The US Mint lost $69M making pennies last year • Hacker News Board

Re: The US Mint lost $69M making pennies last year

#161

Post by philwelch » Fri, Jun 29, 2018, 9:33 PM UTC

greenshackle2 wrote: post #102

mattnewton wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dollar bills take up almost no space, and are easier to handle than coins. Aside from durability, why would you switch?

I find it easier to manage a jar of coins on my nightstand, than a wad of cash with a bunch of half-crumpled 1-dollar bills. It's not like I need to carry a bunch of small denomination currency anyway. The 1 and 2 dollar coins are larger and are made of different materials so it's not hard to pick them out of the jar if I want to use to pay for coffee or something.

But instead of keeping your cash in a wadded-up crumple, you can neatly stack them and slip them into a wallet, or neatly stack them and fold them in half and put them in a money clip. Coins are a lot harder to compress.

Re: The US Mint lost $69M making pennies last year

#162

Post by steve19 » Fri, Jun 29, 2018, 9:35 PM UTC

macintux wrote: post #108

djrogers wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with all prices being shown inclusive of tax is that the amount of the tax becomes forgotten over time. By having tax added and called out on the receipt at the register, everyone is reminded many times per day how much sales tax they're paying.

Additionally, sales tax is sometimes not required, either because the product or the reason for purchase is exempt. Computers can deal with the latter, signage can't.

Electronic signage is cheap and can deal not only with changes in tax, but also the much more frequent sales.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_shelf_label

Re: The US Mint lost $69M making pennies last year

#163

Post by danieltillett » Fri, Jun 29, 2018, 9:36 PM UTC

momentmaker wrote: post #121

I read somewhere that there is a lobby group that's preventing the government to remove pennies from circulation. I think they're related to copper/zinc which explains why.

There is always a reason why something that is obviously dumb is done and it always involves corruption. There is almost zero copper in the modern penny so let's point the finger at the zinc industry.

Re: The US Mint lost $69M making pennies last year

#164

Post by danieltillett » Fri, Jun 29, 2018, 9:39 PM UTC

minikites wrote: post #76

We still have the penny because Jardin Zinc Products (the manufacturer of penny blanks) lobbies the government and pays for astroturf campaigns to keep the penny. http://www.post-gazette.com/business/businessnews/2007/08/15... https://www.publicintegrity.org/2014/07/02/14959/saving-penn...

"Never attribute to stupidity what can be explained by corruption."

Re: The US Mint lost $69M making pennies last year

#165

Post by salgernon » Fri, Jun 29, 2018, 9:41 PM UTC

83457 wrote: post #41

tomjakubowski wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 used to buy Bazooka bubble gum for 5 cents from the store as a kid in the early 90's. Since then I can't think of anything else for that amount of money

Argh. It used to be 2¢ in the late 70s. My 9 year old self went in to buy 50 pieces with my birthday dollar bill - and on that day learned about sales tax. (Tax was $0 on a single piece, 8¢ on 50...) I asked the guy to ring me up 50 times, but he declined...

Re: The US Mint lost $69M making pennies last year

#166

Post by anonymous5133 » Fri, Jun 29, 2018, 9:42 PM UTC

swanson wrote: post #61

They should sell ads on the back of the penny. "A Penny Save is a Penny Earned - Chase Bank" A durable, historical, innovative new channel that also makes minting pennies profitable. Everyone loved collecting those state quarters they made a few years back. Of course, if this is successful we can move upstream to other coins and eventually dollar bills. Alternatively, we could allow rich people to put their face on t…

Genius idea

Re: The US Mint lost $69M making pennies last year

#167

Post by ericd » Fri, Jun 29, 2018, 9:46 PM UTC

mikec3010 wrote: post #63

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've moved beyond that. I discard all change, ruthlessly. If there's somebody nearby who wants them, I give them the whole handful of change. Otherwise it all goes in the trash on the way out of the store. Used to wear holes in my pants pockets, get stuck in dryer etc. Cost more than it was worth, in wear and tear, and in emotional energy to manage it. You can't imagine the freedom you feel when you discard your firs…

> You can't imagine the freedom you feel when you discard your first handful of change! I get this from gambling, actually. A $20 haircut or $30 dinner feels like nothing compared to blowing $2300 at a casino so I never complain about petty expenses. It annoys me to hear people in my life (who have healthy incomes) complain about the costs of things or talk about saving a few bucks at costco. It just doesn't matter.…

The thing is, though, small differences in daily spending do matter, when summed over your adult life, and can make a meaningful difference in when (or whether) you can retire, especially if your savings rate is near zero. But sure, if you're tossing away thousands at a time for fun, then you've probably got some lower hanging fruit you can cut than saving a bit at Costco.

Re: The US Mint lost $69M making pennies last year

#168

Post by Reedx » Fri, Jun 29, 2018, 9:46 PM UTC

giarc wrote: post #160

a_r_8 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish they would take it further. Dimes are the new pennies.

What about the nickel?

Goodbye nickels and dimes too I'd say. Might as well just do it all at once and simplify things for a good long time.

Re: The US Mint lost $69M making pennies last year

#169

Post by Symbiote » Fri, Jun 29, 2018, 9:56 PM UTC

jdblair wrote: post #145

SnowingXIV wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was with you until you wanted to eliminate cash in favor of more coins. How is someone supposed to carry those in their wallet? Many use thin wallets or money clips for card/ID/cash. Plus if I'm leaving someone a tip, I'm sure they'd hate to have their pockets jingling while they serve food or valet. Cash is also a lot easier to count, flip through, harder to lose.

The entire EU eurozone manages to do it. There's a 1 Euro note, but I've never seen it and as far as I know nobody uses it. Using 1 and 2 euro coins works great. I personaly just keep them in my pocket. I don't think jingling is a real problem. Same goes for the UK and the pound. Nobody uses 1 pound notes.

There have never been €1 notes, and £1 notes in England were withdrawn in 1988 in favour of the coin.

(£1 notes still exist in Scotland, but since 2001 are only issued in small numbers for collectors.)

Re: The US Mint lost $69M making pennies last year

#170

Post by cpncrunch » Fri, Jun 29, 2018, 10:00 PM UTC

dexterdog wrote: post #133

greenshackle2 wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Canada has already phased out the penny. Electronic transactions are not rounded. Cash transactions are rounded to the nearest nickel. It hasn't been a problem. As a customer you can 'abuse' this by paying with card when the price would be rounded-up, and cash when it is rounded down. But it's not really worth the effort.

Not worth the effort? You underestimate my cheapness at your own peril.

It's always worth paying with a card, as you can get 2% cashback with a decent card. Even if you purchase something for $1, you'll get at least 2c back.