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601 points andrewl | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0.402s | source
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paxys ◴[] No.45903741[source]
Too early to say "ever", considering there has been no act of congress on this matter and the penny continues to be legal tender. The decision to stop minting it is a (legally debatable) executive order, and the next president or even the current one can change their mind about it tomorrow.
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aDyslecticCrow ◴[] No.45903917[source]
lets hope not. This is long overdue and should pose relatively little issue compared to most other recent questionable executive orders.

stop minting and stop accepting is commonly separated to allow adjustment. so likely a later president will just add the second phaseout step.

replies(1): >>45904131 #
dawnerd ◴[] No.45904131[source]
I agree it's time to follow Canada and the rest of the world but it needs to be done through congress, not executive orders. It needs to have a proper framework for migration and laws for how payments are rounded.
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Waterluvian ◴[] No.45907661[source]
I don’t believe we actually have a law that dictates how to round in Canada. There’s just a government recommendation.

I get that the U.S. is a much lower trust culture, but is it really necessary? The rounding is only for cash transactions.

replies(1): >>45908669 #
1. aDyslecticCrow ◴[] No.45908669[source]
I think stores will adjust their prices pretty quick if they cannot even aquire pennies to give as change. So no law should be needed.

you may need to stipulate a grace period during which stores are still obligated to take pennies, to slowly shake them out of circulation without every American needing to visit a bank for cashing in. But its also possible that isn't needed either.

In the 2nd half of the phaseout you may need a proper marketing campaign to remind people to cashe in before expiration. (common when other countries update their physical currency). But that is probably the job of a different sitting president anyway so whatever.

Heck, is this actual something that congress have say over? It wouldn't surprise me if this was actually up to the federal reserve to decide, and they seem on board.

replies(1): >>45909025 #
2. Jblx2 ◴[] No.45909025[source]
Why would pennies need to expire? Why wouldn't stores still accept them, even if they are in short supply? Surely stores would still accept $2 bills and $1 coins (which are "rare") even if they don't like it?