Stopping production of pennies makes a lot of CENTS
cashhound
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The President wants to stop making pennies. The cost to mint one cent is between 2-3 cents each.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-says-he-has-instructed-us-treasury-stop-minting-new-pennies-this-so-wasteful
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Wonder if the dollar coin or dollar bill will be next.
Looking for PCGS AU58 Washington's, 32-63.
Why would you stop printing the $1 bill? If people would stop hoarding coins there wouldn't be a need to make so many, especially the one cent coins. I hope he called them cents and not pennies in his EO.
Because it has a relatively short useful life, and does not cost any less to print than any other bill that has a far longer life. This is what was behind every past effort to supplement or replace the bill with $1 coins, which would last a lot longer, and therefore save some money over time.
People being stuck with old habits, and simply refusing to change, is what led each past effort to fail. This time, if they choose to go there, it could be different, for a few obvious reasons.
It has worked in other countries, so it certainly could work here. Just need someone to make it happen. If they just stop printing $1 bills, and your choice was either 4 quarters or a coin you don't like, many people would rather deal with the one coin as opposed to 4, so over time the switch could very well be successful. Especially if people are not given a choice, since the status quo will almost always win if given a choice.
The most rehashed topic on this forum. Time for a nap.
I though CAC was the most rehashed topic.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
You have to wonder why the production of unused coins has been so common in the US; from all the Morgan dollar and $20 gold coins that ended up getting melted. Maybe the mint will give itself permission to melt all the pre-1982 Lincoln cents that have a lot more copper than their melt value now.
Occasionally we've had collector-friendly reforms such as that advanced by Reps. Castle and Paul to start minting gold and silver coins again.
Actually, the most recent Treasury study did not show savings for the coin over the bill.
https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-19-300
The disconnect is coming from their estimate of the lifespan of the paper bill. The internet in 2025 says it's between 22 months and 6.6 years, while this 6 year old GAO study you linked is using 7.9 years. So, they can manipulate the data to get wherever they want to go.
The life of bills is undoubtedly increasing because cash is being less and less every year. But the same can be said for coins, so I don't understand why something that made sense in 1990 doesn't make sense in 2025. Has the cost of production of paper money really not gone up along with everything else in the past 35 years, partially or totally offsetting the impact of the paper staying in circulation longer?
In event, this all appears moot, because whatever our Dear Leader wants is apparently what is going to happen. A debate regarding the fate of the cent, that has been going on since the 1980s, has been resolved in one evening with the stroke of one magical Sharpie. Nothing else really matters, does it?
Everything else I collect is obsolete,so why not the Lincoln? Assuming cents from the usual three mints are produced this year, I’ll end up with 505 in my collection, or if you prefer $5.05.
"A penny hit by lightning is worth six cents". Opie Taylor
A dollar bill lasts about 18 months. On the orher hand, quarters, dimes, and nickels from the 60's and 70's are still in circulation. It's not uncommon to find Jeffersons from the 50's and even the 40's still in circulation. (Not the silver variety)
Looking for PCGS AU58 Washington's, 32-63.
I see production cuts in our future. Might be a good time to start keeping a closer eye on things, fwiw
Pennys cents tomatos tomotos. I bought two boxes of penny's as they may be worth something later on. If you stop minting coins mid year some could be low mintage.
Read the GAO study linked above. It is not 18 months anymore and the cost benefits do not appear to be there.
I don't necessarily see it as a cost benefit analysis as much as I see the value of a cent in commerce at nil. Inflation has probably made both the cent and the nickel irrelevant in commerce.
I have thought, as many have, that cents should have been discontinued years ago. The nickel is the new cent. If it wasn’t for the nickel lobby it would probably be the new copper plated zinc coin. Although the seigniorage wouldn’t be much it would be better than current costs. Given everything, dropping the cent and nickel is a good idea and then getting vending machines to take halves and dollar coins would help with those. Keep the dollar currency notes as well. Both can have a good place.
Most of the cost of the nickel is copper. I'm not sure where the nickel lobby conspiracy theory comes from.
I've only ever received pennies and nickels in change, never used it to pay for something. Makes no sense to keep em.
If we look at the buying power of the half cent when it was dropped, it makes no sense at all to use two decimal places. We should just coin the dime, a sensibly sized half and a dollar, no cents, nickels, or quarters.
And most vending machines take credit card or Apple Pay these days. I dont know if it was in this thread or one of the half a dozen others, but someone made the suggestion to use stainless steel. Not sure if tooling costs would outweigh any cost savings, but SS is pretty cheap and it wouldn't need to be alloyed. We really dont need nickels anyway so it's better to eliminate them, but if we must keep nickels then id like to see costs cut.
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We should get rid of the dollar too, round everything up $5. THKS!
The $2 would come out of hibernation if dollars were retired. GBYE!
Nothing is as expensive as free money.
Personally, I'd rather the government just facilitate a shift to purely digital payments. It's really just a question of how to get the unbanked to be banked.
Would there be a high speed way to sort out the copper cents? Could they go thru some type of sorter to be screened out by weight?
yes
there are small versions out there
Easy there pal, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I’m all for pragmatism but I still don’t want the banks to have complete control over our money system.
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Lol. Yes, i know the arguments. And yet for the banked probably 90% of all their transactions are already digital with nearly 100% leading a paper trail. It's largely only the unbanked and criminal enterprises that have a high percentage of cash only transactions.
criminal cent spenders
The most common post is someone stating there are too many CENTS threads and that is followed up with another stating, "I thought CAC was the most rehashed topic."
The Penny Lady calls them pennies so get with the times all you stuffed shirts who want to call them cents.
Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.-Albert Einstein
You don't understand what digital currency is. 0% of current US Dollar transactions are digital currency.
I think he mean "digital transactions" or "electronic transactions".
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I know exactly what digital currency is. I specifically said "digital currency" and "digital transaction". You are conflating them. I did not.
Let me explain it in detail:
That is correct. Thank you
Like I said, you don't understand what digital currency is.
The Mint now call then pennies if you look at the proof set being released in a couple of weeks:
One Kennedy Half Dollar
One Roosevelt Dime
One Jefferson Nickel
One Lincoln Penny
The set is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.
The 2025 United States Mint Proof Set is a must-have for any collection. It also makes a unique and memorable gift that will bring smiles to friends and loved ones of all ages.
Due to inflation, one of us has to go.
Why is everyone looking at me?
And I insist that I do. You can continue to be a child and just say "no" or you could actually contribute something.
Please explain what is incorrect about that statement with regard to tracking transactions. We're not talking crypto here. If the Fed had a digital currency, it would just be clearing transactions in the same way that banks and credit cards clear transactions. The only difference is who holds the record.
From an information tracking standpoint, there would be no difference between my bank-to-bank wire transfer of "cash" and a bank-to-bank or person-to-person transfer of digital currency. Both have a digital ledger. The fact that one transfer allegedly represents a paper asset and the other is strictly digital is a minor difference.
CBDC's will (do) use block chain technology - Just like crypto. Each CBDC dollar will have a "serial number" just like a paper dollar. Specific individual dollars can be tracked through the system and restrictions can be placed on them like expiration dates, where/when you can use them, etc.
That is nothing like the electronic transactions we have today which are just representations of physical dollars. Insisting that they're the same is ignorant. CBDC's will allow complete control about how and when you can use money, not just "record transactions".
Disagree. Completely. My only point was tracking of transactions, you're making a different (paranoid) point. I never said they were identical. I said (THREE TIMES) the tracking of information was identical. You created a straw man in my yard and then tilted at it.
If you want to debate the other aspects of it, the digital currency allows for easier control of monetary policy, for example. However, that assumes that such control would be allowed. And I'm not sure there is any new control available that isn't already present. It just eases things like inflation/deflation of the money supply. It would also allow for quicker, more complete seizing of assets. Again, IF such power were given to the ledger holder.
You're back tracking. You were absolutely conflating electronic transactions and digital currency. Even if your point was just tracking, that isn't identical either as I already explained. I'm not sure why it's so important to you to act like they're both the same when they're clearly not.
As far as the "paranoid" point, maybe you're right. Government would never ever abuse their power or trample on the rights of citizens. If we've learned anything since covid, we've learned that government will always protect our rights.
I persoally think the new law makes NO cents. Lol
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
No. I specifically said tracking. Of course they aren't the same thing in their entirety.
A 2019 GAO report begs to differ. It actually found that replacing the dollar bill with dollar coins will cost more money. I believe it given that we use less cash these days especially in a post covid environment.
https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-19-300
If there is anything we should do is keep the $1 bill and encourage $2 bill more. Given that cost savings is unlikely switching from a $1 bill to a coin, you would probably save more money encouraging $2 bills. Also if nickels get discontinued, we can still honor TJ
I doubt that the dollar coin or bill would be next. They are the defacto currency is a number of foreign countries. Besides it gives us Yanks a way to look rich when visiting in places like Mexico. Tip with a $1 bill , not a Peso. One goes up in value (relatively) and the other goes down.
Eliminating the penny makes a lot of sense, indeed. I wouldn't think that the collector value of the billions of surviving pennies will be affected. Classic Key dates will go up regardless. Making pennies for collector sets (as is done for Kennedy Halves) may still be profitable to the mint, and better for collectors (but only if they limit the production to small populations, and add hidden ligature marks, missing mint marks, and mules.