End of the penny....

[John VN]

I use a plastic a whole lot more than I used to. Like for groceries, I NEVER thought I would do that. I have been lazy and using it for gasoline and foregoing the cash discount. But being retired, and driving a hybrid, we only buy a tank of gas every two or three months. I did use cash this week at the cafe as their point of sale system was down.

r.e. bold - We use our gas credit card at the pump thanks to the 5% cash back per gallon. Not expecting gas to get bellow $2.00 so CC it is.

 

[Kennywood]

People keep saying that pennies cost $.03 - $.04 to make, and that nickels cost $.15 - $.20 to make. So what? Coins are not one-time use items. It's not like you're using a coin once and then it's destroyed. Coins stay in circulation for years, even decades. I still occasionally find a wheat penny in change that I'm given.

 

[Kennywood]

I use a plastic a whole lot more than I used to. Like for groceries,

When I was in a grocery store not too long ago, I was behind a woman who actually wrote out a check to pay for her groceries. I had to smile. I hadn't seen anyone use a check to pay for groceries in a very long time.

 

[Kennywood]

I saw someone post the following on Facebook:

"I held up a grocery story line because the card reader couldn't read my Apple Watch. The elderly man behind me exhales and said, 'Let's move this long, future boy.'"

 

[RedAngie]

When I was in a grocery store not too long ago, I was behind a woman who actually wrote out a check to pay for her groceries. I had to smile. I hadn't seen anyone use a check to pay for groceries in a very long time.

Was she a “mature” woman?

I was at Dollywood theme park last month and had to go to Guest Services to resolve a minor issue. The person next to me at the counter bought their version of Fast Passes and paid with a traveler’s check. I was surprised that they still exist. Dollywood also still accepts cash, unlike many other theme parks.

 

[_19disnA]

Local grocery store has a new sign about a penny shortage and rounds up/down your purchase total to the next nickel and/or asks if you want to donate your change to a local charity.

Coins do last longer in circulation compared to paper money. I seem to recall a statistic that the average dollar bill lasts for 18 months. Coins last much longer. However, that same rationale has backfired in the past when they introduced various dollar coins to replace the paper dollar bill. Most people still don't use them and making it roughly the same size as a quarter was a big mistake.

 

[kdonnel]

When I was in a grocery store not too long ago, I was behind a woman who actually wrote out a check to pay for her groceries. I had to smile. I hadn't seen anyone use a check to pay for groceries in a very long time.

You saw a time traveler!

 

[kdonnel]

Local grocery store has a new sign about a penny shortage and rounds up/down your purchase total to the next nickel and/or asks if you want to donate your change to a local charity.

Coins do last longer in circulation compared to paper money. I seem to recall a statistic that the average dollar bill lasts for 18 months. Coins last much longer. However, that same rationale has backfired in the past when they introduced various dollar coins to replace the paper dollar bill. Most people still don't use them and making it roughly the same size as a quarter was a big mistake.

It is expected to save $56 million a year just in production costs to eliminate the physical penny. That doesn't account for the costs saved in no longer having to move around the pennies, their storage, or the labor costs associated with counting.

The concept of the penny is not being eliminated. Rounding only needs to occur for cash transactions. For electronic transactions no rounding is required.

Last year just 14% of all transactions in the US occurred using cash and those transactions represent only 11% of the value of all transactions.


This chart shows the percentage of Americans who never use cash in a typical week:


The trend is definitely towards electronic only. Getting rid of the penny is a positive step in the right direction.

Now we should set a sunset date for the nickel.