Most active commenters
  • JohnFen(4)

←back to thread

The last-ever penny will be minted today in Philadelphia

(www.cnn.com)
334 points andrewl | 12 comments | 12 Nov 25 16:10 UTC | HN request time: 1.303s | source | bottom
Show context
Analemma_ ◴[12 Nov 25 16:23 UTC] No.45902070[source]▶
Honestly nickels and dimes, and maybe even quarters, should go too. It's ridiculous that we don't have $1 and $2 coins in widespread circulation in the US (we have a $1 coin but nobody uses it).
replies(8): >>45902164 #>>45902226 #>>45902303 #>>45902335 #>>45902394 #>>45902682 #>>45903511 #>>45903582 #
1. JohnFen ◴[12 Nov 25 16:31 UTC] No.45902164[source]▶
I'd mourn the loss of the quarter. I use those quite often.

> (we have a $1 coin but nobody uses it)

Because they keep designing it in the stupidest way, making it easy to confuse with a quarter. I don't know why they do that.

That said, I do prefer paper $1 bills over coins. Paper is lighter and easier to carry. But I'd only slightly grumble if we replaced it with a reasonable coin.

replies(3): >>45902208 #>>45902707 #>>45903514 #
2. terminalshort ◴[12 Nov 25 16:35 UTC] No.45902208[source]▶
It's a completely different color than a quarter.
replies(2): >>45902264 #>>45902437 #
3. JohnFen ◴[12 Nov 25 16:39 UTC] No.45902264[source]▶
That doesn't help if you're in dim lighting or have vision problems.
replies(3): >>45902354 #>>45902409 #>>45902736 #
4. 45764986 ◴[12 Nov 25 16:45 UTC] No.45902354{3}[source]▶
If you have vision problems, US currency is totally unfriendly to you. Unlike other countries, which have bills of different sizes, all the US currency bills are the same size, so getting change as a blind person is basically relying on the honesty of whoever is behind the counter.
replies(1): >>45902408 #
5. JohnFen ◴[12 Nov 25 16:49 UTC] No.45902408{4}[source]▶
Absolutely true. It's one of the several crazy design problems with US paper currency.
6. terminalshort ◴[12 Nov 25 16:49 UTC] No.45902409{3}[source]▶
That would explain why 1% of people don't use the $1 coin. It doesn't explain the other 99%.
replies(1): >>45902444 #
7. pavel_lishin ◴[12 Nov 25 16:51 UTC] No.45902437[source]▶
If your fingertips can sense the color of things in your pocket, I'd love to learn more.
8. pavel_lishin ◴[12 Nov 25 16:52 UTC] No.45902444{4}[source]▶
99% of people have Darkvision? What is this, a D&D party?
9. basscomm ◴[12 Nov 25 17:11 UTC] No.45902707[source]▶
> That said, I do prefer paper $1 bills over coins. Paper is lighter and easier to carry.

Sure, but how many $1 bills do you typically carry around? If it's more than four, then you can trade them in for a $5 bill just about anywhere.

10. basscomm ◴[12 Nov 25 17:13 UTC] No.45902736{3}[source]▶
That's why the dollar coin was redesigned in 2000. The old dollar coin had a reeded edge that was too similar to a quarter, so it was sometimes hard to distinguish if you had vision issues (or if you didn't have vision issues because they were about the same size as a quarter). The new ones have a smooth edge so you can tell them apart from quarters without having to look at them
replies(1): >>45903164 #
11. JohnFen ◴[12 Nov 25 17:44 UTC] No.45903164{4}[source]▶
True, and the new design is better than the old because of it. But it hasn't resolved the issue enough to really matter. Some less subtle physical difference is required -- put a hole in it, make it an obviously unique size, whatever.

At least that's how it seems to me. It's an interesting design issue. I don't personally care too much -- I'm fine with the paper bill -- but I do have curiosity about why the coin designers have made the decisions they did about the $1 coin.

12. panzagl ◴[12 Nov 25 18:07 UTC] No.45903514[source]▶
Bring back the Eisenhower dollar!