USA Act Introduced Today! (To Replace One Dollar Note With Coin)

Well said, n9jig. Here, here!

Well shads, If you want them to keep the penny so bad, could we at least have a reissued 2 cent coin? I don't want to carry any more coins or bills than I need to, so, I would not mind keeping the cent so much, if we could bring back the 2 cent coin, and FORCE it into circulation, just like banks should be doing with halves, dollar coins and $2 bills now. They should replace all five bill/five coin slot cash drawers with five bill/eight coin slot drawers in store cash registers. Coins could go 1c, 2c, 5c, 10c, 25c, 50c, $1, $2, and bills could go $5, $10, $20 $50, $100 bills. The Euro felt the need for a 2 cent coin, and 200 and 500 Euro notes, so I feel the need for a U.S. 2 cent coin and U.S. $200 and $500 Federal Reserve notes.

I got lost in what the last few posts were trying to say but if I understand parts of it correctly there is a worry that elimination of the cent will hurt poor people.

Nothing of the sort would occur.

In eliminating the cent or its equivalent the various countries set up Rounding. The price paid is rounded to the nearest 5 cents, up or down. Cash registers are programmed to give the proper change, the cashier just needs to pull it from the drawer.

Over a period of many transactions the net result is a wash for both the consumer and business. Some retailers in Canada, at least in the beginning, even rounded all purchases down as a sales ploy, figuring the loss of a penny or two here and there would be worth the good vibes from the consumers. On non-cash transactions (checks, plastic or electronic transactions) nothing would change.

There is absolutely no need for a 2 or 3-cent coin.

There are countries in the Euro that have also eliminated the cent and likely the 2-cent. Once inflation gets there they could easily eliminate the 5-cent coin as well since they already have a 20-cent and no 25-cent coin. If the US decides to eliminate the 5-cent coin down the line then a 20-cent coin makes more sense than the quarter, but the quarter could be eliminated as well even without a 20-cent coin. Just having the current dime, dollar and a new $2 coin would work just fine. Perhaps a new half about the same size as the current quarter would be doable and they could continue the ATB series on that.

so instead of a penny that costs over 2 cent to make, they want to make a nickel costs over 6 cents to make.. which it already does.. why change it?

No, n9jig, as far as only needing the dime, and $1 and $2 coins. We would definitely need at LEAST the half as well. I would not want to have to carry up to a minimum of nine dimes before being able to carry a larger denomination coin. Plus, having to mint that many dimes to meet that demand most likely would not be cost effective, and just plain annoying. Four dimes, like four cents would be bearable.

Canadians stopped grumbling about it when the next generation of people who had never used $1.00 bulls became the prominent spenders. However, if you are "up" on Canadian culture, you will find, as my friend who I spent some time with in Mnt. Brydges Ontario this last summer said, "the Loonie is about useless - it buys nothing anymore... sound familiar?
This was the general consensus of all the Canadian friends I asked up there. The facts are that when they introduced the Loonie - the dollar became "pocket change," prices did rise accordingly (I was there), and the Twoonie became the next step to try to solve the problem. And now Canadians are always stuck with more pocket change than they want b/c the banks don't like to take them b/c it costs them so much more to trade in $1 million dollars of metal for larger bills than it does $1 million in paper - its called shipping charges. And guess who will get stuck with those here in the States?

As to it "working well" - it is used (although a lot stay in change cups people keep with them in cars or at home - refer to former threads where I polled the Canadians for their input). But it was more costly to the little man in the long run. Prices went up, services that included handling of large amounts went up, the dollar became the new "quarter," psychologically and prices were adjusted upwards accordingly on everyone. So it "worked well" if you like more money coming out of your own pocket.


And if you like the idea of a government forcing their will upon the people - this is supposed to be America - but every time this subject comes up, people are willing to throw away what was once cherished in this country of how American government is supposed to obey the will of the people instead of the other way around. Sad... very, very sad.



Please do some more homework on this and find the thread in which I asked the Canadians about this also. I already knew the answer having been involved in the culture at the time, but one of the Canadians kindly posted a link to their news network of the day where people DID in fact notice, dd not want it, and as the article said, they had to once again (note that word) reinforce their pockets to carry even more (and heavier) coinage now b/c they were having a two dollar coin forced on them.



No one said the sky would fall in to begin with. This statement is overkill to support a desired point. Canadians were not happy about it en masse. So although the country "has still not died from alien monsters invading coupled with an incurable plague," the people were forced into a change that they now live with. One of the major things I have noted about being a part of both Canadian and US cultures growing up is I learned to really appreciated how our government never used to be as overbearing on our personal lives as theirs. No... neither government is as bad as many others in the world. However, Americans USED to shudder at the thought of government coercion where morality and safety were not affected. It was a much better time. The camel's nose was not allowed in the tent.



VERY much agreed. But when we do, we need to ACTUALLY look North and do the research and homework to find out how it REALLY affected the average Joe. Again - look back at threads where the Canadians were polled.

The problem is that too many people have their own desires at the forefront of the issue. They have an idea of what they think happened and use it as fact. I invite people to look back at former threads where the facts were researched and posted - including polling our Canadian members, and a thread where math (on the government report) that shows reported taxpayer savings are not what was touted. The report missed cause and effect on what it would cost the average Joe in daily life/fees/price increases vs. saved tax money on paper. The government report also neglected to include inflation taking a toll on the "savings." There were savings - but more information was needed for a better assessment.



Hear hear! But the problem is the initial post this is quoted from only mentioned opinions and does not reflect the facts of history. in effect, it was the opposite of what was being called for. Please, do the homework.

So... shall I ask the question of why a legitimate, workable solution cannot be had so the people can have their own way as it should be in America (but this is normally where the topic gets locked)


Why not just...
1. Make polymer notes - they work (proof - look at how the other countries using them have proven their value). Make a dollar polymer note.

2. Revise the value of currency downward. Make a new "quarter" and give it the value of a current dollar (or whatever). The inflation is NOT going to stop anyway. Canada has PROVEN the dollar becoming pocket change just started a trend by by needing the 2.00 coin. And last July when I was there, they said there was official talk of 5.00 & 10.00 coins now (BTW - I readily admit this was Canadian hearsay - so take it with a grain of salt or do the homework and let us all know for sure). A debasement only means a redesign of coin dies. No extra money spent since they remake dies each year. Of course there may be cost b/c a design might not be enough. Maybe 12 sided coins for awhile until the old change was gone.

So polymer bills and debasement with new designs would solve the ACTUAL problem, and solve it likely in the most cost effective way. The only problem not solved is people who value their own preference over the vast majority of US society are not made happy by having dollar coins pocket change - which inevitably leads to even more pocket change.

The polymer note and debasement solution would also allow everyone their choice if we also circulate the dollar coins again (or attempt to). And again the only problem this does not solve is the people who want the dollar coin with a passion will again likely be disappointed b/c this time they WILL consult history and find the the coins will mostly not be preferred/used by everyone.

Being American used to mean something a lot more special to everyone's heart who was born here. It meant personal preferences were shelved if it meant loss of the freedoms and choices that made us uniquely American. Limited government was cherished as set out by the Constitution.

BTW - just so people know... I don't like more coins in my pockets but am not out and about much to spend money anyway. So if they went to coins - it really would not impact me much anyway.
I also don't like the feel/look of the polymer notes (have used them in Canada). However, I also know these two things are personal preferences. So to me these preferences are moot in light of the actual problem and what homework (and personal experience in Canadian culture at the time these changes were made) reveals as fact.

n9jig, doing my job for me.

A lot of TL;DR going on in this thread, but after seeing who is posting I will just assume it is the usual FUD. Sorry, belief will always lose to reality. The cent and one dollar note need to go yesterday. The nickel and two dollar note need to go sooner rather than later.

It's the transition that would be the problem. If the cent was discontinued, and the 5-cent piece was struck on cent (not penny) planchets, the general populace would be confused as to how much the "brownish one" is actually worth. Plus, for a long time, cents would still be out in circulation because they would not be brought in for conversion all at once, which would mean that 1-cent pieces and 5-cent pieces of identical size and material would be circulating together.

Look at the introduction of the Susan B. Anthony dollars. Even though they were slightly larger than quarters, they were the same material and too many people confused them for quarters, which is one of the reasons they were so unpopular. The government learned from the experience, so when they introduced the Sacagawea dollar, it was a different material, different color, and lacked reeding, so confusion was eliminated. Because of the risk of confusion, the government will very likely not make a replacement 5-cent piece that closely resembles the cent, in spite of the test coin shown in the article.

But then again, it *IS* the government, so they may very well repeat past mistakes.