You can take coins to the bank and they will count and give you cash for them at no charge. We took many many boxes of coins when my mom passed. Something around $400 worth total.

usually just throw out pennies the last few years

almost never use cash anymore

I can't imagine anyone under the age of 30 even knows what a penny is.

That's my point.
It's not about the real cost to manufacture the coins or even to print the bills. It's about the value and utility to the proper function of the system the physical item brings.

Age of the users is irrelevant. Just because people under 30 don't use physical currency doesn't negate its utility in the system. There's nothing to say that that pendulum won't swing back, and it could swing back quickly.

The proper question is 1) should the penny remain in circulation for physical transactions and if so, 2) how many pennies is appropriate to keep in and available for circulation?

Kenneth_2003 said:

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That's my point.
It's not about the real cost to manufacture the coins or even to print the bills. It's about the value and utility to the proper function of the system the physical item brings.

Age of the users is irrelevant. Just because people under 30 don't use physical currency doesn't negate its utility in the system. There's nothing to say that that pendulum won't swing back, and it could swing back quickly.

The proper question is 1) should the penny remain in circulation for physical transactions and if so, 2) how many pennies is appropriate to keep in and available for circulation?

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1. Yes - but until inflation is under control, or deflation brings the value of the penny more in line with it's intrinsic value, we shouldn't make more

2. The amount in circulation, until which point it becomes economical to create more.

Kill the nickel as well. Same reason.

The dime should be the lowest measure of commerce these days.

I stopped picking up pennies and the nickels a long time ago. The cost in terms of back pain is too high to justify.

Central Committee said:

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Kill the nickel as well. Same reason.

The dime should be the lowest measure of commerce these days.

I stopped picking up pennies and the nickels a long time ago. The cost in terms of back pain is too high to justify.

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The current US nickel cost about $0.14 to make.

Pre-1964 Quarters = $5.8074190239 is the total melt value for the 1932-1964 silver quarter on February 10, 2025.



It's not the price of things going up, it's the value of your dollar decreasing on a daily basis......

friends and I used to make model boats with little engines and a remote control, "armor" them up with epoxy and pennies, and we'd take turns with pellet rifles trying to sink each others little creations.

Central Committee said:

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Kill the nickel as well. Same reason.

The dime should be the lowest measure of commerce these days.

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The problem with that idea is that if we had dimes and quarters but no nickels, it would lead to situations like paying a quarter for a 20-cent item and not being able to get change.

It would make more sense to keep the nickel around as the lowest common denominator of all the denominations, until we can eliminate the dime as well and round everything to the nearest quarter.

OK, I think I've figured out Trump's scheme.

Zinc bullets are a thing. Trump has ordered a bunch of them to be manufactured for use in Gaza if Hamas refuses to release the hostages on time. That leaves less zinc available for minting pennies.