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 Replies: 13 / Views: 2,241 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1613 Posts |
Something just occurred to me having read an article on the mint looking into composition changes for the one, five and ten cent. A quick look through both the modern and classic headings and you'll see posts of cents. So, as the number one collected denomination of all-time I don't see it ever disappearing from circulation. And I would think both Mint and public officials know this. Thoughts?  ANA member - PAN Member - BCCS Member There are no problems only solutions - the late, great John Lennon
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1667 Posts |
Cents will be with us until all currency in general is done away with in lieu of electronic transactions. They are never getting rid of the cent, because they are never going to get rid of all currency. I think literally the U.S. would need to cease to exist for it to be totally gone. They I am sure, will just figure out cheaper ways to do it. They won't change sizes or their electromagnetic properties because they will have problems in the vending and counting machines. There's only 4 metals cheaper than copper and nickel. iron,zinc, lead, and aluminium are it, and they aren't going to go with lead. Lol I could see them making changes to dimes and quarters, even nickels to reduce the cost and offset the cents cost but I just dont see them phasing out the cent, I mean they could have killed it in the 1850s-1860s when they killed the Half Cent 2 cent and 3 cent coins. They opted for the 1 cent to handle that job for the next forever. Could they get rid of it like Canada did? Yeah they could but then they would need to make many more nickels and that's a loser too and that will put a higher demand on nickel raising the cost higher than .07 cents per nickel. Takes .02 cent to make a penny and .07 cents to make a nickel. They lose about 90 million there per year. However this discussion rarely mentions that it costs .04 cents to make a dime and .09 cents to make a quarter and they make a sienorage of close to $300 million dollars a year off those two for a net gain of about $200 million (just rounding I'm not doing the math). It be nice to make money off all 4 but that's just not the way it is, however they are still winning overall and they should be investigating ways to make it cheaper for fiscal responsibility but likely if they got rid of the cent then the nickel would be next right after when it hits .12 cents cost each like is Canada's situation now to keep up with demand since the nickel is now the new penny. Where is the line drawn? Do we start eliminating each denomination as it becomes more expensive to make than its worth, eventually stopping at the dollar and the dollar becomes the new penny? What they are doing is fine and I dont think the cent is going anywhere in the u.s. anytime soon until inflation makes all change irrelevant. Just my Two Cents on the subject. Edited by Big-Kingdom
07/21/2019 3:07 pm
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Valued Member
United States
493 Posts |
That is a great post Big-Kingdom,  your points are all right on. The first time someone gets into a fight over a nickle and people get hurt, then it's all the mints fault. IF, they stop making the penny. Canada does want to get rid of the nickle, but would have to make a 20 cent piece in order to do it. Then, just ramp up steel dime production  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
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and the dollar becomes the new penny? The dollar IS the new cent. Todays dollar has the purchasing power that the cent had in the early 20th century. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1667 Posts |
I don't disagree with you conder101 on that but it would be a different thing entirely if we got rid of coins and added 500, 1000 and $10,000 dollar bills and let the $1, $5, $10 and $20 function as the coins do in the economy.
I mean it's the same really but public perception of the u.s. dollar and confidence would change dramatically I think.
Purchasing power has gone down considerably our money isn't worth what it used to be, that's a problem the government doesn't seem willing to address though while they work out ways to just find cheaper materials for the money instead of finding ways to make the money worth more against metals and raw materials.
Anyways I'm not an economics expert. No clue how it works or if you could do things that add value and purchasing power to the currency or if it only declines over time.
Seems it would be easier to make the cent worth 1 to 1 vs. The material it takes, or 2 to 1 or 3 to 1 vs. The material.
No clue what the implications of doing that would be though. Lol.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
You just have to remember that the government really doesn't care what you think about the penny or cent. They'll make it if they want and cancel it if they want. They all know to well that eventually coins of all kinds will not be needed or required. The all mighty plastic card will be all that is used.
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Moderator
 United States
188213 Posts |
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They I am sure, will just figure out cheaper ways to do it. They cannot. It costs more than cent to make the cent. Even if we had the materials for free, the cost of manufacture and distribution still makes the cent a loser. Get rid of it already.  |
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Bedrock of the Community
 United States
12819 Posts |
Quote:Get rid of it already. YES. Except for the mint sets.  |
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Moderator
United States
188213 Posts |
NIFC. Of course. Just like the Half Dollar. Proof sets, too.  |
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Valued Member
United States
53 Posts |
I agree we should dump the cent, but the few who cling to it are much louder than the rest of us.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5239 Posts |
Perhaps if there were hyperinflation it would be dropped.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2703 Posts |
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The all mighty plastic card will be all that is used. Plastic cards are on their way out too. People are already using just their phone to pay now. Soon we may pay with just a glance into a webcam with facial recognition software. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12819 Posts |
Well, it's the same concept whether it's plastic, silicon, RFID embedded in your eyebrow, retinal scan, etc. They're all tied to a bank account.
Personally, I'm having a lot of fun with Apple Pay on my Apple Watch.
I still do enjoy a cash transaction here and there and my in-laws more than make up for me. Which is great, because the other night I filled about 30 holes in my "from circulation" albums with the change they were going to take to the bank.
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Moderator
United States
188213 Posts |
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Perhaps if there were hyperinflation it would be dropped.  Quote:
Plastic cards are on their way out too. People are already using just their phone to pay now. Agreed. Given a choice, I use my phone. So much faster than getting a card out.  Quote:
Which is great, because the other night I filled about 30 holes in my "from circulation" albums with the change they were going to take to the bank. Excellent!  |
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Replies: 13 / Views: 2,241 |
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Posted 07/21/2019 6:25 pm
