When the half penny was decommissioned in 1857 it was worth the equivalent of 10-15 cents in today's dollars. It was decommissioned because inflation had made it nearly useless and the metal was worth more than the coin.
The US Mint lost $69M making pennies last year
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Re: The US Mint lost $69M making pennies last year
#12So get rid of them. At one point in my life, a long time ago, things could be purchased for a penny. That time has long passed. Now pennies are used just to make the math work out. Round everything up a nickel ($0.05) and call it a day. Or look at it another way: inflation has made the nickel from my youth into today's penny.
What can you buy at a shop with just a nickel? I don't think I've purchased any item at a shop for less than ten cents in my thirty years; and it's rare to see anything that costs less than a quarter.
I remember buying some of these inidivudal sour patches candies at a local deli for 10 cents a pop about 10 years ago. I wonder what the price is now. Probably a quarter I'd guess.
Re: The US Mint lost $69M making pennies last year
#13I think we have a similar problem here in the UK with 1 & 2 pence coins costing more than what they are worth.
It's not entirely clear though as The Royal Mint doesn't reveal their production costs, but it really wouldn't surprise me if making the 1/2p coins run at a loss
Re: The US Mint lost $69M making pennies last year
#14UK got rid of farthings and halfpennies when they exceeded face value, and the £1 note decades ago.
Pennies and 2p became copper plated steel for the same reason. Pre 92 bronze ones are worth about double.
Coppers can't be worth keeping around much longer. I doubt even penny sweets still exist.
Re: The US Mint lost $69M making pennies last year
#15So get rid of them. At one point in my life, a long time ago, things could be purchased for a penny. That time has long passed. Now pennies are used just to make the math work out. Round everything up a nickel ($0.05) and call it a day. Or look at it another way: inflation has made the nickel from my youth into today's penny.
No. Most purchases are not made with cash and fewer people are using cash every year. You're basically saying that all consumers should pay more with every purchase so that the mint can make https://www.frbsf.org/cash/files/figure-3-2015dcpc-share-of-...
Re: The US Mint lost $69M making pennies last year
#16Wondering if someone is collecting them and extracting the metals out and selling for a profit?
Re: The US Mint lost $69M making pennies last year
#17The point of the mint is making money, not making money.
Yeah, the headline seems dumb. If the mint creates a $100 bill for $1.50, did they make $98.50? No. The purpose of the mint is to maintain the US currency. It's a cost center, not a profit center.
Unless I'm reading it wrong, they do think of it that way (on coins at least):
>Fortunately, dimes and quarters are cheaper to make, costing less than their monetary value. So the Mint makes up the losses incurred on pennies and nickels with its 10- and 25-cent coins, and last year reported making $391.5 million in seigniorage.
Also, paper money isn't produced by the Mint, it's produced by the Bureau of Engraving & Printing
Re: The US Mint lost $69M making pennies last year
#18So get rid of them. At one point in my life, a long time ago, things could be purchased for a penny. That time has long passed. Now pennies are used just to make the math work out. Round everything up a nickel ($0.05) and call it a day. Or look at it another way: inflation has made the nickel from my youth into today's penny.
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Re: The US Mint lost $69M making pennies last year
#19So get rid of them. At one point in my life, a long time ago, things could be purchased for a penny. That time has long passed. Now pennies are used just to make the math work out. Round everything up a nickel ($0.05) and call it a day. Or look at it another way: inflation has made the nickel from my youth into today's penny.
No. Most purchases are not made with cash and fewer people are using cash every year. You're basically saying that all consumers should pay more with every purchase so that the mint can make https://www.frbsf.org/cash/files/figure-3-2015dcpc-share-of-...
I bet in general it would save money. Many things price ends in .99 to trick people into thinking it is cheaper. All those things would switch to .95 in order to preserve the trick.
Re: The US Mint lost $69M making pennies last year
#20So get rid of them. At one point in my life, a long time ago, things could be purchased for a penny. That time has long passed. Now pennies are used just to make the math work out. Round everything up a nickel ($0.05) and call it a day. Or look at it another way: inflation has made the nickel from my youth into today's penny.
No. Most purchases are not made with cash and fewer people are using cash every year. You're basically saying that all consumers should pay more with every purchase so that the mint can make https://www.frbsf.org/cash/files/figure-3-2015dcpc-share-of-...
What I've been reading in the comments about this story on reddit is Canada and other countries already did this (eliminate the penny) and the final price is rounded to the nearest nickel, not always up.