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The last-ever penny will be minted today in Philadelphia

(www.cnn.com)
349 points andrewl | 8 comments | 12 Nov 25 16:10 UTC | HN request time: 1.065s | source | bottom
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nayuki ◴[12 Nov 25 16:41 UTC] No.45902294[source]▶
We eliminated pennies in Canada in 2012 and the transition was a non-issue. The vast majority of retailers would round cash transactions to the nearest $0.05, but a few would round down to the nearest $0.05 in favor of the customer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Withdrawal_of_low-denomination...

Canadian cash is better than American cash in several ways: No penny, durable polymer banknotes (instead of dirty wrinkly cotton paper), colorful banknotes (instead of all green) that are easy to distinguish, $1 and $2 coins in wide circulation (instead of worn-out $1 bills).

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1. totallykvothe ◴[12 Nov 25 17:59 UTC] No.45903401[source]▶
I'll agree on all but one point. The cotton/linen notes feel so much better in the hand than the candy wrapper plastic of Canadian bills. I know it's a dumb reason, but I just hate the feeling.
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2. SCUSKU ◴[12 Nov 25 18:06 UTC] No.45903486[source]▶
Plus US dollars just have that smell to them. I wouldn't mind though if we rotated out some of the faces on the bills, e.g. Andrew Jackson
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3. verdverm ◴[12 Nov 25 18:19 UTC] No.45903725[source]▶
let's wait a few years before rotating faces to avoid debating another blatantly illegal thing Dear Leader would propose (actually he already did but it was out of the news rather quickly)
4. dmd ◴[12 Nov 25 18:23 UTC] No.45903792[source]▶
You do know who would be the first person to rotate in, don't you.
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5. nilamo ◴[12 Nov 25 18:41 UTC] No.45904079{3}[source]▶
It would obviously be someone as equally legendary as Washington or Jefferson; noted American Paul Bunyan. We can even call them Big Blue Bucks.
6. debatem1 ◴[12 Nov 25 18:48 UTC] No.45904190{3}[source]▶
My politics and his don't line up but I'm not against this. It would be pretty interesting to see the impact on cash usage, and faces on money are pretty archeologically useful-- at least on coins.
7. bregma ◴[12 Nov 25 19:00 UTC] No.45904442[source]▶
Is that what cocaine smells like?
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8. khannn ◴[12 Nov 25 20:57 UTC] No.45906548{3}[source]▶
Cocaine and feces smells like freedom