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The government has no plan for America’s 300 billion pennies

theatlantic.com

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Re: The government has no plan for America’s 300 billion pennies

#71

Post by wyatt_dolores »

evanelias wrote: post #57

At minimum they're useful as makeshift pie weights when blind-baking a pie crust. After shaping the dough in the baking dish, cover it in aluminum foil and then fill it with pennies. They conduct heat well, and prevent the dough from bubbling or shrinking.

Oh my goodness please no one take this seriously. Heating pennies will result in harmful zinc off-gassing. You do not want to breathe this in.

Use dry beans for blind-baking. They are almost infinitely reusable with no harmful effects.

Re: The government has no plan for America’s 300 billion pennies

#72

Post by JuniperMesos »

FrankWilhoit wrote: post #5

Ask {some number of} engineers: You have just been made a free gift of six thousand metric tons of zinc. What do you do with it?

Spend like an hour researching the most efficient way to sell six thousand metric tons of zinc for its scrap value, then do so. I don't need a bunch of zinc for anything I want to do and money is a generally-useful thing to have.

Re: The government has no plan for America’s 300 billion pennies

#74

Post by evanelias »

wyatt_dolores wrote: post #71
evanelias wrote: post #57

At minimum they're useful as makeshift pie weights when blind-baking a pie crust. After shaping the dough in the baking dish, cover it in aluminum foil and then fill it with pennies. They conduct heat well, and prevent the dough from bubbling or shrinking.

Oh my goodness please no one take this seriously. Heating pennies will result in harmful zinc off-gassing. You do not want to breathe this in. Use dry beans for blind-baking. They are almost infinitely reusable with no harmful effects.

Using pennies has long been recommended by reputable cookbooks. Is there really a risk at 375 degrees F? I would think the everyday fumes from an unventilated gas oven are a much more significant problem, and that's fairly common in many parts of the US.

Anyway, I've done it a hundred times, and my brain and lungs still work good-ish?

Re: The government has no plan for America’s 300 billion pennies

#75

Post by wtcactus »

ssl-3 wrote: post #60
FridayoLeary wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For anyone who might point out that this lack of planning may lead to incredibly minor price rises for everyone, i'll add that this can be balanced by the very minor inconvenience that will no longer exist. This is inherently unquantifiable, but as people here love pointing out that doesn't mean it's not worth something.

Without planning and the resultant guidance, we stand to be inconvenienced every time one of the customers in front of us and the cashier have differences in their ideas for how rounding works. (But that's OK, I guess: After all, that's just an aggregate of many millions of little inconveniences, instead of some somewhat larger inconveniences for a few people in advance. Their time is clearly more important than your…

[flagged]

Re: The government has no plan for America’s 300 billion pennies

#76

Post by tonyedgecombe »

ghssds wrote: post #59
analog31 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the reasons why I changed banks. My new bank has a coin counting machine in the lobby, you throw your coins in, it consumes them, and gives you a slip that you take to the teller. As I understand it, coins are considered a government service. Banks and retailers pay to deal with them. Buying them from the public for face value actually saves them money.

It's so easy to use coins, pennies included, in day-to-day transactions I never accumulate any. Accumulating pennies or other coins is a concept I don't understand. You can spend up to 4 pennies in any purchase you do, and if you don't can't never receive more than 4. For nickels, dimes, and quarters, the maximum is smaller.

Most of our supermarkets have at least one self service machine that accepts change. Once a week I pour any loose change in then settle the rest with a card.

Re: The government has no plan for America’s 300 billion pennies

#78

Post by FridayoLeary »

wtcactus wrote: post #75
ssl-3 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Without planning and the resultant guidance, we stand to be inconvenienced every time one of the customers in front of us and the cashier have differences in their ideas for how rounding works. (But that's OK, I guess: After all, that's just an aggregate of many millions of little inconveniences, instead of some somewhat larger inconveniences for a few people in advance. Their time is clearly more important than your…

[flagged]

Tbf it wouldn't take that much effort to issue guidance. It shouldn't require legislation. Doesn't mean the way they did things was wrong.

Re: The government has no plan for America’s 300 billion pennies

#79

Post by SapporoChris »

ghssds wrote: post #59
analog31 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the reasons why I changed banks. My new bank has a coin counting machine in the lobby, you throw your coins in, it consumes them, and gives you a slip that you take to the teller. As I understand it, coins are considered a government service. Banks and retailers pay to deal with them. Buying them from the public for face value actually saves them money.

It's so easy to use coins, pennies included, in day-to-day transactions I never accumulate any. Accumulating pennies or other coins is a concept I don't understand. You can spend up to 4 pennies in any purchase you do, and if you don't can't never receive more than 4. For nickels, dimes, and quarters, the maximum is smaller.

If a person has good basic arithmetic skills and it is a priority for them, then yes they can use coins easily. However, a lot of people either can't do the math or are unwilling to use change correctly.

For myself, it's such a priority that I'll get upset with myself if I have more than 4 pennies.

Japan has more coins (in regular use) than USA, so giving the correct amount is even more important or you'll end up carrying a lot of coins. 1000 yen is the smallest bill so... Example: 999 yen. 500,4x100,50,4x10,5,4x1 yen coins, 19 coins total.

Re: The government has no plan for America’s 300 billion pennies

#80

Post by perihelions »

evanelias wrote: post #74
wyatt_dolores wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh my goodness please no one take this seriously. Heating pennies will result in harmful zinc off-gassing. You do not want to breathe this in. Use dry beans for blind-baking. They are almost infinitely reusable with no harmful effects.

Using pennies has long been recommended by reputable cookbooks. Is there really a risk at 375 degrees F? I would think the everyday fumes from an unventilated gas oven are a much more significant problem, and that's fairly common in many parts of the US. Anyway, I've done it a hundred times, and my brain and lungs still work good-ish?

Zinc boils at 1,180 K, so its vapor pressure should be negligible at room (300 K) or kitchen oven (500 K) temperatures. I suspect the GP comment is misapplying advice from a different context, like arc-welding.

(And a penny doesn't really have exposed zinc, I understand: its plating is pure copper).

I'd also note the combustion elements of stovetop gas burners are often brass (copper-zinc).

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