What's the deal with pennies anyways?
I mean they cost nearly twice what they're worth to make, they're essentially worthless and we really don't need them. So why do we keep them? Honest abe still has the $5 Bill and he isn't even on the back of the penny anymore. Let's just get rid of it and round to the nearest nickel. Come to think about it-We probably don't need the nickel any more, but that might be too radical of a change for most to accept. Seriously though, why keep the penny? Would you miss it? I wouldn't.
by
cowboydann
asked 5 months ago
I'd be all for removing them from further minting but all such legislation has always failed. Plenty of lobbying for various reasons to keep pennies going. Obviously someone supplies the mint with all the zing that goes into the pennies and they'd hate to lose that revenue source.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/03/31/080331fa_fact_owen?currentPage=1
4 page article there, its a decent read.
I miss Seinfeld.
I read something recently that the gov't may allow copper pennies to be sold as scrap metal. Their value in copper is around 2.5 cents each. Maybe a good time to start hoarding pennies!
If we didn't have pennies, what would we squish at the fair? I am collecting squashed pennies, from vacation souvenirs, to make a belt. It will mess up the design, if all the pennies dry up. Also, what will the crazy/disgruntled people pay their property taxes with?
I am doing my part to return them to the money stream, by not hoarding them. I reduced the size of my penny jar, after reading that they are the most hoarded coin, which is what drives up the cost. Instead of not minting them, they should start a national effort to encourage people to turn them in.
This is an example of a thought for your pennies.
@ohcheri: Only problem is it's illegal to melt them down as a member of the public. That's defacing government property and you could face prison. I know that's a stretch but it's the law lol. Personally I'd love to melt some down and cash in, but that's when Uncle Sam comes in with his now legal and standard issue AR15 and puts ya in jail instead of chasing real criminals.
@pickypickypicky: the reason they're horded is because you need thousands of them to be worth anything. And then there is coinstar who charges you nearly 10% for the convenience to not look like a crazy while spending your money.
I'm too lazy to do the math but I'd venture to guess if you made 8.50 an hour the few seconds bending over and picking up a penny literally wouldn't even be worth your time.
Another interesting proposition for someone who is way smarter than I. How many calories can you buy with a penny, and how much energy is burned picking up a penny? You probably burn more calories picking it up than you could get back from that penny.
Edit: Now that I think about it. Can you really put a dollar value on the amount of luck you get from the penny you pick up? Maybe it would be worth your time to pick it up just for that sweet delicious luck.
Edit Edit: Shoot I just realized the luck was a myth to trick you into picking up a penny.
You could get rid of everything smaller than a quarter and I'd be hard pressed to argue against it. It really seems like the other coins are just awkward ways of trying to eek out a marginal profit. I'd rather be like, okay, it's a dollar and a half, not a dollar and 31 cents. I think things would break even over the long run. Plus then we could actually get dollar coins into common usage. I think the short life span of a dollar bill compared to a coin and how much they cost to print is way more insane than the cost of pennies.
But I know a lot of people are still penny-pinching in the most literal sense, so it won't happen.
Thought I would add my two cents....
Sure, we could just round the prices, but why not do it like most European countries?
They include the amount of tax with the price on display...so if you go in Walmart and pick up an item that costs $10.00, you pay $10.00 at the register.
I love that system because it makes it extremely simple to know your exact total, and the prices are set in increments of $.05 so you never have to use a penny.
@sizzlestick: they do that in s korea, too. i go there every summer, and their "pennies" (10 won) and nickels (50 won) are useless. i mean, you could use them to buy plastic bags at a market, but that's it. can't even buy a gumball with them.
@ebersole12: if you melt the pennies down and remove the impurities...how is the gov't gonna know it was a penny?
I once bought two Dominoes pizzas with pennies when I was in college. I even tipped the driver 500 pennies......I got a call from the manager just about the time we finished the second pizza. I had to order from Papa Johns from then on.
I say we just skip a few steps and start pricing everything in $50 increments.
I makes sense if you think about it.. if you REALLY think about it.
@silo11: Touche
@cowboydann: Ha,ha, now it's see a YEN and pick it up.
@ebersole12: Correct, at this point in time it is illegal. That's why I said the government is considering changing this law.
@cowboydann: My husband and I (and the dog) walk 3 miles every day and we make it a game to find money on the ground. Pretty much every day we find at least a penny and definitely spend the calories picking it up :)
I still pick up pennies. People drop them and forget about them. Either turn them in (about $10 every couple of months, I don't carry them around when I leave the house either) or drop them into charity boxes (Ronald McDonald House, etc.).
@cowboydann: $8.50 an hour comes out to $0.14 cents a Minute. So it takes roughly 3 seconds to earn a penny. I would say if you're old and it takes you a bit to bend over, or tall it's be worth it.
Consequently I've decided that I want to be payed by the second at my next job. $0.01 per second comes out to $0.60 per minute and $36 Dollars an hour. And just think how much easier it would be to negotiate yourself a raise to $0.02/second raise.
@silo11: It's a federal offense for any business not to accept federal currency (the penny) as payment.
@falcondeal: Haha, check out this video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nZLSMRH6cM
@falcondeal: most businesses also reserves the right to refuse service to anyone for whatever reason they like.
Edit: They accepted the pennies that one time, but they have the right to ban them from all future orders.
@cowboydann: Not exactly... "Both federal and state laws prohibit businesses from denying public accommodation to citizens on the basis of race, color, religion or national original."... but about payment... I'm not sure. Anyone a lawyer?
Ok, after minimal searching on the web... Only debts are forced to accept any form of legal tender.
@ohcheri: Sorry, 1982-2011 Cent (97.5% zinc) scrap value is $0.0050150 or 50.15% of currency value. 1909-1982 Cent (95% copper) is worth $0.0225695 in scrap or 225.69% of currency value.
Today's nickels are worth more in scrap at $0.0515452 each or 103.09%.
If you're purchasing an item and you have it in your possession (i.e. handed a pizza) or will soon have it, then you are in debt to that pizza delivery business. However, if that business does not want to accept the legal tender, then they lose out on a customer.
My grandfather once told me "A man who has so much money that he won't bend to pick up a penny has too much money".
Well, I've never had "too much" money, so I always pick up pennies. It has added up over the years since I am a letter carrier and do a lot of walking. So much so that my wife and I are going to take an Alaskan cruise when we retire, paid for by all the pennies we've put in the bank over the years.
@ohcheri: I am sooo with you there! I walk every day as well & always keep my eye out for coins. Yesterday DH & I found 40 cents and thought it was great. (No pennies this time...one quarter, one dime & one nickle. We were kinda hoping we'd hit for the cycle, but were happy nonetheless.) ;)
When we have lots of change--especially when coinstar has a promo with amazon--we change them in coinstar for amazon credits (where there's no 1% take from coinstar).
@fleamarketadict: Kudos to you! And bon voyage!
@silo11: That's a nice tip!
Stats
- Asked
- 5 months ago
- Asked By
- cowboydann
- Answered
- 31 times
- Viewed
- 716 times
- Voted Against
- 1 time
- Voted For
- 46 times
31 Answers answer
Sort By: