No more PENNIES ???

Contributor: PassionateLover2 PassionateLover2
I recently learned that the Canadian government would like to or is considering eliminating the Canadian penny. By some estimates, it actually costs more to produce a 1 cent penny. This is all in the name of saving Federal expenses. In my mind, the effect of such a change would make our cost-of-goods be rounded up to the nearest five cent mark. For example, a Big Mac that costs $3.46 would instead cost $3.50. Should we still pay for our goods to the exact penny or something else? Therefore, my question is: Should the U. S. government ever consider eliminating the Lincoln penny; how do you feel about it?
Answers (public voting - your screen name will appear in the results):
NO - Keep our U.S. penny
Petite Valentine , Missmarc , Beck , Rossie , PeaceToTheMiddleEast , All His , leatherlover , SMichelle , Ryuson , Red Vinyl Kitty , C-Rae , LovesAPoet , curious kitten , Explore , richsam , MissCandyland , yw2 , GONE! , Kate , darthkitt3n , mpfm , xOhxSoxScandalousx , mama2007 , PassionateLover2 , Various , Leopard Kittie , Breas , Gone (LD29) , BG529 , KyotoAngel , caligaliber , *Camoprincess* , DeliciousSurprise , dv8 , Lily Night , LavenderSkies , DeliciousB , vanilla&chocolate , SimpleTeaser , booboo111926 , Cosmonaut , RedGlitter , edeneve , lilacviolet , Virgingasms , never shy , Hummingbird , Beautiful-Disaster
48  (42%)
YES - It should be eliminated
DustBunny , Ansley , underHim , Badass , sunkissedJess , Gracie , Calla , Ms. N , VelvetDragon , Willowe , CollegeFun2014 , OhMy! , freshbananas , ksparkles16 , Rin (aka Nire) , B2 , Gunsmoke , Mew , ejrbrndps , Allstars316 , P'Gell , Taylor , Research , WD40watcher , blacklodge , Kayla , Do emu , Falsepast , Highmaintenancegirl916 , Geogeo , Kithara , Stinkytofu10 , Llahsram , Terri69 , Love Perpetua , married with children , MistressDandelion , brooketacular , elli , SweetSouthernGirl , PDXlady , ghalik , Septimus , Genderfree , Living Doll , U3H , Rokmai
47  (42%)
It will be eliminated during my lifetime
xilliannax , fallwillow , ViVix , El-Jaro , pootpootpoot , treefrog88 , jennifur77 , Eva Schwaltz , KrissyNovacaine , peachmarie , nimr
11  (10%)
Other ideas or considerations
Raigne , Woman China , Khanner , JadeKitten , Melan!e , amazon , asphyxia
7  (6%)
Total votes: 113
Poll is closed
04/26/2012
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Contributor: DustBunny DustBunny
At this point due to the price of copper, it costs more to mint the penny than it is worth. I wouldn't mind seeing them removed, but it would take a while. With more people paying for everything on their card, I wonder if they will even do this. I know that very few want to see a price increase, and will raise hell over it. But I honestly don't know if 4-1 cents will add up in a major way.

What I get stuck on it sales tax, will that go up or will they still get their same cut. I'm from Delaware, so I grew up not having sales tax, when I moved out of state I had to learn it. People think I'm nuts, but we seriously don't have sales tax there, so I can do the math, but wasn't used to it.
04/26/2012
Contributor: Missmarc Missmarc
Quote:
Originally posted by PassionateLover2
I recently learned that the Canadian government would like to or is considering eliminating the Canadian penny. By some estimates, it actually costs more to produce a 1 cent penny. This is all in the name of saving Federal expenses. In my mind, the ... more
Well, I hope they keep the money around for a while I love it when My boyfriend picks up a penny and tells me he got a lucky money
04/26/2012
Contributor: Petite Valentine Petite Valentine
The more items and transactions you have in a day, the more the 1-4 cents will add up. For example, if you were to buy a magazine, buy gas and go food shopping in a single day, you might think, "So what, that is 12¢ tops." Unfortunately, incorrect. The magazine might be 4¢, but the gas would be 4¢ per gallon (and who buys one gallon?), and at the supermarket, every item you buy would be marked up.

Even in the best case scenario, an increase of 1¢, if I were to buy a book, 10 gallons of gas (which doesn't fill my tank), and the day's groceries (on average about 15 items) I'm paying a total of 26¢ more. Over the course of year, that works out to $94.90. If the increase is closer to 4¢, then the increase looks more like $1.04/day, $379.60/year.

It's not often I need to buy gas everyday, and I have managed to make it out of the supermarket with less than 15 items, but the increase will be across the board, and over a year it will add up. We already have a large enough problem with record unemployment and a failing real estate market, I don't think we need to add unnecessary inflation to the mix.
04/26/2012
Contributor: Petite Valentine Petite Valentine
Quote:
Originally posted by Missmarc
Well, I hope they keep the money around for a while I love it when My boyfriend picks up a penny and tells me he got a lucky money
That's so cute. I like your reasoning better than mine.

I'll also add, that I enjoy saving pennies. Every couple of months I take them to the bank for counting and it usually translates to a nice little pick-me-up. My last visit translated to $62.
04/26/2012
Contributor: Willowe Willowe
Quote:
Originally posted by Petite Valentine
The more items and transactions you have in a day, the more the 1-4 cents will add up. For example, if you were to buy a magazine, buy gas and go food shopping in a single day, you might think, "So what, that is 12¢ tops." ... more
I read somewhere though (and sorry, I can't remember where it was) that one way to fix this probably would be to have the prices adjusted so that anything that ends with $0.01 or $0.02 would be rounded down, and anything that ends with $0.03 or $0.04 would be rounded up. So that way, over the course of a day, the number of things rounded up would almost equal the number of things rounded down so you wouldn't be losing a lot of money. Or even have the total cost of your purchase being rounded up or down, so there's even less of a money loss there.

Admittedly, I don't know how feasible it would be to implement something like that. I think it would make much more sense to just stop minting new pennies, or at least mint far fewer ones, but don't take them out of circulation. That way as much money isn't being wasted in the minting process but there's no worries about having to adjust prices.
04/26/2012
Contributor: PeaceToTheMiddleEast PeaceToTheMiddleEast
Quote:
Originally posted by DustBunny
At this point due to the price of copper, it costs more to mint the penny than it is worth. I wouldn't mind seeing them removed, but it would take a while. With more people paying for everything on their card, I wonder if they will even do this. ... more
I agree with you on the sales tax, I am in Ohio now and I am from Massachusetts. I hate their tax up here and I have to keep reminding myself that they are higher then where I was. They tax everything here too. Back home we did not have to pay tax on clothes.
04/26/2012
Contributor: underHim underHim
The cost of making it is not worth it and with the state our country is in financially we need to cut corners wherever we can. That being said they will just find somewhere else to waste our money so it doesnt really matter in the long run (sorry for the mini rant.)
04/26/2012
Contributor: Badass Badass
if we are doing as bad as they say we are, we really should pinch pennies... literally.
04/26/2012
Contributor: sunkissedJess sunkissedJess
I have always thought that making pennies is such a waste of money. It cost way more to make them than they are actually worth. It really kind of makes me feel some kind of way when I see shiny new pennies. Such a waste of money!!
04/26/2012
Contributor: Calla Calla
I'm Canadian and I think getting rid of pennies is a good idea, since it costs more to produce and ship them than they are worth.

We won't end up paying more because they are going to round prices to the nearest 5 cents. Sometimes you will pay an extra 1 or 2 cents, and sometimes you will save 1 or 2 cents, so it will even out.
04/26/2012
Contributor: Ryuson Ryuson
I feel like since most people do transactions electronically it would be a bad idea. Maybe only do it if they pay cash? It doesn't cost them anything to use pennies in cyberspace!

I feel like I would be an issue for sentimental reasons, but because of inflation I understand why it might be necessary some day, especially if you're not paying with a card.

PS- what else would we smush under railroad cars?
04/26/2012
Contributor: curious kitten curious kitten
PENNIES!!!!!!!!!!!!
04/26/2012
Contributor: richsam richsam
Quote:
Originally posted by PassionateLover2
I recently learned that the Canadian government would like to or is considering eliminating the Canadian penny. By some estimates, it actually costs more to produce a 1 cent penny. This is all in the name of saving Federal expenses. In my mind, the ... more
Keep our U.S. penny
04/26/2012
Contributor: freshbananas freshbananas
IT doesn't make any sense to keep it
04/26/2012
Contributor: ksparkles16 ksparkles16
Although I like pennies and there historical value, it just doesn't make sense to keep it. I'm 23 and I bet that someday in my lifetime they will eliminate it. Sure, it would be a pain to move everything up or down to an even number, but in the long run it would save the US money.
04/27/2012
Contributor: Gunsmoke Gunsmoke
Kill the penny and the dollar bill as well - it's time to move on!
04/27/2012
Contributor: MissCandyland MissCandyland
Quote:
Originally posted by Petite Valentine
The more items and transactions you have in a day, the more the 1-4 cents will add up. For example, if you were to buy a magazine, buy gas and go food shopping in a single day, you might think, "So what, that is 12¢ tops." ... more
I agree. I think this would hurt some families.
04/27/2012
Contributor: Chirple Chirple
I think it's really a lot more complicated than rounding up and down. This could end up being the push to abandon physical money altogether.
04/27/2012
Contributor: Raigne Raigne
I will admit my opinion on the topic is deeply colored by sentimentality. My junior high school had a penny drive every year to raise money for a migrant school. We regularly raised over $1000 every year with only pennies.

Logically I know they are a drain and I know we should probably dump them, but...
04/27/2012
Contributor: GONE! GONE!
Not unless they round prices down, lol.
04/27/2012
Contributor: Kate Kate
Quote:
Originally posted by GONE!
Not unless they round prices down, lol.
Exactly, I'm hoping that they don't follow through with this.
04/27/2012
Contributor: Woman China Woman China
FINALLY!!!!!!

It is about freaking time!!!!!
I hate pennies.

I love the way here in China, most things are just rounded up to the nearest half... ummm... how do I explain this? Fifty cent? In most places and stores, taxis we just round up to the nearest dollar (ok so we don't use dollars but it'd take forever to explain it!!!) And it all works out. Sometimes things are rounded down, and some things are rounded up. It does all work out!!!

I am thrilled there will be no more smelly pennies to fill up my pockets with!!!
04/27/2012
Contributor: Allstars316 Allstars316
Yes I think we can get rid of them.
04/27/2012
Contributor: P'Gell P'Gell
Quote:
Originally posted by PassionateLover2
I recently learned that the Canadian government would like to or is considering eliminating the Canadian penny. By some estimates, it actually costs more to produce a 1 cent penny. This is all in the name of saving Federal expenses. In my mind, the ... more
Pennies cost more than a penny to make, they are expensive and not needed.

How about only raise the price on things when people are going to pay cash? You could still pay the regular price with your credit or debit card.

Or pass laws that the price of things need to be rounded DOWN. (I'm sure the Right will have issues with some BS about how badly this will badly "effect business.: eye roll)

Change is essential to growth. Pennies are outdated and think of the money our government could save by simply not manufacturing them anymore. There are enough in circulation (especially if the people who feel the need to HOARD them start using them) to keep the prices where they are now for most likely years. Then the changes can be made.
04/27/2012
Contributor: P'Gell P'Gell
Quote:
Originally posted by Petite Valentine
That's so cute. I like your reasoning better than mine.

I'll also add, that I enjoy saving pennies. Every couple of months I take them to the bank for counting and it usually translates to a nice little pick-me-up. My last visit ... more
These are all very cute and sentimental reasons for keeping pennies in circulation, but the facts are they cost our government (which in turn costs the PEOPLE) millions and millions of dollars a year, they clog up banks, and we'd all be better off in the long run with a more streamlined money system.

In the long term getting rid of pennies will SAVE the American public, not cost us.

Paper and coin money is nearly already now a thing of the past. Let's start with the most expensive and least necessary coin: the penny.

It's about long term, growth driven, sustainable economics, not sentimentality.

Here's some excellent, evidenced based arguments for elimiating pennies, from Wikipedia, but the truth is available a lot of other places.

Arguments for elimination

Production at a loss — As of February 2011, it costs about 2.4 cents to mint a penny.[3] In 2007, even the price of the raw materials it is made of exceeded the face value, so there was a risk that coins were illegally melted down for raw materials.[4]

Lost productivity and opportunity cost of use — With the average wage in the U.S. being about $17 per hour in 2011,[5] it takes about two seconds to earn one cent. Thus, it is not worthwhile for most people to deal with a penny. If it takes only two seconds extra for each transaction that uses a penny, the cost of time wasted in the U.S. is about $3.65 per person annually,[6] about $1 billion for all America.[7] Using a different calculation, economist Robert Whaples estimates a $300 million annual loss.[8]

Limited utility — Pennies are not accepted by all vending machines or many toll booths, and pennies are generally not accepted in bulk; however, Illinois does accept pennies in its toll booths.[9] In addition, people often do not use cents to pay at all; they may simply use larger denominations and get pennies in return.[citation needed] Pennies end up sitting in jars or are thrown away and are not in circulation. Economist Greg Mankiw says that "The purpose of the monetary system is to facilitate exchange, but... the penny no longer serves that purpose." [10]

Prices would not be higher — Research by Robert Whaples, an economics professor at Wake Forest University, using data on nearly 200,000 transactions from a multi-state convenience store chain shows that rounding would have virtually no effect. Consumers would gain a tiny amount – about 38/1520 (1/40) of a cent per transaction.[11]

Historical precedents — There has never been a coin in circulation in the U.S. worth as little as the penny is worth today. Due to monetary inflation, as of 2007, a nickel is worth approximately what a penny was worth in 1972.[12] When the United States discontinued the half-cent coin in 1857, it had a 2008-equivalent buying power of 11 cents.[13] After 1857, the new smallest coin was the cent, which had a 2008-equivalent buying power of 26 cents. The nickel fell below that value in 1974; the dime (at 10 cents) fell below that value in 1980;[12] the quarter (at 25 cents) fell below that value in 2007.[13]

Hazards — The reduced-cost clad zinc penny, which has been produced since mid-1982, holds additional dangers when swallowed by children and others, unlike all previous U.S. coins. If the copper plating is breached, the penny quickly corrodes into a sharp-edged object, which is more likely to lodge in the digestive tract. Injury is more likely and furthermore, zinc and copper digested from the lodged pennies may be toxic. An 11 lb (5-kilogram) dog was fatally poisoned by swallowing two pennies.
04/27/2012
Contributor: ViVix ViVix
Quote:
Originally posted by PassionateLover2
I recently learned that the Canadian government would like to or is considering eliminating the Canadian penny. By some estimates, it actually costs more to produce a 1 cent penny. This is all in the name of saving Federal expenses. In my mind, the ... more
I can see it happening in my lifetime.
04/27/2012
Contributor: Khanner Khanner
With the covert inflation Petite Valentine brought up, I think a better solution would be to make pennies out of a less expensive material.

Copper may have had little value 200 years ago, but with electronics and circuitry, it is now a very useful metal. US currency is no longer backed with gold and is basically an entirely symbolic currency. Who cares what material it's made out of now? As long as production costs are less than what each coin is worth.
04/27/2012
Contributor: PassionateLover2 PassionateLover2
Quote:
Originally posted by P'Gell
These are all very cute and sentimental reasons for keeping pennies in circulation, but the facts are they cost our government (which in turn costs the PEOPLE) millions and millions of dollars a year, they clog up banks, and we'd all be better ... more
While I voted for KEEPING the penny, I do think that it would be a cost saving to the government. BUT, since our government doesn't have the discipline to curtail spending, whatever they save in one area they will only find another program to spend the money in another.

Moreover, those people who said that the cost of a product would be adjusted up or down to round the final cost to an even 5 cents, is only dreaming. It will only be rounded up! What business will be so generous to make it easy for the monetary process to work out easy for us? This is the same argument 'Petite Valentine' was trying to make earlier. The cost will only be placed upon the consumer and add up and up. But, my friends, I think the real problem is our out-of-control spending on the part of our federal government. It is driving up all costs to operate our government all across the bureaucracy, including the Post Office!!

In the final analysis, I think the penny will be gone in my lifetime!
04/27/2012
Contributor: Various Various
I would hope the penny never leaves.
04/27/2012