Also commented in a duplicate thread: No fan of DT, but this one does make sense (CAN chucked pennies years ago).<p>If I read the article cited below correctly, penny minting has a smell of lobbying in a safe quiet corner:<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/01/magazine/worthless-pennies-united-states-economy.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/01/magazine/worthless-pennie...</a>
Okay, even a stopped clock is right twice a day. Though it's not particularly original; I think about half the eurozone has stopped production of 1 and 2 cent coins, at this point, and in some cases demonetised them. Presumably to the disappointment of washing machine repair providers everywhere; their size made them perfect for jamming in the pump in a particularly awkward to extract manner.
It's kind of ridiculous that the US has held onto pennies for this long. New Zealand phased out our 5 cent coins back in 2006, approximately 3 US pennies worth at present.
I've been holding onto every pre-1982 penny I come across, because I one day want to get 499 of them, and take them to Mexico or Canada to smelt them to use in some kind of art project.<p>When we finally stop making pennies in the US, will that make it legal to melt them down?
I have to say though... are the value in coins intrinsic or as a medium of exchange?<p>Although I've heard pennies just end up in a drawer, don't they have value to the economy to exchange (many times) goods and services back and forth for coins?<p>is it just convention nowadays, left over from storing gold?
This is not a new proposal by any means: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_debate_in_the_United_States" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_debate_in_the_United_Sta...</a>
Don't we need a law that permits rounding of prices though?<p>If stores round down, they can potentially collect too little sales tax. If they round up, they're charging above the advertised price which, afaik, is fraud.
While we're talking currency, we need to start making a $500 bill again. The $500 bill was removed in 1969 making the $100 bill the largest denomination. In 1969, $100 was worth around $860.
I almost have a Trump changes bingo. Waiting for renaming a day of the week or a month, and going to war with either Switzerland or Italy.<p>Seriously, this one isn't actually dumb, dramatic, or insane. I approve.
This seems like a silly and easy thing to do but it hasn't gotten done. It has been on the to-list for years if not decades. Special interest and voter pushback has always stopped it. It looks like President Trump will finally make it happen. I think it speaks to the strength of his presidency. We are in for a lot of changes.
Flooding the zone with both reasonable sh* and unreasonable sh* is still flooding the zone with sh*.<p>Notice the timing of his statement. Right in the middle of the largest sporting event in the US. Eyes were elsewhere and it brought them back to himself.