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This is something I have personally wanted for years... to eliminate the lincoln cent and round everything to the nearest nickel, and eliminate the paper dollar and have people use the coins instead. They should do both at the same time, so the change drawers at stores won't be affected.
What do you people think? I suspect the resistance to eliminating the dollar has to do with vending machines. As for pennies, I don't see how they are of any use anymore and it costs more to make them than they are worth. I just throw them on the ground when I get them or I'll give them, along with nickels and dimes, to small kids as I pass by them in the grocery store, or set them where they will see them and pick them up. I'm curious what people here think about this?
A nickel now has less buying power than a penny in 1950 and they got by just fine. You're not going to go broke from having to pay 3 extra cents in a transaction.. over the course of a year you might lose 10 bucks and that's a very liberal estimate, probably more like 2 bucks. Whoop de doo.
I dislike dollar bills in my wallet as much as pennies in my pocket. I don't mind dollar coins and would rather dig one out of my pocket for a vending machine than try to stuff a crumpled up bill into one and have it spit it back out half the time. Bills should be for larger transactions, and coins for smaller. The cent has outlived it's usefulness, as has the dollar bill.
Oh, and it would save the government lots of money.
I don't think "No" counts as an actual thought. Otherwise, half-cents were minted in the US through 1857, and at the time of their discontinuation had roughly the purchasing power that a dime would have today. Kind of suggests that nickels should go away as well. Pennies meanwhile have clearly outlived any usefulness and have become a nuisance, with huge numbers of them simply sitting in jars someplace waiting for someone to find the time to dump them into a CoinStar or some such. But they have emotional support from nostalgics who are reluctant to see things like "a penny saved is a penny earned" undermined, even though it could be changed to "a quarter saved is a quarter earned" which would actually restore the original meaning.
And with dollar bills, it's the same story. Silver dollars were minted through 1935, but were large, heavy, and increasingly expensive to produce. Production of large, heavy, less expensive dollar coins resumed in 1971 (Eisenhower), and of smaller, lighter versions in 1979 (Anthony, Sacagawea, and Presidential). None has been any better received or used than $2 bills. Or fifty-cent pieces for that matter.
I have avoided using any coins this last decade or so. And I rarely even use cash, although I generally carry $50-100.
But IMO I would stop at the quarter, no smaller coins any longer. And leave the buck alone. They are handy as tips if and when I travel. And would still avoid coins, including a dollar coin.
I have never really been all that bright when it comes to economics but Im not sure how it makes sense to eliminate one coin (the penny) for another (dollar). Also if you start rounding everything to the nearest five cents doesnt that increase the need for nickels?
As far as personal taste on the rare instance I DO carry cash I really dont want a pocket full of change. I'd prefer a few ones in my wallet.
A note on the half-dollar, they would circulate if people didn't snag and keep them. I'm old enough to remember the Franklin 1/2 dollar being incredibly common in use until the Kennedy came out. That's when 1/2 dollars disappeared.
A note on the half-dollar, they would circulate if people didn't snag and keep them. I'm old enough to remember the Franklin 1/2 dollar being incredibly common in use until the Kennedy came out. That's when 1/2 dollars disappeared.
A friend and once an employer of mine made huge profits making and selling Kennedy 1/2 dollar key chains.
I have never really been all that bright when it comes to economics but Im not sure how it makes sense to eliminate one coin (the penny) for another (dollar). Also if you start rounding everything to the nearest five cents doesnt that increase the need for nickels?
As far as personal taste on the rare instance I DO carry cash I really dont want a pocket full of change. I'd prefer a few ones in my wallet.
I don't carry change of any denomination. I just dump it into the ash tray of my car, then empty the ash tray into a jar at home. Most of my transactions are via debit card, so I don't get that much change anyway. When I get cash at the bank, I get 50s, because I don't like sitting on a wad of paper. Besides, a 50 is worth less than a 20 was worth when I graduated from high school.
About the only thing I use coins for any more is parking meters.
I don't carry change of any denomination. I just dump it into the ash tray of my car, then empty the ash tray into a jar at home. Most of my transactions are via debit card, so I don't get that much change anyway. When I get cash at the bank, I get 50s, because I don't like sitting on a wad of paper. Besides, a 50 is worth less than a 20 was worth when I graduated from high school.
About the only thing I use coins for any more is parking meters.
Yeah, although most parking meters are going with card readers nowadays. I mean, it depends WHERE you're talking about. But in the Bay Area where metered parking is typically $2-4/hour (and as high as $18/hour), that's just a buttload of quarters to be carrying around with you. It's kind of like the bridges... I remember my parents making sure they had change for the toll.
I know this is a crazy idea, but how about appreciating the value of the dollar by 10 times? So a loaf of bread instead of costing $3 will then cost 30 cents, and a penny will be worth 10 times more than it does today and become meaningful again. Of course currency exchange will have to change as well. A British pound will be worth 0.164 USD, not 1.64 USD.
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