←back to thread

The last-ever penny will be minted today in Philadelphia

(www.cnn.com)
553 points andrewl | 8 comments | 12 Nov 25 16:10 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source | bottom
Show context
Night_Thastus ◴[12 Nov 25 18:13 UTC] No.45903609[source]▶
I'd say screw it, get rid of nickles and dimes as well. Quarters can stay, for now.

It's a complete waste of money and time continuing to mint such low-value currency. It can't be used for just about anything.

Unfortunately, I do see the problem with part of this. For a handful of items where it does matter, it will force people to use cards more if they want to avoid rounding. And the card providers already have a choke-hold on retailers, and the whole thing is basically a scheme that funnels money from the poor to the wealthy via interest and fees on the consumer, interchange fees, and rewards programs.

replies(27): >>45903659 #>>45903693 #>>45903694 #>>45903838 #>>45903851 #>>45904015 #>>45904115 #>>45904186 #>>45904256 #>>45904307 #>>45904339 #>>45904467 #>>45905217 #>>45905224 #>>45905752 #>>45906029 #>>45906082 #>>45906214 #>>45906243 #>>45906547 #>>45906579 #>>45907421 #>>45907466 #>>45908008 #>>45908410 #>>45908449 #>>45908784 #
bbarnett ◴[12 Nov 25 18:51 UTC] No.45904256[source]▶
I know you're referencing more than pennies, but to speak to pennies, I find the current rounding noise in the US to be weird. Likely, it's just more of the media, talking heads, and youtube personalities trying to turn a nothing into something, story.

Back when we did it in Canada, I don't recall a single person I knew concerned about penny rounding. Everyone was sick of pennies. No one cared. Everyone was happy. And the math seems fair enough:

https://www.budget.canada.ca/2012/themes/theme2-info-eng.htm...

Basically, if something is $1.01 or $1.02, you round down. If it's $1.03 or $1.04, you round up. Rounding is to be applied after all taxes are paid, etc.

Of course, there was also central guidance and, well, everyone just followed it. It's called "having a society".

People blathering on about stores fixing the rounding are morons, there's no way to do so if you buy more than one item. No one gets ripped off with the above method. In the end, it just works out.

And really, who cares?! It's a penny.

replies(19): >>45904397 #>>45904436 #>>45904481 #>>45904577 #>>45904655 #>>45904939 #>>45904978 #>>45905151 #>>45905303 #>>45906043 #>>45906076 #>>45906641 #>>45906694 #>>45907379 #>>45907889 #>>45907918 #>>45908132 #>>45908575 #>>45908826 #
simpleguitar ◴[12 Nov 25 19:00 UTC] No.45904436[source]▶
As the article points out, there are laws that say people who pay via SNAP debit cards "cannot be charged more than others".

If cash payments are rounded down, but debit card payments aren't, they are in violation of state law.

The article also points out that rollback of pennies in Canada and other places were planned, addressing these kinds of issues. USA is doing it with no such planning.

replies(9): >>45904567 #>>45905085 #>>45905444 #>>45905872 #>>45906182 #>>45906290 #>>45906383 #>>45906724 #>>45906856 #
dyslexit ◴[12 Nov 25 19:52 UTC] No.45905444[source]▶
The article also points out that some states and a lot cities require retailers to provide exact change. Congress would need to pass legislation to allow rounding nationally. I'm guessing in the meantime they'll continue holding pennies from previous years?
replies(5): >>45905609 #>>45906543 #>>45906609 #>>45908184 #>>45908704 #
patrickthebold ◴[12 Nov 25 20:56 UTC] No.45906543[source]▶
Is gas sold as a whole penny amounts in those locations? Where I am it's always something and 9/10ths of a cent.
replies(2): >>45906652 #>>45906748 #
ryandrake ◴[12 Nov 25 21:04 UTC] No.45906652[source]▶
Allowing gas stations to denominate their prices by the 10th of a cent has always struck me as a just an underhanded and extreme way to practice the "9.99" retail psychological trick. Why not allow retailers to price things 9.99999? Ridiculous.
replies(4): >>45906769 #>>45906771 #>>45908084 #>>45908663 #
1. cwmma ◴[12 Nov 25 21:12 UTC] No.45906769[source]▶
It's because technically the dollar is divided into Dimes, Cents, and Mil. (this is why dimes say 'One Dime' on them instead of 'Ten Cents'.

So while the mil isn't really used anywhere else that regular people see any more due to inflation, it is a valid division of the dollar and that's why they are able to get away with it.

replies(5): >>45907838 #>>45908178 #>>45908460 #>>45908764 #>>45908871 #
2. LadyCailin ◴[12 Nov 25 22:35 UTC] No.45907838[source]▶
So do whatever they do with mils but for the penny too. They don’t nor have they ever minted a mil coin, so the procedure for this is already well established if this is correct.
3. dimensional_dan ◴[12 Nov 25 23:06 UTC] No.45908178[source]▶
Has a Mil ever been minted?
replies(1): >>45908881 #
4. georgefrowny ◴[12 Nov 25 23:35 UTC] No.45908460[source]▶
There is no such decipence division in the UK, but fuel is still sold with a vestigial .9 pence on the end. In fact, since the denomination is per litre, not gallon, the .9 is about 4 times more significant.

When the final calculation of XX.YYY litres * AAA.9 pence/litre is done, it's then rounded off to 1 pence.

Currency conversions are also frequently done with readers that aren't a round multiple of pence, even in official government tables: https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/exchange_rates/view/...

5. Aloisius ◴[13 Nov 25 00:15 UTC] No.45908764[source]▶
> (this is why dimes say 'One Dime' on them instead of 'Ten Cents'.

No, it's purely stylistic. We tend to spell out denominations on coinage and "dime" is just the American spelling of disme, meaning a tenth.

The capped bust dime from 1809-1839 had "10 C." rather than "One Dime". Similarly, the capped bust quarter said "25 C." instead of the modern "Quarter Dollar", the half dollar said "50 C." rather than the later "Half Dollar" and the half dime said "5 C." rather than the later "Half Dime."

Most of the 18th century and early 19th century coinage, besides half pennies and pennies didn't have their denomination written on them at all.

6. munk-a ◴[13 Nov 25 00:24 UTC] No.45908871[source]▶
I'd like to clarify that point a bit.

They're allowed to get away with it because of a dysfunctional lobbying driven government. Mils don't exist in the common knowledge and if any reasonable person looked at this they'd call it out. It is useful in accounting but a Mill has never been minted and the last half penny was minted in 1857. It has never been possible using issued physical legal tender in the US to pay a debt of $3.129

The Mill doesn't exist because of some archaic need - it's pure dysfunction and the utilization of it in gas prices is a practice that should and very easily could be made illegal.

replies(1): >>45909216 #
7. munk-a ◴[13 Nov 25 00:25 UTC] No.45908881[source]▶
It has not - and it's been more than 150 years since the last sub-cent denomination (the half penny) was minted.
8. ryandrake ◴[13 Nov 25 01:14 UTC] No.45909216[source]▶
Yes, the "Mill" discussion looks to be totally irrelevant. [1] and [2] seem to back up my claim that, at least in modern times, it's purely a "just-below pricing" psychological trick and has nothing to do with the Mill unit.

$4.999 looks a lot smaller than $5.00 to everyday people and it makes the gas company more money than $4.99. That's all there is to it.

1: https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/why-do-gas-prices-alw...

2. https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/14/energy/why-gas-prices-fractio...