Can we please get rid of the penny? A few years ago, the cost of manufacturing a penny official surpassed one cent (click here to read about it). They are pretty much always dirty. Like, really dirty. Like, I don't want to touch them anymore. If I see a penny on the ground, I won't pick it up. So let's get rid of it. Just round all transactions to the nearest nickel (for the record, a nickel also costs more than a nickel to manufacture, but let's ignore that). If you buy something that costs $1.42, the charge will be $1.40. If you buy something that costs $1.43, then the charge will be $1.45. Basic rounding math. This isn't that radical. We could just as easily invent the 1/10¢ piece, and split all transactions up to the thousandth of a dollar, but we don't. When pennys come in, the treasury can just recycle the metal, and then they'll just stop manufacturing new pennys and eventually they'll just fade away. Sure, penny jars all over the country will have pennys for several decades longer, and that is fine. Just treat it like a $2 bill. The penny will still be legitimate currency, we'll just stop manufacturing new ones.
While we're at it, can we make the dollar coin finally stick? Similar to my suggestions with the penny, stop manufacturing dollar bills and start pumping out those Sacagawea coins. I'll pick a dollar up off the ground, but don't you hate it when you get a dollar that is all dirty and soft and moist?
It is unlikely that pennys are going anywhere anytime soon, considering that the U.S. Treasury is busy pumping out new designs. What does seem likely is that in ten to twenty years, we won't even use cash anymore, and all transactions will take place with credit/debit cards. So maybe it is worth just keeping the current system in place until then. But in the meantime, we have enough economic problems to deal with, so let's stop losing money by creating new pennys.
2 comments:
I'd love to see the dollar bill discontinued. Dollar coins are much more efficient as far as durability and use in vending machines.
As far as the penny goes, I could do without it, but good luck getting the congress to discontinue something with Abe Lincoln on it. Remember how Honest Abe walked 20 miles in the snow at night to return that penny to the customer...
I completely agree about the dollar coin. I kinda like pennies still (I don't know why), but if getting rid of them would somehow make the dollar coin more prevalent, then I'd say let's do it.
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