Time to Get Rid of Pennies?

[Servicetech571]

The U.S. Treasury spent nearly $2 for every dollar in nickels and pennies it put into circulation last year. That means for every dollar you have in pennies it actually cost $1.83 to produce and for every dollar in nickels it cost $1.88. Putting the same amount of dimes and quarters into circulation cost the Treasury less than 50 cents.

Production Of Pennies, Nickels Cost Taxpayers $105 Million In 2013 ? Consumerist

[Garin]

[RadicalModerate]

Maybe David "The Talking Head" Byrne could promote the cause by releasing an album titled "Stop Making Cents" . . ?
(dang: i heard the groans all the way over here) . . .

This all lends a whole new level of meaning to the phrase, "A penny for your thoughts" . . .
And, I suspect, has a direct application to the value of my quip, above . . .

[Snowman]

Didn't this same thing go nowhere fast when either the mint or some congress person(s) actually tried to discontinue the penny for the same reason (just different amount they were losing) several years ago.

[Just the facts]

Not going to happen unless local governments want to go to a 5 cent or 10 cent sales tax. How am I supposed to pay a 1 cent MAPS tax if I don't have a penny? I guess the stores could just round up to the next 5 cent increment and just pocket the difference each month.

[Snowman]

Not going to happen unless local governments want to go to a 5 cent or 10 cent sales tax. How am I supposed to pay a 1 cent MAPS tax if I don't have a penny? I guess the stores could just round up to the next 5 cent increment and just pocket the difference each month.

In the proposal before I don't think the store got to keep the difference (though they might change the prices to where no rounding normally occurs), plus it only affected cash transactions. I believe it would have rounded up or down depending on where the price + tax fell and it was suppose to be statistically similar over time, though I would not put it past either stores or cities to game the system.

[Just the facts]

If I go to McDonalds and pay cash for a $1 McChicken Sandwhich the total comes to $1.07. Without pennies I either have to pay $1.05 or $1.10. You can bet your *** that McDonalds isn't going to pay the 2 extra cents for me so they will round the price up and just keep the 3 pennies for themselves. I actually prefer the way Europe does it - the price on the menu is the total price and the business pays local taxes out of it. If taxes are too high in a certain area business decide not locate there.

[Pete]

I don't even carry cash any more -- not even bills.

I started this experiment several months ago and thus far I haven't needed it at all.

[RadicalModerate]

I don't even carry cash any more -- not even bills.

I started this experiment several months ago and thus far I haven't needed it at all.

I've been doing that experiment for YEARS . . . =)
(no problems so far . . .)

The only exception would be to have some cash on hand when going out to eat for the purpose of tipping or if the bill is going to be split and put on someone else's credit card. Well . . . That and the rare occasions we have to use a parking lot downtown.

[Jim Kyle]

If I go to McDonalds and pay cash for a $1 McChicken Sandwhich the total comes to $1.07. Without pennies I either have to pay $1.05 or $1.10. You can bet your *** that McDonalds isn't going to pay the 2 extra cents for me so they will round the price up and just keep the 3 pennies for themselves. I actually prefer the way Europe does it - the price on the menu is the total price and the business pays local taxes out of it. If taxes are too high in a certain area business decide not locate there.

Sounds as if you've never run a business that has small cash sales; there's no spot in the cash drawer reserved foir "sales tax." The cash all goes into the same slots whether it's for sales or for tax. Then at the end of the month, the store owner forwards the correct amount of tax as calculated from his gross sales, to the tax commission.

We already have to round tax off to the neareswt cent, since the current tax rate includes a fraction of a percent. As I recall, OKC's total is 8.375%, which would be between 8 and 9 cents for a $1 sale. The tax commission used to publish a list of the official break-points; my popcorn shop went busted in 1985 so I don't know whether they still do so. At any rate, the final calculation for the month had to be rounded to the nearest penny when writing the check to OTC...

Back in the very early days of state sales tax, before WW2, it was common to see items priced at 98 cents. Adding the 2% tax and rounding up brought it to exactly a dollar, with no need to handle silver when making change. But then we had "mills," little aluminum (later cardboard) coins worth a tenth of a penny each that you bought from the tax commission, for avoiding the need to round off. Thank goodness we finally did away with those things!!!

[Jim Kyle]

I don't even carry cash any more -- not even bills.

I started this experiment several months ago and thus far I haven't needed it at all.

I'm not quite cash-free; I keep a few bills on hand for tipping, but use my bank card
(as credit, not debit) for almost all purchases. Much easier to handle, and it lets me track my budget much more closely!

[RadicalModerate]

I understand your mention of "mills" . . . but what is this "budget" of which you speak?

If everyone would just use credit/debit cards the need for pennies would be obsoleted.
Better yet . . . If everyone had a chip implanted in . . .

I wonder if it is the Mint Workers Union (and their lobbyists) who are once again standing in the way of progress . . .
(not the Andes Mint Workers . . . the Mint Workers who deal in copper and nickel and whatnot)

[Dennis Heaton]

Keep the Pennies...just get rid of 9/10 of a Penny for gas.

[Garin]

I long for the day where all of my information is embedded under my skin , do away with money, wallets and cards alike.

[Chadanth]

I long for the day where all of my information is embedded under my skin , do away with money, wallets and cards alike.

Soon, very soon....

[PennyQuilts]

Don't like this thread title.

[Dennis Heaton]

Pennies...maybe? Quilts...no way!!!

[RadicalModerate]

Don't like this thread title.

I was going to say something along those lines but thought better of it. =)
(and then there was Sky King's niece . . . =)

[onthestrip]

Saw this a while back, good argument for doing away with them.

.

I HATE PENNIES!!!! (Also Nickels.) - YouTube

[venture]

Don't like this thread title.

We could never get rid of you!

[Just the facts]

Sounds as if you've never run a business that has small cash sales; there's no spot in the cash drawer reserved foir "sales tax." The cash all goes into the same slots whether it's for sales or for tax. Then at the end of the month, the store owner forwards the correct amount of tax as calculated from his gross sales, to the tax commission.

I get that - but what does that have to do with the customer? Rounding to the nearest penny is different than rounding to nearest 5 cents. I suspect businesses would love the idea because that is just cash in their pocket. None of them ever round down. If we do away with the penny then I would just as soon local sales tax immediately go to an even 10 cents. After all, if I have to pay that rate anyhow the money might as well stay with the public.

[Jim Kyle]

If we do away with the penny then I would just as soon local sales tax immediately go to an even 10 cents. After all, if I have to pay that rate anyhow the money might as well stay with the public.

That wouldn't help a bit. Something priced at $1.25 would have $0.125 sales tax added, which would round up to 15 cents. And really rascally merchants would price things at $1.01 so they skim 4.9 cents off of the customer by rounding up, just as they now price things at $99.99 to be able to advertise "Less than $100!"

[Stew]

yes!

[Jersey Boss]

Amazingly, Canada has been able to figure it out.

Canada Eliminates Penny Costing Penny-and-a-Half to Make - Bloomberg

I just can't understand why something that makes this much sense can't get done. Same with dollar bills. Get rid of 'em, replace with coinage and print more 2 dollar bills.