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Should the US Change Metal Coins? (networkworld.com)

Posted by samzenpus on from the changing-the-recipe dept.

coondoggie writes: It may be time for the United States to rethink how the smallest parts of its monetary system — the penny, nickel and dime – are made. According to a report this week from watchdogs at the Government Accountability Office, since 2006 the prices of metals used in coins have risen so much that the total production unit costs of the penny and nickel exceed their face value resulting in financial losses to the U.S. Mint.

6 of 702 comments (clear)

  1. Penny by itamblyn · · Score: 5, Informative

    We got rid of the penny here in Canada. It was no big deal. I've hardly noticed the difference.

    1. Re:Penny by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      The US is a leader, not a follower, therefore it won't get rid of the penny like Canada did in 2013, no matter how good the idea is.

    2. Re:Penny by Ramze · · Score: 5, Funny

      Sorry... rational solutions to problems isn't our thing in the USA. I mean... first we'd stop making and circulating the penny, then we'd legalize medical marijuana, switch to the metric system, and finally embrace universal healthcare. That's just crazy talk!

    3. Re:Penny by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 5, Funny

      Give it time. It's only Tuesday.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    4. Re: Penny by drinkypoo · · Score: 5, Informative

      You could also take the opinion that the concept of a firearm today is something the signatories to the second amendment could hardly imagine - in 1791,

      ...cannon were privately owned. And you're bitching about magazine lengths. The breech-loading rifle was the assault weapon of its day. It let you fire faster than the next guy, and nobody was talking about banning it.

      The world has changed, why cant people accept that these laws need looking at again?

      Because they don't. Those laws are working perfectly. It's the laws that keep people in poverty and which stigmatize mental health issues (by taking away rights) that are broken. People don't kill people because they are happy.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  2. Yes, it's time. by FrankSchwab · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Kill the penny.
    Kill the Nickel.
    Keep the dime - the smallest coin will now have the smallest value.
    Kill the quarter
    Create a new $0.50 piece a bit bigger than a dime, maybe a bit smaller than a penny.
    Create a new $1.00 piece about the size of a nickel, maybe slightly larger.
    Create a new $5.00 piece about the size of a quarter.

    To avoid confusion between new/old, change something mechanical - put a hole through the middle, or make them all octagonal or decagonal.

    If you're worried about cost, make the dime and half out of Aluminum. We've given up the concept of any actual value in our currency, so it's time to give up the artificial weight that made them feel like silver.

    Don't try to differentiate them by color. As the Sacajawea dollar taught us, after a few years in grubby fingers and rattling around in pockets, all coins start to have the same surface color.

    We end up with rationally sized coins, getting bigger as the value gets bigger. We get rid of the small valued paper money, which is also expensive to print/replace.

    --
    And the worms ate into his brain.