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.
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.
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.
The book The Curse of Cash convinced me otherwise. Here is a summary:
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.
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.
Good back and forth to anchor my comment …
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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?
LSLGuy said it better than I could. I just want to add that there are a great number of “wackos” out there.
So issuing a new halfpenny coin should do wonders for the economy.
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.
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.
Why would it affect perceptions?