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America Must Free Itself from the Tyranny of the Penny (www.nytimes.com)

submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[+] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (3 children)

The other day I paid with a $20 bill and two ones for a $12 item so I can get a whole $10 back instead of more ones. The cashier mindlessly saw the $20 as a $10 because it’s so exceedingly rare for someone to intentionally overpay to control excess change. After that, I stopped doing it.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

because it’s so exceedingly rare for someone to intentionally overpay to control excess change.

It's getting rare to pay with cash at all

I worked fast food many moons ago and even then it was like 80% card transactions

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Adding extra for round change was not only common, but cashiers would ask for it. But that was 20 years ago, when I still used cash. The only cash I ever see now is the one I keep around to put under my kids' pillows for their teeth.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

I've found the trick is you have to say "Here's $22 dollars" out loud to them.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

That cashier wasn’t patient attention. Your technique is fine.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I genuinely didnt follow that, first time ive been too yung to get something

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Back in the day you did the math in your head and gave back change. If there’s a line, it’s easier and faster for you to pay a few cents extra so that the cashier can give you back a single nickel instead of multiple pennies. This is really about how many physical actions you need to take.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Meh. I don't remember the last time I handled cash - never touch the stuff. I don't even have to swipe anymore...contactless tap ftw.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago

Well except that if you are doing it with cards you have to worry about being skimmed. Here in Canada they have chip and pin but guess who gets stung with purchases 4 out of 5 times when it happens because it doesn't ask for the pin all the time.

Now if you do it through a smartwatch, phone, or some other device that can't be skimmed when it isn't being used, then that is the way to do it.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Canada stopped minting pennies ages ago because the metals used to make a penny were worth more than the penny itself

[–] mindbleach 2 points 1 month ago

the metals used to make a penny were worth more than the penny itself

Is that where the value comes from?

No, seriously. When you spend a penny - it's gone. Right? So it's wasteful to mint a penny that costs more than one cent.

[+] [email protected] -7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

And? That’s true of most coins. It’s probably true of the bills as well.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It’s probably true of the bills as well.

Just FYI you can look up stuff like this at no cost. It's not even close to being true. A Canadian polymer banknote costs about 20 cents to manufacture and the smallest denomination is $5. Coins cost a few cents to make (even $2 ones). It's just the penny that lost so much of its value over time that it costs more to make than its worth.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

Looks like you’re right about bills. That surprised me in the US though — they use some special hemp-based paper, and they weave in anti counterfeit strips etc etc. but they claim it only costs six cents or so per note.

https://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/currency_12771.htm

In the US it costs more to make a five cent piece than it is worth. I don’t hear people complaining about getting rid of nickels though. Costs of other coins are climbing as well.

https://money.com/coin-costs-us-mint-solutions/

Coins last a lot longer than paper bills, so the extra cost might be worth it. The US has repeatedly tried dollar coins, but the idiots at the mint keep making them look and feel too much like quarters.

Of course the design costs add in as well, and the mint here keeps redesigning the quarter every year. So if we really wanted to save money, we would stop that nonsense.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

As an American I’m down to even go as low as removing dimes and switching $1, $2, and $5 to coins. That puts us at similar currency value for the coin-bill swap as the yen and when I used it it felt about right

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Other countries will start removing 5 cent coins in a few decades too (I'm guessing 30-50 years) . It's only natural when low but positive inflation is targeted by every modern economy.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago

There are loose plans to do that here in Canada long before that, but nothing solid right now. My guess is they are going to have to move from rounding to the nickel to rounding to the dime and pricing and taxes will have to follow. From when I was a kid a penny and a nickel are worth 1/5th of what they were in purchasing power.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 month ago

Thanks for this great article. For those who are paywalled you can read it using Archive.IS https://archive.is/20240901230552/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/01/magazine/worthless-pennies-united-states-economy.html#selection-1851.0-1885.810