A new penny, but why?

[007]

A new penny, but why?



It makes more, ahem, sense to do away with the ubiquitous copper coin than to redesign it.
September 23, 2008

In honor of the upcoming bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth, the U.S. Mint is giving the 100-year-old Lincoln penny a new look. The front will continue to show his profile, but the Lincoln Memorial on the back will be replaced by images that are intended to evoke different aspects of his life, such as a log cabin and young Abe sitting on a log, reading. This is expected to create a big buzz in the coin-collecting world, but in truth, the only makeover the penny needs is a disappearing act.

The shiny copper veneer of pennies made after 1983 hides a heart of zinc, and even so, depending on the value of the metals involved, the cent sometimes costs more than a cent to make. Lincoln, a self-taught man born to poverty, knew the value of a penny back when it had real value, and most likely he would have found its continued existence wasteful and downright silly.



Except as a coin to rummage around for in your pocket or purse -- hoping to come up with the right change lest the cashier dump more pennies on you -- the cent has outlived its usefulness. Phasing it out would require simply that we round amounts off to the nearest nickel, which might sound frightening to those who watch their pennies. No doubt there were similar fears when the United States stopped coining the half-cent in 1857. Even back then, the copper was worth more than the coin itself.

U.S. military bases in Europe eliminated pennies during the 1980s to save the cost of shipping them. The move produced some complaints -- for a few months. Thereafter, the poor penny went unmourned. Yet federal legislation to abandon it has repeatedly been defeated.

For a nation that prides itself on its boldness and innovative spirit, the U.S. can be remarkably hidebound. We'll happily add kilometer readings to our cars' speedometers, but we cling to the pounds, quarts and miles of the so-called English system of measurement. A 2006 poll found that two-thirds of Americans wanted to keep the penny. (The poll was conducted by Coinstar, a company that makes coin-counting machines.)


Think of the penny as an old habit that doesn't work for us anymore. Collect them, admire them as a relic of our past, but like the tradition-defying Americans of Abe Lincoln's era, let's phase out a coin that has no purchasing power left, except perhaps for a wish in a fountain.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/...,6621478.story

Personally, I think we should completely do away with the worthless piece of copper.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

It's not the personal change, I ****ing hate change, but I never use cash. Imagine if every purchase you made was rounded up 3 cents. That's the kind of stupid "Superman 3" shit that adds up after a while.

I have my bank do that automatically. The "keep the change" deal at Bank of America. They round up all my debit/credit card transactions up to the nearest dollar and transfer it to my savings account.

It's amazing how much you can rack up just through normal spending habits.

I used to do this years ago when I'd write checks. I'd always write for the next dollar up and put the change in this big water jug. At the end of the month, my wife and I would put all the change through the counter at the bank and go on a date.

[beavis]

One thing I really liked about British currency, they don't have a note smaller than a 5. The one and two pound coins are actually really useful.

[chasedude]

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy!

I've never understood if it's more expensive to make a penny than the penny is worth, why not change the material and keep the penny?

Right, during WW2 they made it out of cheaper tin. Those are really collectible.

[Mr. Laz]

just stupid ....... and a waste of money


just do away with it


the question is not whether to do away with the penny, it's where to do away with the penny AND the nickel.

[joesomebody]

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy!

I've never understood if it's more expensive to make a penny than the penny is worth, why not change the material and keep the penny?

That's what Japan does with the one yen coin, I believe it's made of aluminum, though it's so light that it feels like plastic.

Admittedly though, the one yen coin is worth like 1/100th of a penny.

[Skip Towne]

Originally Posted by chasedude

Right, during WW2 they made it out of cheaper tin. Those are really collectible.

The 1943 penny was made of zinc coated steel. We needed the copper for the war effort.

[CoMoChief]

The Amero will be used here in the next 10 years.

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by L.A.Chieffan

Can we get euro pennies

[Over-Head]

Originally Posted by Skip Towne

Those didn't go over very well at all.

Because you still had a choice.
The fuggen government just stopped printing and circulating $1 bills
Banks were ordered to ship em back to Ottowa for disposal

[Hammock Parties]

We're the greatest country in the world, that's why. People in Africa are starving. People in the Middle East are fighting reeruned religious wars.

Here in America? You may THINK our economy is bad and the liberals may want you to believe everything is going down the tubes. But nope, we're spending time and money redesigning our currency!

AMERICA! **** YEAH!

Pass the fake tits and double cheeseburgers.

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by frazod

The penny is horseshit. I assume some very well connected people make money off its continued issue, because it makes no sense whatever to have the goddamn things in an age when you can't even use them buy a gumball.

A penny buys you 15 minutes of parking in River Falls, WI.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by StcChief

the issue is still the wierd add on sales tax rates city/county etc charge that cause price to leave penny needed.... Price your product, include your tax,state etc... to give at wholde .05 increment and no problem... until then....pennies needed.

Why? You could make the same arguement for .001 dollars, .0001 dollars, etc. Except those values are so monetarily small that its irrelevant? Well, same for the penny.