Coinage Hasn't Kept Up With Inflation

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Why haven't we changed the denominations of our coinage to restore the buying power of pocket change?

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The way the dollar keeps dropping against other nations currency, 75 cents might mean something again.

I read "Black Like Me" when I was in high school. I hadn't thought about that book for years.

I constantly tell the young clerks at my convenience store about the "old days." How their $1.15 candy bars were a dime and their .75 Pepsis were also a dime, and a double deck ice cream cone was 20 cents.

Just today my wife and I were talking about 1965 when I was a first year teacher, and she was straight out of high school working as a waitress. I would go into the cafe where she worked and buy a dinner for $1.25. Then, being the big spender I was, leave a quarter for her as a tip.

She also became a teacher and as the years have passed we have watched together how prices have risen and the value of our money has gone down.

yep u guys had it made!!

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Tsmith3510 asked:
Why haven't we changed the denominations of our coinage to restore the buying power of pocket change?

Counterfeiting concerns?

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"Keeping up with the counterfeiters" is normally cited as one reason to change the currency, not keep it the same.

This issue has been touched on in the recent kill the Lincoln Cent thread but my understanding is that the main reason America hasn't reformed it's currency is that, unlike most of the rest of the world, you haven't really had to. Governments know changing the currency is both unpopular and a sign of problems with the economy, so they only do this as a last resort.

Few other countries survived the 20th century (WWI, WWII and the Cold War) with their government and economy intact. Most countries in continental Europe have suffered war, revolution and government change (all of which tend to bring about change in the currency). The notable exception here is neutral Switzerland, which hasn't reformed the currency or even changed the design of the coins since the 1850's.

Britain and her colonies (particularly Canada and Australia) survived OK, but Britain and Australia both "went decimal", rendering the old coinage obsolete. Canada is in much the same situation as the US.

Your options for currency reform are limited. You could drop the lower denominations and add new high-end ones; judging by the responses in the penny thread, few people want to do this.

The second, more drastic option is currency reform: scrap the dollar completely, and replace it with a new currency unit. Normally the new unit comes in worth 100 or 1000 times what the old one was, though sometimes a 10:1 replacement is undertaken; Israel did just that with the reforms of 1980, when 10 (old) lirot equalled 1 (new) sheqel.

Your final option is to "do a euro" and form a monetary union with Canada, Mexico or both, or even include the rest of Latin America. The new super-currency could be designed such that the "new 1 cent" could be actually worth something.

It was a nice car, but I really wanted a '65 Chevelle, and should have bought one, that was pre boss days when I had real money.

Grass is always greener they say. Ahhh, I remember sitting in line at a gas station for 5 hours to get gas, only to find out they had ran out 3 cars prior to me getting to the pump. Also recall a couple of brothers trying to capture the market on silver and causing a real ruckus. Some made a few bucks, others lost everything because of it. Yep, the good ole days.. : )

Speaking of cars, we bought a new, custom made, 1968 Mustang convertible.

I will always regret trading it away.

I loved that car.