Death to Pennies

[nissangirl74]

http://www.freakonomics.com/2011/12/08/ ... hear-hear/

Cool video. Probably considered useless information to most but I do wonder what will happen to our monetary coins in the next generation, considering most people don't even use them anymore. We are a great example of that. Unless we are going out of town or to an event, I never use cash, primarily because we get so many kickbacks for using our card. We have a small coin jar that I refuse to take it to the bank because they charge you to roll coins these days (screw that). They'll collect dust forever before I pay someone else to roll it.

In the past I have rolled pennies for everything you can imagine; mortgage payments, groceries, gas, bottles of tequila

What about you? Do you still use coins to pay for things or is your collection sitting in a jar on your nightstand?

[Jesda]

Well I'm not going to put my credit cards on train tracks.

[alms24sebring]

Its funny you mention this since me and someone were just talking about this the other day. I thought he was joking...

I ALWAYS just throw my pennies, I dont have a single penny in my change jar. They are worthless to me. I mean a thousand of them is only 10 bucks and who knows how long thatll take to save up. And coin star machines are a ripoff. They take ~9.5% of the total. I have had friends trade in $500+ dollars in change and they take ~$50 to buy paper money? Suck my balls. Its free at banks if your a member but somehow Wells Fargo still doesnt have one.

Anyways what will they do then? If they round up to the nearest 5th cent, the govt could make a few million more dollars a year from that little extra penny or two from everything we buy. I just dont think the time is right yet. I dont think the penny is quite obsolete yet.

Edit: I totally posted before watching the vid

[themadscientist]

I think the thing to consider is the state of inflation where small denominations are so insignificant that we just start rounding up to the next denomination. I don't see a time too far off when a dollar IS the penny. I use cash for all, but internet transactions. My bank takes my coin rolls no questions asked. I roll yen too, but the Japanese bank does charge so i keep the small stuff in the truck to buy candy and stuff.

[nissangirl74]

I know a woman who saved up her change and literally bought a brand new truck with them. She had old antifreeze jugs scattered throughout her house, packed to the top with change, most of it was pennies. When she was ready to trade in her old truck for a new one, she loaded the jugs into the truck and drove it all down to the dealership. They did a straight up swap, no hassle. She was happy. She said it came from years of saving all of her change (she never spent any of it), picking up coins off the ground that people had just tossed and searching her couch cushions when people would come to visit.

[alms24sebring]

I remember some years ago on the news that some person saved a million pennies, that $10,000. I mean the house was covered in them and I could imagine the copper smell. Just think if those were mostly quarters, hell even nickels and dimes could have multiplied that ten fold or more.

[nissangirl74]

Many, many, MANY years ago, there was an article in a tabloid magazine about a couple who found over $46,000 in one year in change on the streets of New York City. This was WAY before there were debit cards or credit-cards-o-plenty. Everyone still paid in cash. They would check the change return slots of vending machines and pay phones, check the doorways of restaurants and retail stores. It's cool that they found all of that but I think I would really like to have a different profession.

[Jesda]

If I lived in a densely populated area I'd walk down the street with a giant magnet and get rich.

[nissangirl74]

but coins aren't magnetic

[Razi]

His plan is to pick up all the expensive cars.

[Jesda]

but coins aren't magnetic

There goes my retirement plan. THANKS FOR NOTHING, SCIENCE.

[Dattebayo]

This argument always seems to stem from those a little more well off than those who are penny pinching somehow...

Of course the penny is still relevant, but not in it's current form. The mint just needs to choose a metal that doesn't cost more to produce than it's worth anymore.

[Bubba1]

I'm one of those that saves coins. It'll surprise you how quickly they accumulate. My bank still exchanges rolls free, so I don't find it a big deal to occasionally invest 45 seconds to wrap a roll The pennies by themselves generate $20-$30 annually for me. It's like getting a free half tank of gas per year. Of course it was not that long ago that those same pennies bought an entire tank of gas.

[Ozzie]

Both 1 and 2 cent coins were removed from circulation in Australia in February 1992.
Smallest denomination coin is 5 cents.

I also noticed that in the video, the creator thought that the ring-tail possum on the 1 cent piece was "super cute"
Possums aren't so cute when they have fights on the roof of your house at 5am....

[RCA]

Cool video. Probably considered useless information...
What about you? Do you still use coins to pay for things or is your collection sitting in a jar on your nightstand?

Great video. If you are an avid YouTuber I would highly suggest C.P.G. Grey's channel; this video is my favorite. Also checking out all his other videos covering how the US voting system work is a must watch for any one who doesn't understand how screwed up it is; especially the younger NICOnauts.

A more animated look at the penny/nickel inefficiency.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77C47XYm_3c[/youtube]

As for my transactions, I almost always use electronic means to spend money. Never deal with coins. When buying things with cash, I usually give nickels and pennies to the "tip" jar. Quarters/dimes stay in my pockets until laundry day and if all the change in my pocket makes up more than $1 then I spent it. If it turns out to be less than $1 then I put it in the pants I use when doing my laundry and the cycle continues... unless I do laundry without pants

This argument always seems to stem from those a little more well off than those who are penny pinching somehow...
Of course the penny is still relevant, but not in it's current form. The mint just needs to choose a metal that doesn't cost more to produce than it's worth anymore.

He covers this in the video. Although the cost of a penny is an issue, what about the 2 seconds on average per transaction because of pennies? That's enough to increase GDP. Pennies suck at the only job they have to do.

[frapjap]

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1918163

[Dattebayo]

what about the 2 seconds on average per transaction because of pennies? That's enough to increase GDP. Pennies suck at the only job they have to do.

What the hell are you referring to?

[RCA]

what about the 2 seconds on average per transaction because of pennies? That's enough to increase GDP. Pennies suck at the only job they have to do.

What the hell are you referring to?

http://youtu.be/y5UT04p5f7U?t=1m39s

[Dattebayo]

That's stupid as sh*t.

The trouble with Americans is that some view their time as worth so much. Most people don't go around thinking that they should be getting paid for going out shopping... And the guy said it himself, that more civilized countries include tax with their prices. Don't let that guy baffle you with his BS, make up your own mind.

[RCA]

2 seconds to me is nothing; now figure out how many cash transactions are made in the US in a year.

All of a sudden 2 seconds start to matter. The basic economics of it all it enough for me to make up my mind, let alone the added time it takes to use pennies.

[Jesda]

I also noticed that in the video, the creator thought that the ring-tail possum on the 1 cent piece was "super cute"
Possums aren't so cute when they have fights on the roof of your house at 5am....

[MinisterofDOOM]

From a recent page in learned'd:

I hate nickels and pennies. If it's worth less than 10 cents I don't want to see it, and I certainly don't want it jingling in my pocket. Dimes and quarters are great for tossing in a jar and redeeming later for some cash. Nickels and pennies are not. A jar full of dimes and quarters will get you maybe $80. A jar full of pennies won't buy a burger at McDonalds. Which I didn't want in the first place.

[themadscientist]

Money is money. I don't scoff at money, even a penny. Could be worse. a 1 yen is aluminum.



And yet, a penny only has 80% or so of the exchange value of the little fella. Sure, the dollar is strong.

[krimsonviper]

I prefer cash. Helps keep my budget on track, as I find it hard to keep records of it when I'm on the go. If the money in my wallet is gone, I have nothing more to spend.

[Rev_D21]

Anyone who is ready to throw away their pennies please PM me for my address. I want them!

[RCA]

Anyone who is ready to throw away their pennies please PM me for my address. I want them!

Sweet! I have $40 worth in pennies. It will cost you $45 in postage to send it to you. PM me your address.

[Rev_D21]

I want it sent next day air early AM with delivery confirmation. Insure it too.

[RCA]

[ADDirishboy]

I always save my change. Whenever I pay cash for something and get change back, just throw it in my pocket and then toss it in a jar when I get home. Are the pennies necessarily worth keeping? Not really. But it's also not worth my time to pick the pennies out of the handful of coins and get rid of them. Whenever I cash in change I usually just use it for beer money anyway.