banks to more easily differentiate between older 5 cent nickels and newer 10 cent coins of the same size. </p></blockquote></blockquote> <ul> <li>Eliminate the dime as we know it</li> </ul> <blockquote><blockquote><p><b>+ </b>To create a parallel between denomination value and the coin&#039;s diameter</p></blockquote></blockquote> <ul> <li>Quarter and higher denominations remain unchanged</li> </ul> </blockquote><p><br /></p><p>We then have all denominations but the penny, and what results is a win-win compromise among all major parties. And, correct me if I&#039;m wrong, but vending machines wouldn&#039;t need any major mechanical overhaul, but would need to change <i>how it reads</i> the coins coming in (a relatively simple coding change?). </p><p><br /></p><p>All that said, I know that eliminating the dime altogether may not sit well with many collectors, but a) there will be new designs and reeding to plain edge coins to bring some more novelty into the hobby, and b) I fear that change one way or another is inevitable and the alternative would be to simply eliminate pennies from future collecting without anything new added.</p><p><br /></p><p>Thoughts?</p><p><br /></p><p>Thanks in advance!</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Just some graphs showing the cost to produce a penny and nickel:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]580214[/ATTACH]</p><p><img src="https://img.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/files/2014/03/coins_4.png" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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