The penny

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

No/No

[KEmperor]

I don't want to, but inflation will eventually take its toll.  It's already becoming marginal with regard to its value/cost ratio.

[memphis]

It's nothing more than a nuisance, even if it is a tradion. We will get rid of it one day as we will do will all cash.

[Ban my account ffs!]

What would we put Lincoln on?  The dime maybe?

[Gabu]

If nothing else, they should at least change the composition of pennies.  If I recall correctly, the metal in a penny is now worth more than one cent.

What would we put Lincoln on?  The dime maybe?

Lincoln is already on the five-dollar bill.  I don't see why he needs to be on two things, anyway.

[KEmperor]

If nothing else, they should at least change the composition of pennies.  If I recall correctly, the metal in a penny is now worth more than one cent.

They already did that once in 1982, moving from copper to copper plated zinc.  The problem as I understand it is that the price of copper has been going up pretty high recently and combined with inflation they are running into the same problem they did two and a half decades ago even with the small amount used.  I don't know what type of metal they would use, I'm pretty sure the one they use now is quite cheap.

Here's the metallic composition on the coins:
http://usmint.gov/about_the_mint/index.cfm?action=coin_specifications

[opebo]

It's nothing more than a nuisance, even if it is a tradion. We will get rid of it one day as we will do will all cash.

I'm all for getting rid of the penny, but getting rid of all cash is a terrifying prospect.  It will open the door do horrible social control.  For example - how will one pay for streetwalkers or drugs?

[Gabu]

They already did that once in 1982, moving from copper to copper plated zinc.  The problem as I understand it is that the price of copper has been going up pretty high recently and combined with inflation they are running into the same problem they did two and a half decades ago even with the small amount used.  I don't know what type of metal they would use, I'm pretty sure the one they use now is quite cheap.

I saw steel as one suggestion, which is apparently a very cheap metal.

Or we could just abolish the penny altogether.

[Mr. Paleoconservative]

No, we should keep the penny. 

It is that simple. 

[HardRCafé]

Well, that settles that.

[Alcon]

No, we should keep the penny. 

It is that simple. 

And why is that?

[??????????]

What would we put Lincoln on?  The dime maybe?

We should put Lincoln on a potrait, with prison bars in front of him.

We will get rid of it one day as we will do will all cash.

Now THAT'S a truly scary thought there.

[memphis]

Getting rid of cash seems so inevitable to me. All kinds of shady transactions (drugs, robberies, terrorism, tax evasion) would be made much more difficult. I hardly ever use cash anymore, as even fast food places take my visa debit card now.

[Andrew]

What would we put Lincoln on?  The dime maybe?

I've always thought we should put Lincoln on the five-dollar bill.

[Undisguised Sockpuppet]

Yes/Yes

[Colin]

Yes/Yes

We will get to a point where the US Mint would have to continually try and find a cheaper metal to keep the metal within the penny worth less than a penny. I think we are nearing that point already. It is worthless when its most common usage is being kept in large jars with thousands of other pennies you know its completely worthless.

It wouldn't be precedented either. Australia got rid of their penny in the 1990's and it has hardly hurt them any. Prices are just rounded up to the next highest number divisible by 5.

[KEmperor]

Getting rid of cash seems so inevitable to me. All kinds of shady transactions (drugs, robberies, terrorism, tax evasion) would be made much more difficult. I hardly ever use cash anymore, as even fast food places take my visa debit card now.

Yes, and it will allow government to track your every move.  No thanks.

[Keystone Phil]

I don't want to, but inflation will eventually take its toll. 

Hey, "inflation happens."

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

It's not just the penny, the nickel has also been affected.  Right now the metal in a newly minted nickel is worth 7.72¢.   Zinc prices have come down below $4000/tonne so that the metal in a newly minted cent is only worth 0.903¢.  The older cents are worth 1.51¢ in metal.  Even switching to aluminum wouldn't trim costs much tho, as assuming they kept the coin the same weight, it would cost 0.716¢ in metal.  (However, aluminum is not as dense as zinc, so if they tried to keep th diameter and thickness approximately the same, the metal cost would be about 0.27¢ per penny).

[KEmperor]

I don't want to, but inflation will eventually take its toll. 

Hey, "inflation happens."

Yeah, like when you blow up a balloon.

[Undisguised Sockpuppet]

Getting rid of cash seems so inevitable to me. All kinds of shady transactions (drugs, robberies, terrorism, tax evasion) would be made much more difficult. I hardly ever use cash anymore, as even fast food places take my visa debit card now.

Yes, and it will allow government to track your every move.  No thanks.

And the government doesn't already do that now?

[KEmperor]

Getting rid of cash seems so inevitable to me. All kinds of shady transactions (drugs, robberies, terrorism, tax evasion) would be made much more difficult. I hardly ever use cash anymore, as even fast food places take my visa debit card now.

Yes, and it will allow government to track your every move.  No thanks.

And the government doesn't already do that now?

The government doesn't know where I spend my cash.  Debit cards are much more easy to track.

[Verily]

Yes/No, or at least not soon. We should also abolish the one-dollar bill and replace it with coins completely. It's much more cost-effective.

[MaC]

What would we put Lincoln on?  The dime maybe?

We should put Lincoln on a potrait, with prison bars in front of him.

We will get rid of it one day as we will do will all cash.

Now THAT'S a truly scary thought there.

My post would be similar to this, if not already said.

[Undisguised Sockpuppet]

Getting rid of cash seems so inevitable to me. All kinds of shady transactions (drugs, robberies, terrorism, tax evasion) would be made much more difficult. I hardly ever use cash anymore, as even fast food places take my visa debit card now.

Yes, and it will allow government to track your every move.  No thanks.

And the government doesn't already do that now?

The government doesn't know where I spend my cash.  Debit cards are much more easy to track.

Wait 10 years and they'll have SMALL tracking chips inside currency if they don't know. We only find out such measures decades after.