Wondering if someone is collecting them and extracting the metals out and selling for a profit?
The US Mint lost $69M making pennies last year
31–40 of 223 posts
Re: The US Mint lost $69M making pennies last year
#32Wondering 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
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
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
#34Honestly, I think quarters should be the only coin we have.
Re: The US Mint lost $69M making pennies last year
#35Canada got rid of the penny 5 years ago and the paper $1 in the 80s. We also switched to metric in the 70s. We’re not that dissimilar from the US but they seem to have an inability to make these kinds of systemic changes.
Walking around with 2 lbs of loonies and toonies in your pocket sucks to be honest. That said, I probably use cash a handful of times each year. Getting rid of the penny was smart though.
Re: The US Mint lost $69M making pennies last year
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Re: The US Mint lost $69M making pennies last year
#37The point of the mint is making money, not making money.
Re: The US Mint lost $69M making pennies last year
#38Canada got rid of the penny 5 years ago and the paper $1 in the 80s. We also switched to metric in the 70s. We’re not that dissimilar from the US but they seem to have an inability to make these kinds of systemic changes.
We Americans are so stupid.
Re: The US Mint lost $69M making pennies last year
#39The 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.
The mint literally creates physical money (coins). But in the end, the government actually does generate revenue, that gets calculated into a profit or loss for the country:
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/seigniorage.asp
$100 bills DO generate profit. Pennies generate a loss. If you look at all of the currency in aggregate, it generates positive revenue for the country.
Re: The US Mint lost $69M making pennies last year
#40US nickels cost seven cents to make. Scientists may have a solution
https://qz.com/1316940/us-nickels-cost-seven-cents-to-make-s...