Canada Getting Rid Of The Penny

[Hoofbite]

Wish they would do it here.

I can't find a decent article but saw it on the scroll bar of a video I was watching.

 

[Illini88228]

http://www.businessweek.com/news/20...es-penny-which-costs-penny-and-a-half-to-make

Makes sense.

 

[Hoofbite]

http://www.businessweek.com/news/20...es-penny-which-costs-penny-and-a-half-to-make

Makes sense.

Yeah, and here we are paying 2.4 cents per penny and 11.18 cents per nickel.

Would it really kill anyone to round to the nearest dime? How many cash transactions do people even make per day?

http://news.coinupdate.com/cost-to-make-penny-and-nickel-rises-1139/

According to this site, it has cost the US 360M to produce nickels and dimes since 2006.

60M per year, down the drain.

 

[Doomsday]

Way past time for the US to follow suit.

 

[Hoofbite]

Found this. Guess it's coming out soon.

 

[Hoofbite]

Way past time for the US to follow suit.

Yeah, it makes no sense to lose money making cents.............

I read a while back that the US should switch to a dollar coin and because of the difference in lifespan between the coin and bill, they'd save money on that move as well.

Pretty sure Canada has $1 and $2 coins. Loonies and toonies I think. Maybe that Canadian poster can help us out.

Europe does too. Time to change the way we handle change.

 

[TwoCentPlain]

It is a no-brainer to get rid of the penny. And the nickel should go also.

Cash transactions? I hardly even use cash anymore. I would guess that I make a cash transaction about 40 times per year these days, if even that. Most of my cash trnsactions are at airports or fast food when I am on TDY. Other than that, I use credit cards. Give me those points! I am a credit card point-aholic.

Some people won't eve bother to bend down and pick up a penny if they see it on the ground. Me, I found two in the parking lot last week.

Stamps? I think I mailed 10 letters last year, 7 were Christmas cards, 2 were for federal taxes and state taxes, and the other was a donation to a church.

 

[dreghorn2]

Yeah, it makes no sense to lose money making cents.............

I read a while back that the US should switch to a dollar coin and because of the difference in lifespan between the coin and bill, they'd save money on that move as well.

Pretty sure Canada has $1 and $2 coins. Loonies and toonies I think. Maybe that Canadian poster can help us out.

Europe does too. Time to change the way we handle change.

Yep, loonies and toonies, they just brought them in before i moved to the states.

It was a little strange at first but the conversion was a whole lot smoother than you might think.

A good idea for all the reasons discussed above.

 

[Signals]

My brother is going to love to hear about this. When he gets pennies he throws them away, yep, just throws them on the ground or out the window.

 

[YosemiteSam]

I'm amazed at how many people use cash to buy things at places that accept credit / debit cards. I was in Starbucks this morning, and of the five people in front of me, all but one paid with cash.

Paying with cash easily can take 2 to 6 times longer and you can end up with huge amounts of change over time. The only reason I really keep any cash on me today is to pay street vendors that don't accept cards.

 

[LeonDixson]

Personally, I would do away with all cash money and go completely electronic. It would be much easier to track and tax drug money and other ill-gotten gains and we would save at least $100 billion a year in printing and coining money.

 

[Denim Chicken]

Personally, I would do away with all cash money and go completely electronic. It would be much easier to track and tax drug money and other ill-gotten gains and we would save at least $100 billion a year in printing and coining money.

Easier to freeze your assets and track your every move too. We need untraceable transactions to remain free.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Easier to freeze your assets and track your every move too. We need untraceable transactions to remain free.

At some point cash is going away. You had better get used to that idea.

 

[Cajuncowboy]

There are two reasons the penny is still alive and probably will stay that way.

Retailers will always want to keep the .99 & .98 for their products. In many retailers, it helps them associate what products on on clearance, on sale or just regular priced.

Retailers often have a system where something ending in .99 is regular price, .98 is a temporary sale or promotion and .97 is clearance. (These are just examples.) Others may use different number but they want to keep that.

Second, the metal industry (copper specifically) is a strong lobby group and obviously they don't want to see it go away. The amount of jobs they would lose if the government stopped making them would be out of proportion to the money saved by making them.

With all that said, I too wished they would get rid of the penny and nickle but I also want to say I hate the dollar coins.

Of course I carry so little cash with me it really doesn't make much difference.

 

[Doomsday]

Personally, I would do away with all cash money and go completely electronic. It would be much easier to track and tax drug money and other ill-gotten gains and we would save at least $100 billion a year in printing and coining money.

Seems like we are headed that way. The company my niece works for pays their employees using direct deposit or a prepaid Visa card. Apparently, they just add funds to their card instead of issuing a check. How often do most people really use cash these days?

 

[YosemiteSam]

There are two reasons the penny is still alive and probably will stay that way.

Retailers will always want to keep the .99 & .98 for their products. In many retailers, it helps them associate what products on on clearance, on sale or just regular priced.

Retailers often have a system where something ending in .99 is regular price, .98 is a temporary sale or promotion and .97 is clearance. (These are just examples.) Others may use different number but they want to keep that.

Second, the metal industry (copper specifically) is a strong lobby group and obviously they don't want to see it go away. The amount of jobs they would lose if the government stopped making them would be out of proportion to the money saved by making them.

With all that said, I too wished they would get rid of the penny and nickle but I also want to say I hate the dollar coins.

Of course I carry so little cash with me it really doesn't make much difference.

I disagree with both examples.

The first is, the penny won't matter for the most part. They will still offer it at $x.99, they will just force a round up for people who pay with cash. When paying with credit/debit it won't make any difference.

Secondly, the penny already cost more to make than it's worth. The skyrocketing cost of copper definitely isn't helping. The penny is already cost prohibitive to make and it's only going to get worse with the price of copper. At some point they are going to have to discontinue making pennies or start making the penny out of a different cheaper material.

 

[Cajuncowboy]

I disagree with both examples.

The first is, the penny won't matter for the most part. They will still offer it at $x.99, they will just force a round up for people who pay with cash. When paying with credit/debit it won't make any difference.

Secondly, the penny already cost more to make than it's worth. The skyrocketing cost of copper definitely isn't helping. The penny is already cost prohibitive to make and it's only going to get worse with the price of copper. At some point they are going to have to discontinue making pennies or start making the penny out of a different cheaper material.

There really isn't anything to disagree with. Both are just facts.

I didn't say I agreed with keeping the penny, I just said these are two reasons why they probably won't get rid of it. Both being factual statements.

I agree with getting rid of the Penny.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

I don't care if we get rid of the penny or the nickle.

However I also don't like the Dollar as a Coin and we have already seen them try that one or two times and it did not pan out because people would screw up as it was the same size as a quarter and frankly people don't really want a coin that is much larger than a quarter.

And for all of those that say people don't use or shouldn't use change, paper money or pay in cash. To heck with that. I prefer to pay in cash for most things.

I only have a gas card and a check card and I never use the check card.

Maybe I am old fashioned in that aspect but I just don't care to give the credit card companies money. I know I know all the arguments about building your credit and all of that but for me...I will stick with cash in most cases. I don't need to whip out a credit card for coffee (well cash either as I don't like coffee) or a drink in the morning.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Shadup Paint, you're crusty!

 

[vta]

I don't care if we get rid of the penny or the nickle.

However I also don't like the Dollar as a Coin and we have already seen them try that one or two times and it did not pan out because people would screw up as it was the same size as a quarter and frankly people don't really want a coin that is much larger than a quarter.

And for all of those that say people don't use or shouldn't use change, paper money or pay in cash. To heck with that. I prefer to pay in cash for most things.

I only have a gas card and a check card and I never use the check card.

Maybe I am old fashioned in that aspect but I just don't care to give the credit card companies money. I know I know all the arguments about building your credit and all of that but for me...I will stick with cash in most cases. I don't need to whip out a credit card for coffee (well cash either as I don't like coffee) or a drink in the morning.

I'm in this camp. It's kind of trite using a card of any kind for small purchases.
I also don't like the system being created of invisible money. Your job dumps your salary in your bank, you use a card based on a balance and you never see any tangible product. It's like it's only there in theory and this dumb little piece of plastic represents a balance of value.