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eppur_se_muova

(41,756 posts)
20. A cent coin is not a commodity, it's a token, like a certificate. It's worth what it is by fiat, not by cost.
Thu Mar 12, 2026, 03:52 PM
Thursday

Maybe it takes 3.7 cents to make, but it can be used over and over for years before it wears out, participating in many dollars worth of transactions. Discontinuing it because of material costs is a bit short-sighted.

Over the years, the US, and the Colonies before that, have phased out the half-cent, the quarter-cent (aka farthing), the half-farthing, and the quarter-farthing, because they no longer made sense. The cent will eventually go too, but there's no rush. It is part of the basis of our money system, not just our coinage. It seems to me it would have been smarter to issue a 2-cent coin, probably in the same diameter, but thinner, and a different color (at least slightly). Thinner would mean less cost to make. Banks might dislike having to modify their coin sorters, but most people wouldn't be affected. Retail stores would just toss a small box in the pennies bin, and put either the new coins or the old ones in that, until the changeover (no pun intended) ran its course. And rounding to the nearest 2 cents would be less of a problem than rounding to 5 cents.

It's still not too late, either ..... having a shortage of cents might make it easier.

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When I do pay cash I tell the clerk to keep the pennies. twodogsbarking Thursday #1
Pricing Timewas Thursday #2
A nickle costs 13.8 cents each Historic NY Thursday #4
That's true! I looked it up. 70sEraVet Thursday #13
Depends on how you define cost as the money spent is money that also flows into the economy. cstanleytech Thursday #18
But they last decades and get spent countless times. The cost is also offset by how cheap it is to print a 20 buck bill Blues Heron Friday #28
Really? Timewas Thursday #24
Fractionalize currency has been around since somebody decided sea shells were a problem Historic NY Friday #25
I wondered about that also - how do you make the taxes always end in a nickel? rurallib Thursday #6
You would have to revalue the currency with nubucks or some such Blues Heron Friday #30
Because of our regressive sales taxes IbogaProject Thursday #11
My 2 cents Historic NY Thursday #3
It seems like they were always rounding up and keeping the extra. mackdaddy Thursday #5
Can we round it up to a nickel and give that extra to the billionaire class? rurallib Thursday #7
It honestly would not surprise me if they try doing something like that. cstanleytech Thursday #19
My local McDonald's has adopted nearest nickel for cash transactions. hay rick Thursday #8
I find it more than pathetic that we need a law to clarify rounding up or down in the marketplace zeusdogmom Thursday #9
30 Years ago I could buy small resses PB cups for 3 cents. Today if I droped 3 cents no one would pick it up. Jacson6 Thursday #10
Yes, but 30 years ago a gum ball cost 2 cents . . . Journeyman Thursday #12
WOT????!!! Jacson6 Thursday #16
And then a dime. And then a dollar... Torchlight Thursday #22
Our monetary system should be based on something of a tangible value 70sEraVet Thursday #14
Did you look closely at the cents that would be rounded up or down? slightlv Thursday #15
Canada Maninacan Thursday #17
A cent coin is not a commodity, it's a token, like a certificate. It's worth what it is by fiat, not by cost. eppur_se_muova Thursday #20
Next up...that $19.95 thingamabob will be rounded up to 3825-87867 Thursday #21
Stores are rounding down, not up Deminpenn Thursday #23
At our store yesterday (NJ), a customer was on the verge of a meltdown no_hypocrisy Friday #26
I've done that before. It's fun in Walmart bucolic_frolic Friday #29
All this nonsense could be avoided if they would only bucolic_frolic Friday #27
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