# An Alternative to Discontinuing the Penny **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 10, 2025, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142 "2025-02-10T17:46:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Sooner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sooner/32/7875_2.png) [@Sooner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sooner)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/61 "2025-02-11T03:23:28Z")
Correct The Oklahoma ones had Old Age Relief printed on them. Pre Social Security days. Those were hard days for us Okies Another hateful term, now embraced by those impacted. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/62 "2025-02-11T03:41:47Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I hate to agree with the current president, but this is something past due. It should be done with legislation, as was done when manufacturing of the half cent stopped. Rule by decree is a bigger issue for me than coinage reform. Ideally, Congress should eliminate manufacturing of the penny, nickel, dime, dollar bill, fifty dollar bill, and hundred dollar bill. This would not only reduce the deficit a bit — it would also complicate and slow down a great deal of criminal activity. P.S. The dime isn’t bad by itself, but it doesn’t work well without the nickel. ---
**Author:** ![Sooner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sooner/32/7875_2.png) [@Sooner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sooner)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/63 "2025-02-11T03:57:00Z")
All fine suggestions; but do any criminals bother with the low denomination stuff? And on the other side, long since time to print something larger. $250 sound about right. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/64 "2025-02-11T04:09:17Z")
> [@Sooner](#): > > $250 sound about right. The book The Curse of Cash convinced me otherwise. Here is a summary: > **[This Harvard economist says it’s time to abolish $100, $50, and $20 bills](https://www.vox.com/new-money/2016/10/20/13321168/cash-crime-hundreds-rogoff)** > > Hundred dollar bills are heavily used for crime and tax evasion. Should we get rid of them? ---
**Author:** ![Sooner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sooner/32/7875_2.png) [@Sooner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sooner)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/65 "2025-02-11T04:19:18Z")
I understand. And likely the time for physical cash has past. But as long as it exists, make it reasonably useful. For the most part, I carry enough cash on me to pay for a fine meal, if my card is compromised. Hence my $250 number. In twenty’s that small amount is literally uncomfortable to carry in a wallet. Criminals are going to criminals regardless. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/66 "2025-02-11T12:30:56Z")
> [@Sooner](#): > > I understand. > > Criminals are going to criminals regardless. The other objection to big bills, briefly mentioned in my link, is that they prevent the Federal Reserve from using slightly negative interest rates to fight recessions. The smaller the top bill, the greater the handling and security costs of banks holding vast quantities of cash, and the greater the negative interest rate that is possible. This is complicated to explain. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/67 "2025-02-11T12:36:27Z")
Good back and forth to anchor my comment … > [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@wolfpup](#): > > > > These days the whole thing is moot because I literally never carry cash. There’s absolutely no need for it. > > How do you tip the bellhop? The valet or parking attendant? Do you routinely buy stuff under $5 with a card? Tips for the bellhop, valet, and car wash crew are the only uses for cash in my life. Oh, yeah, and Powerball tickets. I have a special wallet for travel loaded with small bills for tips, and one in the car with bills appropriate for Powerball and tips for the car wash crew. I rarely make a purchase smaller than ~$2, the price of a single liter bottle of water at a convenience store. Those go on the card. The merchant fees are their problem, not mine. They’re ~~welcome~~ free to tack on a card surcharge if they want. > [@Sooner](#): > > For the most part, I carry enough cash on me to pay for a fine meal, if my card is compromised. Hence my $250 number. > In twenty’s that small amount is literally uncomfortable to carry in a wallet. > Criminals are going to criminals regardless. I too carry emergency cash, a couple large bills folded up in the phone case with my CC. And yeah, won’t be long before the $100 is too small, not too large. My solution to compromised / dead CC is to carry one physical card but have several loaded into my phone’s e-wallet. Damn near everyplace can take a phone NFC tap as readily as a physical card. If the physical card is lost or dead, one of the others in the phone can substitute. The cash is truly last-ditch and I can go months without choosing to touch it. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/68 "2025-02-11T13:07:55Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > fe. Oh, yeah, and Powerball tickets. No Powerball in Canada (at least until, we become the 51st state) but not only can I buy lottery tickets with a card, I can do it online or with an app. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/69 "2025-02-11T14:23:47Z")
Down here in Fundamentalist Prudistan that’s illegal in most places. In person, one time, with cash, period is the law in many (most?) states. I know there are some exceptions, but I’ve never lived in one. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/70 "2025-02-11T14:29:54Z")
With the price of aluminum imported into the US about to have a 25% tariff, the cost of aluminum may factor into the continuance of the penny, assuming there’s any credence to the idea. It’s truly useless unless there’s any slot machines anymore that take them. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/71 "2025-02-11T14:36:10Z")
They got rid of the $500 and higher bills due to being used in crime. The question is that in 2025, is getting rid of high-value bills needed given bitcoin and digital transfers you can do from your phone? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/72 "2025-02-11T14:48:33Z")
You can buy Powerball and other lottery tickets online in a number of states. Stores around here don’t allow credit cards for lottery tickets now. They started refusing them a while back because of challenges to the charges. I don’t know if the credit card companies now don’t allow it or if it’s been made illegal. It appears to be a state issue. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/73 "2025-02-11T15:38:07Z")
> [@sunstone](#): > > I am cautious about eliminating the penny for different reasons than the ones I’ve seen so far. My concern is that getting rid of the penny would mean that whatever you buy would be priced to be either exactly on the dollar, or in increments of 5 or 10 cents. No more apples for 97 cents per pound…the price would be raised to 1.00 per pound or far less likely 95 cents a pound. That would result in an appoximately 3% inflation on the price of apples. How often are you buying _exactly_ one pound of apples at $0.97 per pound, and not some other random weight? And the only rounding is on the total paid at the cash register, including sales tax and only if you’re paying by cash. So at most, the total transaction amount is affected by three cents. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/74 "2025-02-11T15:48:55Z")
> [@Ynnad](#): > > I can think of at least one legitimate reason that the U.S. one cent coin (commonly called the penny) should not be discontinued and that is to help maintain the illusion that the U.S. Dollar is a stable currency. I need some support for this statement. Why would eliminating the penny create financial instability? It’s pretty much useless these days, so it really isn’t contributing anything good or bad. Please explain. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/75 "2025-02-11T16:35:36Z")
I suppose their point is that killing the penny would be seen as “evidence” by the inflationary doomsayer CT crowd that the debasement of the dollar is well and truly underway. It’s an “admission” by the govenment that they intend to wreck the dollar. Or so would say the wackos. Like you, I too think the idea this would have any discernable effect on the non-wacko part of the economy is simply laughable. Wackos gonna wack. Whaddayagonnado? ---
**Author:** ![Ynnad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4491bb/32.png) [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/76 "2025-02-11T16:40:45Z")
LSLGuy said it better than I could. I just want to add that there are a great number of “wackos” out there. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/77 "2025-02-11T16:43:33Z")
So issuing a new halfpenny coin should do wonders for the economy. ---
**Author:** ![Ynnad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4491bb/32.png) [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/78 "2025-02-11T16:57:28Z")
You and I both know reintroduction of the half penny wouldn’t really have a tangible effect on the economy and the same could be said for the elimination of the penny. But either would have an enormous effect on a lot of people’s **perception** of the economy. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/79 "2025-02-11T17:17:25Z")
I **am in favor** of getting rid of Pennies. I **am not in favor** of getting rid of **The** Penny. One **BIG** Penny. Because Batman. [![](https://13thdimension.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/WF30-copy.jpg) ](https://13thdimension.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/WF30-copy.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/80 "2025-02-11T17:25:28Z")
Why would it affect perceptions? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142.md?page=5)