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The last-ever penny will be minted today in Philadelphia

(www.cnn.com)
334 points andrewl | 13 comments | 12 Nov 25 16:10 UTC | HN request time: 0.209s | source | bottom
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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).
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1. basscomm ◴[12 Nov 25 16:36 UTC] No.45902226[source]▶
We also have a $2 bill that nobody uses for whatever reason.

I never understood the objections to the $1 coin, especially after the redesign to make it more distinct from a quarter. $1 coins are great for buying stuff out of vending machines since you don't have to fight with a dodgy bill acceptor or a mangled bill.

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2. devmor ◴[12 Nov 25 16:49 UTC] No.45902405[source]▶
> We also have a $2 bill that nobody uses for whatever reason.

It’s because retailers wont accept them - they think they’re counterfeit because no one uses them. A catch-22 situation, really.

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3. orangecat ◴[12 Nov 25 16:52 UTC] No.45902443[source]▶
Yeah. My proposal would be to have 10 cent, 50 cent, and $1 coins (rounding everything to the nearest 10 cents), with $2 the smallest bill. And probably you could drop the $5 bill at that point.
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4. JohnFen ◴[12 Nov 25 16:52 UTC] No.45902455[source]▶
I've never had a retailer refuse to accept a $2 bill, although a couple of times the clerk summoned the manager about it.

But I've never found a retailer willing to give a $2 bill as change.

The resistance to the $2 bill is a very weird cultural thing.

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5. ianferrel ◴[12 Nov 25 17:02 UTC] No.45902607[source]▶
There's a lot of physical infrastructure that works with quarters, and it's probably not worth giving that up for slightly improved coinage. Just drop all the coins smaller than a quarter.
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6. basscomm ◴[12 Nov 25 17:42 UTC] No.45903143{3}[source]▶
That only works if you completely reconfigure sales tax
7. silisili ◴[12 Nov 25 17:51 UTC] No.45903280[source]▶
My only real objection I guess, and the reason I don't carry change of any sort, is because it's constantly falling out of my pockets. I'm rather tall, so many seating positions put my knees higher than my waist, which I think contributes to that.

Further, since I don't have enough pockets to have a dedicated change pocket, it's always getting caught up in my keys and/or pocket knife.

Nobody really gave us training on this stuff, do other countries use a coin purse or some such?

Lastly, they're just comparatively heavy.

I just carry cash around in either a clip or a "front pocket wallet" I think they're called, and it seems more convenient all around.

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8. orangecat ◴[12 Nov 25 18:58 UTC] No.45904387{3}[source]▶
There's a lot of physical infrastructure that works with quarters

Very good point and I think I'm convinced.

9. ewoodrich ◴[12 Nov 25 19:28 UTC] No.45905012{3}[source]▶
Dispensaries in OR/WA love $2 bills, for some chains they're as unremarkable as a $1 and must special request them in bulk to keep on hand for making change.
10. basscomm ◴[12 Nov 25 19:33 UTC] No.45905099[source]▶
> Nobody really gave us training on this stuff, do other countries use a coin purse or some such?

Americans also use coin purses or rubber coin pouches, but I mostly only see older generations using them.

11. toast0 ◴[12 Nov 25 20:24 UTC] No.45906008{3}[source]▶
There's also the 3rd amendment. It would be worthless to say soldiers can't demand change for the vending machine, when nobody at all can get quarters.
12. acheron ◴[12 Nov 25 20:26 UTC] No.45906034[source]▶
This was a whole thing in the 70s. There was a 3 step plan:

1) Bring back the $2 bill (it had not been printed for a decade+)

2) Redesign the $1 coin (Eisenhowers being too big and heavy)

3) Stop printing $1 bills

Unfortunately they never got to step 3, which made 1 and 2 pointless, and here we are.

13. toast0 ◴[12 Nov 25 20:27 UTC] No.45906065{3}[source]▶
> But I've never found a retailer willing to give a $2 bill as change.

Mostly retailers don't stock $2 bills (because they're weird), so if a customer brings a $2, the cashier will put it in their their exceptional bills area, which usually is just large bills. No change is made with exceptional bills, so twos don't get recirculated.