I do think that the penny is useless, I am annoyed by the rounding up, but then again, the rounding up will only barely beat inflation anyway so probably a net gain.
Pennies have many uses, and not just as cash. But as cash, they are available to people who like them, and those who don't are free to set prices at the nickel, dollar, or other level.
I'm intrigued: Other than sorting out the pure copper pennies for their metal value (best I can tell, currently at approx. $0.03 each) what other uses do they have?
Just curious, maybe you are seeing something I don't
I know of people who use them as bases for miniatures, there are probably many other uses. They are cheaper than pretty much anything out there of their shape and size.
There are all those little penny press souvenir press.
Other uses :
Put in a tin jar, instant noise maker.
In a container, can make an effective doorstop.
Drop on the ground as a 'lucky penny' to cheer someone up.
There's a bunch of other uses for coins in general, like scratching lottery tickets or drilling holes in them to improvise washers, and pennies would be the cheapest option to use.
Yep, we don't actually have the right in the US to set our prices to the nearest 5 cents because that 6.5% sales tax will mess things up. (Could we factor that into the prices we set? Not with the current systems, where every jurisdiction has a different sales tax but prices are often set centrally. Could we use a VAT system instead of sales tax? Theoretically, but this is the US, so: no.)
The solution of course is that nobody pays cash anymore unless they want a $.04 surcharge on every purchase. Cash is, after, all, difficult to track and difficult to control.
But that's how math actually works. These people are too dumb to remember that if it's under 5, you round down, and if it's 5+ you round up. Which is perhaps an example of how I'm better at math than 2/3 of Americans, despite being lucky to get the same answer three times running with a calculator.
Surely it'd be simpler to recenter our money? We've been talking and talking and talking about penny murder for decades, but honestly, what with inflation, we could make a New Penny worth 10 or 20 Old Pennies and adjust all the other coins and bills to match.
I can understand the reasoning behind eliminating the penny as such — but damned if it’s not symbolic that the coin they’re getting rid of is the one with Abraham Lincoln on it.
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ysabetwordsmith
agree and disagree
Date: 2025-05-22 06:48 pm (UTC)Re: agree and disagree
Date: 2025-05-22 06:59 pm (UTC)Re: agree and disagree
Date: 2025-05-22 07:03 pm (UTC)Just curious, maybe you are seeing something I don't
Re: agree and disagree
Date: 2025-05-22 07:54 pm (UTC)Re: agree and disagree
Date: 2025-05-22 08:30 pm (UTC)Other uses :
Put in a tin jar, instant noise maker.
In a container, can make an effective doorstop.
Drop on the ground as a 'lucky penny' to cheer someone up.
There's a bunch of other uses for coins in general, like scratching lottery tickets or drilling holes in them to improvise washers, and pennies would be the cheapest option to use.
Re: agree and disagree
Date: 2025-05-22 10:47 pm (UTC)The solution of course is that nobody pays cash anymore unless they want a $.04 surcharge on every purchase. Cash is, after, all, difficult to track and difficult to control.
Re: agree and disagree
Date: 2025-06-01 01:38 am (UTC)Re: agree and disagree
Date: 2025-06-01 02:10 am (UTC)Re: agree and disagree
Date: 2025-06-01 07:15 am (UTC)It's possible that whoever set the new rule is rich enough they've never had to pinch pennies.
Re: agree and disagree
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Date: 2025-05-22 08:37 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2025-05-22 08:46 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2025-05-22 09:20 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2025-05-23 03:43 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2025-05-24 01:02 am (UTC)