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 Replies: 21 / Views: 1,835 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5616 Posts |
Pro's and con's, why keep the cent, also why end the production of the cent?
I started collecting and purchased my 1st Whitman cent album, 1963, I know this coin has started many, many people on the hobby of coin collecting, I also know that there were bubble gum machines and all sorts of candy you could spend this coin on.I would also venture to say that there would be lots , and lots of people with no more coins to collect, or look forward to every year as they have for sooo long, this for some would probably be a good thing, with the mint having so much to choose from these days, for me I would like to still see this coin around every year. Things would also be rounded off to the nearest nickel, and basically many things would no longer exist. Some how not hearing the word cent as much anymore is going to be hard to adjust to, fuel prices, the psychological edge of hearing the .99 cents amount, thinking you are getting a deal, not being a dollar, lol.
I also feel the collection supply people are making a good living off things like the cent, i.e. the rolls, the albums, the literature, coin flaps, and tubes, etc. Keeping in mind the coin will not disappear, just not be minted anymore should this decision be made to not continue the production of the cent. Then again people like TOM would have to find another love, or get the chance to spend more quality time with the cents he already has, LOL. I am sure there are many more reasons for the pro and con for this decision, anyone else care to contribute?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2734 Posts |
Quote:
yotie: "they need to kill the dollar bill first"
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2271 Posts |
Quote:
People are not using pennies. They are essentially litter." They are much worse than litter. Large amounts of litter can be collected fairly easily but you have to bend over or stoop down to scrap out a penny. Most litter is harmless and merely unsightly but zinc pennies which compose some 80% of circulating cents are toxic. They are toxic to pets and very young children and can be fatal. They are toxic in garbage dumps where vast numbers end up. But litter isn't a continuing economic drain on the economy. Someone throws a newspaper out the car window and it's virtually invisible after a couple of rainfalls and soon becomes just more mulch on the ground. But a penny is often taken to a store where people have to wait as it's counted and then it requires handling, transporting and rolling for reuse. If you throw the junk away you pollute the enviroment and they make another one to replace it that is a new drain on the economy and a new source of pollution. When you look at a well worn penny of the last 25 years you're not seeing a small amount of wealth you're seeing waste. It has caused great expense each time it was used. These coins should be recalled for proper disposal. If they just quit making them most will eventually end up in landfills. Yes, recalling them will cost money but every time a penny goes into the furnace is the last time it will ever hurt anyone or cost us all. Time don't fly, it bounds and leaps.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1121 Posts |
morgans_dad, Quote:
Then again people like TOM would have to find another love, or get the chance to spend more quality time with the cents he already has, LOL. There is ALWAYS room for upgrading! lol. But then again the premiums would go up making it more difficult, but then again it would make my collections more valuable...Catch 22   That's it...I'm going to VAM's! hehe BTW I do have 13 different type collections currently in progress (adding and upgrading)...I can just admit to myself that I am powerless over Lincoln's that is the 1st step, but it depends on who you ask if my life has become unmanageable due to my Lincoln addiction.  |
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Valued Member
United States
164 Posts |
Are we collectors the only ones who like the cent?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1121 Posts |
I would take a cent a day from every business in my State and would be very happy. Yes those cents do add up. And yes they are an inconvenience to cashiers and bookkeepers, but in my opinion to do as our President may have suggested and round down to the nickel doesn't really make much help anything in an economy as such as ours. To round down would actually decrease the potential money in circulation (thinking on a big scale here) and be detrimental to everyone. That is unless the entire foundation of economics have changed since I took Econ 101.  |
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Moderator
 United States
188770 Posts |
Quote:
they need to kill the dollar bill first It matters not which goes first; both must go!  |
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Valued Member
United States
83 Posts |
The cent must go at some point. As time passes, production costs will continue to rise and the value of the cent continue to fall. The argument to end production of the cent will only get stronger.
In my opinion - if the U.S. Government and/or the U.S. mint really want to end the cent, they need to make more Americans hate it first. If they changed the size and thickness to be that of the old U.S. 3 cent silver or changed the composition to aluminum or recycled plastic, I'd bet the coin would quickly lose favor. If the size was too small to be convenient or felt in-hand as valueless as it truly is, then perhaps the majority of Americans would be willing to let it go. As things are going now, the cent will probably hang on a decade or two beyond its usefulness -- which IMO has already passed.
We need to keep Lincoln on a U.S. coin. I vote for moving Abe to the Sac dollar slot after the Native American series ends.
Edited by russellhome
02/12/2009 3:54 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4541 Posts |
i like the cent and I would not say all are trash.. But I dont care either way as long as I get more coppers for my stash it matters not to me if business want them or not
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
Quote:
When you look at a well worn penny of the last 25 years Can you even FIND a well worn cent from the last 25 years? Worn not rotted or corroded from environmental damage. No because these things don't really circulate. A 25 year old nickel, dime, or quarter typicall shows good honest wear. These coins have been doing their job But a 25 years old cent may be darkened from oxidation of the copper, be they aren't worn. All of these billions of cents were made at great expense. . . .to be thrown in jars. WE DON"T NEED THEM! |
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Rest in Peace
United States
1943 Posts |
I completely agree with eliminating the cent. We as citizens complain about the big companies needing bailout money and still not being fiscally responsible with their executive pay and their executive jets. Eliminating the cent and the paper dollar will save our nation money at a time when our national budget needs it the most. It would be a help in this national downturn. I think it is time to make this change.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2271 Posts |
"Well worn" is an exaggeration but you can sometimes see one with definite wear on it. These are usually only XF at worst but I've seen an XF- or two. This wear represents dozens of transactions and loss each time it was used.
There are billions upon billions of pennies representing significant loss in aggregate.
Time don't fly, it bounds and leaps.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
But only seeing the occasional 25 year old cent that may have worn to XF only proves mypoint. That they don't really circulate and are not needed. And billion and billions of coins made that don't circulate is also a form of loss in my opinion, and not from wear.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
615 Posts |
We keep talking about needing jobs and wanting to do it with sense. How about this idea... Stop making the cent, nickel, dime, quarter. Keep the dollar coins, but kill the paper dollar! Make a Half Dime, dime, and a half out of steel using different sizes. That would be 1/20, 1/10, 1/2 dollar coins... basically moving us to the nice size fractions... so we can kill the Half Dime off when it is needed, then the dime, then the half. Now make the different sizes so people have to switch and redeem all the copper, zinc, copper nickel coins at face. These coins can be melted to recover the metal value which is greater than the cost to make a replacement coin. We could make say a few extra mints to handle the production which would create jobs. We would fix a problem with our coins, create jobs, make a profit doing it, and save money in the future. The only people that will throw a fit is the vending machine people... and we can let them have a tax credit for the retooling to stupid them up. The profit from the change should be more than enough to pay for the credit. Plus look at all the US steel you are using... I bet some people in Ohio/PA area would like that. -SWUSC Edited by sfwusc
02/16/2009 2:00 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
615 Posts |
The retooling would create jobs too and sorry for the typos above.
-SWUSC
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Replies: 21 / Views: 1,835 |
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First Page
Posted 02/11/2009 8:11 pm
