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US Pennies To Be Worth Five Cents?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the new-nickel dept.

Z-MaxX writes to point out Reuters coverage following up on last month's news that the US Mint has made it illegal to melt or export US coins in bulk, since the value of their constituent metals — in the case of pennies and nickels — now exceeds their face value. The new story quotes Francois Velde, senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, who thinks the new rules will not be enough — he believes that determined speculators are already piling up pennies. Velde suggests "rebasing" the penny to be worth five cents. Quoting Velde: "These factors suggest that, sooner or later, the penny will join the farthing (one-quarter of a penny) and the hapenny (one-half of a penny) in coin museums."

11 of 729 comments (clear)

  1. Yogi-esque by badenglishihave · · Score: 5, Funny

    A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore

    1. Re:Yogi-esque by Mr2cents · · Score: 5, Funny

      I fear I might have to rebase my login name..

      --
      "It's too bad that stupidity isn't painful." - Anton LaVey
  2. Our dimes go to eleven by Junior+J.+Junior+III · · Score: 5, Funny

    Why not make ten bigger?

    --
    You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
  3. Re:Steel by GroeFaZ · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yeah, considering the USA is in a constant state of war, that would even make sense.

    --
    The grass is always greener on the other side of the light cone.
  4. Re:then make them out of plastic or such... by bogeyjlg · · Score: 4, Funny

    I don't know. Making pennies out of plastic might make them seem cheap and not really worth anything.

  5. Re:Melt em! by SomeoneGotMyNick · · Score: 5, Funny

    Just stop making pennies and let the public melt them down.
    No, give them to me. I'll just use them in the old fuse box. Those screw plug fuses don't come cheap anymore. The 150 amp capacity would come in handy. They also work great as a #3 flat blade screwdriver.
  6. Re:rebase my login name.. by chrwei · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hello Mr10cents!

    --
    - Disclaimer: Information in this post deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
  7. Re:Here's a thought... Use them! by MightyYar · · Score: 4, Funny

    So YOU'RE that guy ahead of me in line... :)

    My wife does the same thing. It drives me nuts. I'm much more into never dealing with change, putting all of my coins into a huge pile, and then dumping them into the free Commerce Bank change counter after the pile achieves critical mass and things begin to orbit it. Last time I had $80 worth, and that's with me removing the quarters for laundry.

    --
    W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
  8. Re:rebase my login name.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    So he'd be switching his login name to binary?

  9. Re:Melt em! by bdonalds · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'll just use them in the old fuse box.

    To whomever is modding this "informative" instead of "funny", please frequently check the batteries in all of your smoke detectors and make sure your home insurance up to date....

    --
    The most important thing to do in your life is to not interfere with somebody else's life. -FZ
  10. Re:181 Pennies to the Pound by RareButSeriousSideEf · · Score: 5, Funny

    ; . . ^ , -
    PINK SHEET TIP \

    THis is gonna be huge ' `
    Let's ride this one to the top guys

    ` * - SYMBOL: PENNY

    CURRENT: $0.01 .

    Feb 1 Target: $0.05

    6-Day Gain: 500%

    ; ., .. ^ , -
    --
    Pi Ran Out