# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Ynnad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4491bb/32.png) [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/101 "2025-02-13T01:17:35Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Finders keepers, losers weepers. There is no legal principle that support this, at least in most jurisdictions in this country and other common law countries. A finder of lost property is obligated to take **reasonable** steps to return it to its true owner. ---
**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 13, 2025, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/102 "2025-02-13T01:24:38Z")
How is your discussion about finding a penny on the ground not irrelevant to the thread? ---
**Author:** ![Ynnad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4491bb/32.png) [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/103 "2025-02-13T01:40:56Z")
Several posters have described pennies as almost worthless. ---
**Author:** ![Ynnad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4491bb/32.png) [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/104 "2025-02-13T02:25:45Z")
Looking back at my original post, I see that I did not make it clear that I was mostly concerned about perceptions of the U.S. dollar in foreign countries, especially poor countries with recent memories of hyperinflation. **LSLGuy** might be correct about people in the U.S. with these concerns being “wackos” but some people in third world countries that have been burned by inflation may have a different world view. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/105 "2025-02-13T02:40:30Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Pennies and Nickels should both be discontinued and pricing adjusted appropriately. Both have outlived their time. No adjusting of prices has to happen in most cases. Take for example a grocery store. The only adjustment needed will be to round the total for all the items to the nearest five cents. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/106 "2025-02-13T05:58:27Z")
Forget about the penny. What about the 0.9 cent coin? How am I going to buy gasoline anymore without being ripped off? It’s $3.59.9 right now for a gallon. I keep a tray or 0.009 coins in my car plus a few 0.099s for good measure. Losing that $0.001 each time adds up. math is not my strong suit ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2025, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/107 "2025-02-14T01:10:40Z")
There are three kinds of people in the world: those who understand math, and those who don’t. ---
**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 14, 2025, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/108 "2025-02-14T02:06:52Z")
I prefer “there are 2 kinds of people in this world: those that can infer the situation from incomplete information” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2025, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/109 "2025-02-14T15:09:04Z")
Niiiiice. ---
**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 14, 2025, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/110 "2025-02-14T15:23:49Z")
> [@Ynnad](#): > > How many of the penny haters on this message board will say that I was a fool for doing so? Not really a penny hater but I will say you were a fool to pick it up if it wasn’t lying heads up, which would give you good luck. If it was face down you don’t want to take it. At least turn it over so the next person can pick it up and get the good luck. I mean seriously, where would we get good luck without pennies? There’s no luck in a nickel. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2025, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/111 "2025-02-14T18:33:57Z")
No luck in a nickel? I’m picking this one up pardner. The most valuable nickel is the 1913 Liberty Head Nickel, which is estimated to be worth over $3 million. Only five of these coins are known to exist, and they were never officially released. ---
**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 14, 2025, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/112 "2025-02-14T18:47:10Z")
Not bad for a nickel. Better than a 1943 Lincoln Copperhead penny that tops out around $1million. Only 40 of those were ever made, only 13 ever found. So there was some chance I had one of those in my hands at some point, even now. And very little chance I’d even know that I had it, certainly less chance that I’d pick one up from the floor. If I saw a $20 bill on the ground I’d rather see someone else pick it up than slowly bend over while groaning and do it myself. And that’s why I’d like to see the penny discontinued. ---
**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 14, 2025, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/113 "2025-02-14T18:48:36Z")
How about a new $0.00999… coin. It’s worth as much as penny but you’ll spend a lot of time explaining why. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2025, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/114 "2025-02-14T18:55:40Z")
I LOVE this! ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2025, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/115 "2025-02-15T04:09:37Z")
What America needs is a seven cent nickel. If that works out, next year we can have an eight cent nickel. Think what that would mean. You could go to a newsstand, buy a three cent newspaper, and get the same nickel back again. One nickel carefully used would last a family a lifetime. ---
**Author:** ![vbob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vbob/32/4439_2.png) [@vbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vbob)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2025, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/116 "2025-02-15T14:35:02Z")
To add to the discussion about what might be an appropriate metal for a substitute penny - how about spent uranium? [https://larryniven.net/?q=yet-another-modest-proposal-the-roentgen-standard](https://larryniven.net/?q=yet-another-modest-proposal-the-roentgen-standard) ---
**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 15, 2025, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/117 "2025-02-15T14:39:53Z")
I’m sure that people who think that eliminating a low-value coin is equivalent to hyperinflation aren’t going to be at all freaked out by a coin made of uranium. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2025, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/118 "2025-02-15T19:19:58Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > You could go to a newsstand, buy a three cent newspaper Which alternate universe/century are you living in where newspapers cost only 3 cents? Can I move there? ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2025, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/119 "2025-02-15T19:32:28Z")
You can if you have a time machine and want to live in the Great Depression. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/H0K3QtU-iNM/hqdefault.jpg "Seven Cent Nickel") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0K3QtU-iNM) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2025, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142/120 "2025-02-15T22:22:34Z")
A business opportunity. I will take the pennies my in-laws rolled to the zoo, and sell pennies to frustrated parents for a nickel. Perhaps I can get a dime on Sundays, or for particularly obnoxious children. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-alternative-to-discontinuing-the-penny/1014142.md?page=7)