7.5 & 12.5 cent pieces?

StrikeOutXXX

I'm still on my old magazine coin articles kick. I found a speech by Mehren, Edward W.
Vital Speeches of the Day; 3/15/49 - We Need 71/2¢ and 121/2¢ Coins: SAVINGS FOR THE AMERICAN PUBLIC.

He was president of the Squirt bottling company back then. He made some great points for the need for 7 1/2 and 12 1/2 cent pieces.
The speech was given to The National Association of Amusement Parks, Pools, and Beaches in Chicago, IL on December 1, 1948.

Has anybody ever heard of this "Movement" before? Feel free to add any gee-whiz info or what-ifs if you want.

ziggy29

We used to have a 12 1/2 cent piece, sort of -- one "bit," a one-eighth sliver of the old Spanish milled dollar.

RichieURich

Based on the consumer price index, prices have gone up appx. 7.8 times from 1949 to 2005. So a 12.5 cent piece is now worth about a dollar, and a 7.5 cent piece is worth about 60 cents.

StrikeOutXXX

<< <i>We used to have a 12 1/2 cent piece, sort of -- one "bit," a one-eighth sliver of the old Spanish milled dollar. >>



Aah yes, and someday I hope to find one of those metal detecting - but wrong forum.


The premise of this guy's presentation is Americans saving money and price points following the coins available. for instance:

"Soft drinks can no longer be sold profitably at at 5 cents. Prices will continue the trend to jump to the next convenient coin, a dime. At 10c a bottle, the public would pay 2 billion, 100 million for soft drinks. But if the people paid 7 1/2c instead of a dime, they would save 525 million dollars a year."

He talks about similar rounding with beer, hot dogs, public transit, etc. I forgot to add he also wantd 2 1/2 cent pieces as well.


I just found this article sort of funny. 50 years ago, some guy wanted to add coins between values to save money for the public from rounding up to the next coin value. Today, we are trying to get rid of the lowest valued coin to save money and round up to the next coin value.

flaminio

<< <i>Today, we are trying to get rid of the lowest valued coin to save money and round up to the next coin value. >>

NO. Round to the nearest next coin value, not "up". Big difference.

I rather like the idea of getting rid of the cent, nickel, and dime, and making Mr Mehren's 12½c coin (1/8 dollar) the smallest coin denomination. That solves the problem of nickel elimination -- how would one make change for a quarter? If there's only one step down to a bit, the problem goes away.