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What denominations would you choose for today’s coinage?

renomedphysrenomedphys Posts: 3,667 ✭✭✭✭✭

I’ll start:
Dime, quarter, fifty cent, dollar, $2

Anything bigger than a quarter could be smaller than traditional sizes and bimetallic draw a distinction.

Comments

  • lonemountaincoinlonemountaincoin Posts: 53 ✭✭✭
    edited January 23, 2025 10:50AM

    Bring back the $500, $1000, $10000. Coin, paper, I don't care :D

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  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,318 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @renomedphys said:
    I’ll start:
    Dime, quarter, fifty cent, dollar, $2

    Anything bigger than a quarter could be smaller than traditional sizes and bimetallic draw a distinction.

    Agree. Get rid of the cent and possibly the nickel. They cost too much to make for commerce. Make some for collectors each year but charge a premium to cover the cost of making them plus a small profit for the mint.

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
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  • P0CKETCHANGEP0CKETCHANGE Posts: 2,668 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @PerryHall said:
    Agree. Get rid of the cent and possibly the nickel. They cost too much to make for commerce. Make some for collectors each year but charge a premium to cover the cost of making them plus a small profit for the mint.

    Careful. Apparently, that’s a forbidden topic here.

    Nothing is as expensive as free money.

  • johnny9434johnny9434 Posts: 28,531 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The quarters eagle, half eagle and regular eagle. Do something solid for our country, just saying ✌️

  • VanHalenVanHalen Posts: 4,091 ✭✭✭✭✭

    With inflation I agree they should bring back the $500 bill. 50 years ago when I was a kid the $100 bill had huge purchasing power, in fact the $20 bill was considered a big bill in the 1970s.

    For coinage I'd be fine with just the dime, quarter and $1 pieces. The paper currency lobby won't let us get rid of the $1 bill but it needs to go. Along with the cent and nickel.

  • olympicsosolympicsos Posts: 820 ✭✭✭✭

    Penny, Half Dime, Dime, Quarter, Half Dollar, Large Sized Dollar for circulation.

  • oldabeintxoldabeintx Posts: 2,051 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited January 23, 2025 12:26PM

    5, 10, 25

    I believe in Canada they round to the nearest 5c for the TOTAL transaction. Individual items can be priced to 1c. Seems to have worked for them the last dozen years or so. Cents remain legal tender.

  • CopperindianCopperindian Posts: 1,677 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar, dollar

    “The thrill of the hunt never gets old”

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  • Project NumismaticsProject Numismatics Posts: 1,578 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Dime, Half, $1, $2.

    Coins should be resized (half is too big) and compositions may need to be changed.

    Consider $5 and $10 if preventative measures can be taken to prevent counterfeiting by certain foreign countries.

    If you eliminate the nickel, the quarter must go as well.

  • Project NumismaticsProject Numismatics Posts: 1,578 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @VanHalen said:
    With inflation I agree they should bring back the $500 bill. 50 years ago when I was a kid the $100 bill had huge purchasing power, in fact the $20 bill was considered a big bill in the 1970s.

    $200 and $500 bills would be nice but the anti-money laundering concerns will never allow it.

  • I agree mostly with the OP but I would lose the half dollar (too large a coin) and make sure the $1 and $2 coins are small and easily distinguishable from the quarter. The SBA dollar was an epic fail and I like the Sacagawea -- just can't get people to use them for whatever reason. In terms of bills, it is hard to use 50s in regular commerce let alone a $100. I can't imagine a $200 or $500 note being widely accepted. We should also get rid of the $1 and $2 bills making the $5 the lowest denomination.

  • jacrispiesjacrispies Posts: 999 ✭✭✭✭✭

    No one thinks we should bring back the three cent silver??? Strange.....

    "But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you" Matthew 6:33. Young fellow suffering from Bust Half fever.
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  • SaorAlbaSaorAlba Posts: 7,568 ✭✭✭✭✭

    10c 20c 50c $1, $2

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  • Mr_SpudMr_Spud Posts: 5,769 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Might as well just put a scannable chip in everybody’s head or hand and get it over with.

    Mr_Spud

  • Cougar1978Cougar1978 Posts: 8,351 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Get rid of cent, nickel, dime.

    Coins & Currency
  • VanHalenVanHalen Posts: 4,091 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Project Numismatics said:

    @VanHalen said:
    With inflation I agree they should bring back the $500 bill. 50 years ago when I was a kid the $100 bill had huge purchasing power, in fact the $20 bill was considered a big bill in the 1970s.

    $200 and $500 bills would be nice but the anti-money laundering concerns will never allow it.

    I agree, and tax evasion concerns. Remarkable that $100 bill has lost 90% of its purchasing power in my lifetime and I'm 60.

    A $100 bill in 2025 has the equivalent purchasing power of a $10 bill 60 years ago.

  • WQuarterFreddieWQuarterFreddie Posts: 2,860 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Project Numismatics said:
    Dime, Half, $1, $2.

    Coins should be resized (half is too big) and compositions may need to be changed.

    Consider $5 and $10 if preventative measures can be taken to prevent counterfeiting by certain foreign countries.

    If you eliminate the nickel, the quarter must go as well.

    No! Not the quarters!😂🤣

  • olympicsosolympicsos Posts: 820 ✭✭✭✭

    @oldabeintx said:
    5, 10, 25

    I believe in Canada they round to the nearest 5c for the TOTAL transaction. Individual items can be priced to 1c. Seems to have worked for them the last dozen years or so. Cents remain legal tender.

    Then you have to find a way to deal with nickels. If you are going to go through the politics of eliminating pennies, might as well bring back the half dime. Honestly for pennies, all they have to do is decide that they are not issuing any for circulation like half dollars and dollars.

  • In this day and age coins are not the problem. Bills are.

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  • ToreyTorey Posts: 235 ✭✭✭✭

    Keep only the quarter.

  • olympicsosolympicsos Posts: 820 ✭✭✭✭

    @VanHalen said:

    @Project Numismatics said:

    @VanHalen said:
    With inflation I agree they should bring back the $500 bill. 50 years ago when I was a kid the $100 bill had huge purchasing power, in fact the $20 bill was considered a big bill in the 1970s.

    $200 and $500 bills would be nice but the anti-money laundering concerns will never allow it.

    I agree, and tax evasion concerns. Remarkable that $100 bill has lost 90% of its purchasing power in my lifetime and I'm 60.

    A $100 bill in 2025 has the equivalent purchasing power of a $10 bill 60 years ago.

    The Swiss have a 1000 franc note which equals about USD$1,100.

  • renomedphysrenomedphys Posts: 3,667 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @olympicsos said:
    Penny, Half Dime, Dime, Quarter, Half Dollar, Large Sized Dollar for circulation.

    I think part of the takeaway here is that aside from the above poster, everyone here pretty much thinks we 1. need to abolish the cent, and 2. need to rework what’s left.

  • olympicsosolympicsos Posts: 820 ✭✭✭✭

    @renomedphys said:

    @olympicsos said:
    Penny, Half Dime, Dime, Quarter, Half Dollar, Large Sized Dollar for circulation.

    I think part of the takeaway here is that aside from the above poster, everyone here pretty much thinks we 1. need to abolish the cent, and 2. need to rework what’s left.

    The biggest problem is that dollar bills are not going anywhere. A 2019 report suggests that it would actually cost more money to replace dollar bills with coins. Now that cash is increasingly used less and there are sorting processes that allow bills to last longer, replacing the dollar bill with a dollar coin is not going to really work. You abolish the cent, you are going to have to rework the five cent piece, not only that you could get rid of the cent without Congress tomorrow collectively if we wanted to and there is a reason it has not happened. If banks can cut off CRHers for ordering too many halves, why can't they do that with cents, many stores refuse to accept them in bulk.

  • JoeLewisJoeLewis Posts: 1,908 ✭✭✭✭
    edited January 23, 2025 6:07PM

    10c (current size)
    50c (size of current nickel)
    $1 (size of current quarter)
    $5 (between current quarter and half dollar size)

    Or no more coins.

    Add 10c, 50c, $500, and $1000 bills to the current bills in use

  • The_Dinosaur_ManThe_Dinosaur_Man Posts: 991 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Cent as a collector's item only to honor its legacy as the only coin continually struck since the beginning, still legal tender but not issued en masse until deflation makes it worthwhile (I know it won't happen)

    Half Dime over the Nickel, purely for cost of production reasons.

    Dime, Quarter, Half Dollar can remain as they are. Make the half dollar more acceptable and supported in commerce.

    a smaller non-round Dollar and a similar but larger $2 coin,

    $5, $10, and a $20 as a circulating commem.

    If Congress could chase out the lobbyists keeping our coinage stagnant, we can finally get ahead of the game.

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  • pursuitoflibertypursuitofliberty Posts: 7,023 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Coins ... let's try these

    Dime, Half Dollar, Dollar and Two and a Half Dollar (Quarter Eagle). All prices and transactions to the nearest tenth of a Dollar

    Currency ... how about

    $5's, 10's, 20's, 50's, and 100's just like today (lose the 1's and 2's). I guess I COULD see 500. and $1000. bills, but rarely are we (as a generally society) paying cash for things greater than about $20.k, and even though a couple straps of hundreds doesn't exactly fold up in your pocket, it isn't an unmanageable stack of bills. And 500.'s and 1000.'s would be difficult to break, and could present potential counterfeiting problems and risks.

    .

    My 2c ... which, coincidentally, would become a VERY dated statement after the above changes :D


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  • davewesendavewesen Posts: 6,293 ✭✭✭✭✭

    It has been a long time since I have worked a cash register. I suspect losing the 50 cent would not change much in commerce.

  • BustDMsBustDMs Posts: 1,632 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Quarter, dollar, $2.50, $5.

    Notes $10, $20, $50, $100, $500.

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  • jedmjedm Posts: 3,049 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I deal in cash in a retail situation daily, using the same cash registers and vending machines we could easily go to:
    10c (dimes), 25c (quarters), $1 coin, $5 coin and then $10, $20, $50, and $100 bills. Simple.
    Round the total purchase to the 1/10th of a dollar.

  • fastfreddiefastfreddie Posts: 2,842 ✭✭✭✭✭

    TIPS $5, $10, $20 coin.

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  • OverdateOverdate Posts: 7,049 ✭✭✭✭✭

    In 1913 the smallest coin was the cent, and its purchasing power was greater than that of a quarter today. To approximate the purchasing power of the four lowest-denomination coins in circulation 100+ years ago, I would opt for denominations of 25 cents, one dollar, 2 dollars and 5 dollars.

    However, this likely would be only a temporary fix, since there's a good chance that inflation will continue to erode the purchasing power of all coins

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  • olympicsosolympicsos Posts: 820 ✭✭✭✭

    @Overdate said:
    In 1913 the smallest coin was the cent, and its purchasing power was greater than that of a quarter today. To approximate the purchasing power of the four lowest-denomination coins in circulation 100+ years ago, I would opt for denominations of 25 cents, one dollar, 2 dollars and 5 dollars.

    However, this likely would be only a temporary fix, since there's a good chance that inflation will continue to erode the purchasing power of all coins

    Other currencies have it worse than us. Take the Turkish Lira for example.

  • olympicsosolympicsos Posts: 820 ✭✭✭✭

    @JoeLewis said:
    10c (current size)
    50c (size of current nickel)
    $1 (size of current quarter)
    $5 (between current quarter and half dollar size)

    Or no more coins.

    Add 10c, 50c, $500, and $1000 bills to the current bills in use

    I think the future of coins will be bullion anyway and people do not like using coins unless they have to. It's unfortunate but it is the truth.

  • jmlanzafjmlanzaf Posts: 34,914 ✭✭✭✭✭

    None. Coins are so last century

  • JimsokayJimsokay Posts: 109 ✭✭✭

    @jacrispies said:
    No one thinks we should bring back the three cent silver??? Strange.....

    In order to eliminate the cent we would need a three cent piece as well as a two cent piece in order to make change as no one would want to round up/down with their money during a purchase even if reality says it is meaningless. Meanwhile if you ask most young people if they even carry change or cash the answer is no, so maybe we don't need to do anything with coins as they will soon just be a curiosity that no one will even use shortly down the road.

    PS I love three cent silvers.

  • @jmlanzaf said:
    None. Coins are so last century

    Agreed. Most of them get stuck in jars anyways or weigh down pockets. While we're at it can we ban the following:

    bicentennial quarters and halves
    sacajawea dollars
    susan b dollars
    presidential "gold" dollars

    That would eliminate about 75% of my inbound calls :D

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  • lermishlermish Posts: 3,148 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @olympicsos said:

    @VanHalen said:

    @Project Numismatics said:

    @VanHalen said:
    With inflation I agree they should bring back the $500 bill. 50 years ago when I was a kid the $100 bill had huge purchasing power, in fact the $20 bill was considered a big bill in the 1970s.

    $200 and $500 bills would be nice but the anti-money laundering concerns will never allow it.

    I agree, and tax evasion concerns. Remarkable that $100 bill has lost 90% of its purchasing power in my lifetime and I'm 60.

    A $100 bill in 2025 has the equivalent purchasing power of a $10 bill 60 years ago.

    The Swiss have a 1000 franc note which equals about USD$1,100.

    The EU used to print a 500 euro note until about 5 years ago...they stopped printing because of money laundering, drug use, counterfeiting, etc.

    Conversely, the largest Chinese note is 100 yuan which is ~$14. I'm not sure if that is due to counterfeit concerns or government mandated currency controls (to not allow easy, unsupervised movement of large amounts).

  • yspsalesyspsales Posts: 2,472 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited January 24, 2025 9:10AM

    @jedm said:
    I deal in cash in a retail situation daily, using the same cash registers and vending machines we could easily go to:
    10c (dimes), 25c (quarters), $1 coin, $5 coin and then $10, $20, $50, and $100 bills. Simple.
    Round the total purchase to the 1/10th of a dollar.

    First thing I thought of was rounding

    I love rounding to nearest dollar at McD's.

    Link it to a charity.

    Since it costs money to count loose change. Might as well.

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  • GoldminersGoldminers Posts: 4,183 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @jmlanzaf said:
    None. Coins are so last century

    I there were no new circulating coins, there will probably be more coin collectors.

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