Pennies May Soon Be a Thing of the Past

http://articles.news.aol.com/ ^ | 4 3 06 | JEFF DONN

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

"At 9/11 we donated them to the Red Cross so they could waste them on unneeded blood that they threw away."

You shouldn't feel bad about this -- think of it like an insurance policy. Even when you buy insurance, you're usually thankful if you didn't need it.

[Greenpees]

To this day, and I even teach my daughter that, if I find a penny on the ground and it's "heads up" I pick it up for good luck!

If the penny is "tails up" I flip it over and leave it there so that someone else can have good luck when they find it.

Silly, huh?

[Cobra64]

and consumer advocates who fear rounding up of purchases.

Yup. What're we going to do with gas that sells for $2.999.

[ThomasThomas]

If they got rid of the penny what would pay a bill to someone your mad at.

What happen when the mil went away. I saw then at my grandmothers house in a candy dish. I know there real.

[Cobra64]

You are assuming that any amount greater than $.05 and less than $.10 will go up to $.10. Ever heard of 5/4 rounding?

[Cobra64]

Oz got rid of their penny years ago.

[jellybean]

Now when I go to the store, I usually surreptitiously scatter my change in the parking lot on the way out. You never know who it might help, and little kids still get a charge out of finding a penny or a nickel, even if we jaded grown-ups don't!

What a cool thing to do!

[mwyounce]

For the first time, the U.S. Mint has said pennies are costing more than 1 cent to make this year, thanks to higher metal prices.

Not true! In 1982, the one cent piece was changed from 95% copper to 97% zinc with only a thin copper coating, because there was more that 1¢ worth of copper in the coin.

[ArmstedFragg]

As with most other issues, there's a song for the situation:

http://www.eveselis.com/music/nbtt.php#6


"Mr. Lincoln I don’t think that I can save ya
But you’ll go down in history."

[Cobra64]

How about a "penny weight"?

[Cobra64]

What we need are some dollar coins that are common and circulated.

It's been tried. The dopes at the mint produced the Susan B. Anthony dollar almost the same size as a quarter.

[Cobra64]

I don't know what you are talking about.

You may want to take this quiz.

http://www.okcupid.com/tests/take?testid=14457200288064322170

[GATOR NAVY]

This is funny because I remember just a few years ago reading about how the Mint would never stop making pennies because they made a profit on them.

The military exchanges in Japan started rounding to the nearest nickel this about 10 years ago when the cost of shipping pennies there grew too great. I didn't miss them at all and when I returned to the States, I found dealing with them again very annoying.

[GATOR NAVY]

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[Cobra64]

Eye erred on won question. Eye think Im growing old and mently feebel. LOL

Series, everyone in our family corrects each other's grammar. It's sort of a game, and keeps us sharp. I think I'm losing though.

[BJungNan]

I gotta tell ya this one...

Working in the garage I found myself in need a washer but did not have one the right size. For some reason a penny was in the bin of washers. So I drilled it out and used it.

I thought to myself, I'll be at the hardware store and pick up some washers.

Those washers cost between .08 and .10 each.

[BJungNan]

I'm finding the new dollar coins in regular circulation quite a bit. Even had a teller chuck one back to me as change. They are gold color now, not the Susan Quarter Look-Alikes

[BJungNan]

And I want to make it clear that the ugly hand in that pic is NOT mine.

[Old Seadog]

I use the new gold dollar whenever I can get them but the only place that I know of that uses them regularly is the change from a post office stamp machines.

[cva66snipe]

This from the U.S. Mint who changes the face of coins and bills so often now a person can't keep up. IIRC citizens who are blind must identify their coins and bills by feel. Yes even the bills have a certain texture and used to good bank tellers could sort money while counting and never even have to look. They knew the texture. The mint seems to have forgotten that also.

How about this for them. Just leave our money alone!! The bills as well as some of the coins are taking on more foreign looking designs making them harder to identify especially the nickle. I'll keep the penny. I really don't feel like playing nickle roulette with the gas pumps that can't seem to stop on an even mark and it will be the same with a nickle too. It may work in other nations but every tax grabbing local and state government will use this for a windfall tax hike. BTW ANYONE ready to see local and state sales taxes go up in 5 cent steps? No thanks.