# WHY should the US use more coins? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 7, 2009, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-the-us-use-more-coins/520371 "2009-12-07T21:42:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-the-us-use-more-coins/520371/21 "2009-12-08T01:04:01Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > Second, I use coins all the time, for example in vending machines and parking meters. Curiously, I have managed to go through life without ever feeding a parking meter. Ever! (Though I have _seen_ them fed once or twice.) And vending machines are optional - and often take paper dollars. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-the-us-use-more-coins/520371/22 "2009-12-08T01:09:47Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > My bills are sorted. No digging around. > > And around here that sandwhich will cost $5.83 (sales tax). So, I get back 4 dollars, a dime, a nickel, and two pennies. So, the next time I have to pay for anything, I have three times as many coins and types of coins in my pocket. As the purchases continue, the size and assortment of my pocketful of metal will increase, with increasing pressure to try to _use_ some of these damned metal filings, leading me to start holding up lines trying to pay in exact change just to get rid of it. > > If you were only using these things for exact purchases with prices that with tax were all multiples of 25 cents, that’s one thing. But that thing doesn’t much resemble reality as I know it. Even the vending machines around here charge $.65 or other similar cockeyed amounts for things. (No pennies though, which is something at least - but not enough to make me want to mess around with coins.) So your objection isn’t so much about increasing the value of circulating coins, as much as it is about the low value of existing coins. If we combined new 2, 5 and 10 dollar coins with the withdrawal of the penny, nickel, and dime (and the concurrent rounding of all cash transactions to the nearest quarter), would you still think bills were better than coins for small transactions? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-the-us-use-more-coins/520371/23 "2009-12-08T01:47:00Z")
Screw coins. The amount it would save the government is trivial. Bills are lighter, carry easier, and have it all over coins. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-the-us-use-more-coins/520371/24 "2009-12-08T01:56:47Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Screw coins. The amount it would save the government is trivial. Bills are lighter, carry easier, and have it all over coins. You’d think so, but I assure you that this isn’t the case. Coins really aren’t a burden and I actually find them to be a lot more convenient than small denomination notes. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-the-us-use-more-coins/520371/25 "2009-12-08T02:09:25Z")
Perhaps it is because I am not accustomed to spending change, but I’ve found that on my travels through Canada, that I end up with about 50 lbs. of change in my pocket at the end of the day. I look at the bills that are left and wonder how I could have spent so damn much, but then I sort through the coins and realize that with all of the toonies and loonies in there, I’ve got some real money left. With inflation hardly anything costs under a buck. As a kid, I would always have change for the soda machines, but now they are $1.25. I think that Americans have made a habit of not spending coins. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-the-us-use-more-coins/520371/26 "2009-12-08T02:17:01Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > You’d think so, but I assure you that this isn’t the case. Coins really aren’t a burden and I actually find them to be a lot more convenient than small denomination notes. It’s a hoot to look in my wallet and find … nothing. Then I dig in my pocket and I’ve got $14.75! Hey, I can go for a beer or two! Coins can be fun little surprises. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-the-us-use-more-coins/520371/27 "2009-12-08T02:36:40Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > It’s a hoot to look in my wallet and find … nothing. Then I dig in my pocket and I’ve got $14.75! Hey, I can go for a beer or two! Coins can be fun little surprises. 😃 Exactly. You only need 6x $2 coins in your wallet and you’ve got $12- enough for lunch. As the previous poster said, you need to get into the mindset that coins are actual money and worth something. Whenever I visit the US, I’m always a bit dismayed to find that my wallet only has $23 in it (for example), despite apparently being full of folding money. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-the-us-use-more-coins/520371/28 "2009-12-08T02:44:13Z")
Japan eliminated the 500 yen (about $5) many years ago, and I don’t miss it. The smallest bill is 1,000 yen. More stores accept electronic money, which is much more convenient. Of course, we don’t do tipping here, so there’s less need for small change anyway. ---
**Author:** ![bannerrefugee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c68b51/32.png) [@bannerrefugee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bannerrefugee)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-the-us-use-more-coins/520371/29 "2009-12-08T02:51:32Z")
I moved from the US about a year ago to Australia. There we have 1 and 2 dollar coins +5,10, 20, and 50 cent pieces. At first it was hard to get used to. Now it is pretty simple-I always reach for my change before I look to bills for small purchases. The biggest draw back is when I am doing sports outdoors like cycling or running. It sucks to break a nice thin 20 and get handed back a bunch of coins. Another small thing-here the 50 cent piece is huge while the 2 dollar piece is small. It’s not right at all-esp the 50 it’s fucking huge. Edit-the 50 is fun to flip, it really is a monster ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-the-us-use-more-coins/520371/30 "2009-12-08T03:12:23Z")
One additional, unmentioned factor is that in the US, sales tax is applied after the RRP whereas countries like Australia apply them before the RRP. This means that virtually every cash purchase in Australia ends up in a nice round number but virtually every purchase in the US ends up at some weird number like $4.83. During your day to day spending in Australia, you very rarely end up with low denomination coins as most of your purchases are in 50c or $1 increments. This makes coins far more practical than the US system where half the coins you get back are pennies. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-the-us-use-more-coins/520371/31 "2009-12-08T03:29:48Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > One additional, unmentioned factor is that in the US, sales tax is applied after the RRP whereas countries like Australia apply them before the RRP. This means that virtually every cash purchase in Australia ends up in a nice round number but virtually every purchase in the US ends up at some weird number like $4.83. > > During your day to day spending in Australia, you very rarely end up with low denomination coins as most of your purchases are in 50c or $1 increments. This makes coins far more practical than the US system where half the coins you get back are pennies. This bears repeating because it’s true. It also suggests (to me, at least) that for a currency overhaul in the US to work, sales taxes would need to start being incorporated into prices and rounded off to multiples of 5c, so you don’t end up with weird prices like the $4.83 in the quoted post, necessitating the use of otherwise pointless and superfluous 1c pieces. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-the-us-use-more-coins/520371/32 "2009-12-08T03:36:15Z")
I lived in Ottawa for a while (ya hosers!), and the ease of the loonie and toonie are amazing. Americans would get used to using them if they had to. The problem is, they’ve never had to. The savings are there, and they are real. Stop printing dollars, and the govt. would save MILLIONS (500 million has been cited in this thread). that’s PER YEAR… I don’t care what you think, that’s a lot of money that could be put to better use. The “reasons” that have been given for not changing 1. people don’t want more coinage… and they like their dollar bill. 2. vending machine companies have screamed that refitting their machines to figure out when a one dollar coin or two dollar coin has been dropped in the slot would be cost prohibitive. Funny, they didn’t seem to bitch when they wanted to grab a dollar bill. But not only would they have to capture the weight of the new coin, the coins would have to be a different size than the quarter. 3. Washington is on the dollar. Not a big deal to many, but the guy is truly the single most important figure in the existence of the US. Since he’s already on the quarter, I say “who cares?” But people do. 4. The government, in all its wisdom, makes really bad design choices for the coin. The SBA dollar was a quarter with a lady on it, and many people refused to use them. If you did get one, many people took them out of circulation by keeping them. A profit for the US mint, but not a good way to change people’s habits. The Sackie was also a bad coin. It was collected, but never spent very often. You couldn’t use it in a vending machine, so the hell with it. The US Mint designs bad dollar coins for a reason. It’s weird, but for some reason if the dollar coin isn’t as big as an eisenhower (or old liberty head), people don’t want them. And no one wants \*those \*damn things to lug around. They are like man hole covers. The idea of dumping pennies is also discussed, but if it goes, I’ll be stunned. ---
**Author:** ![bannerrefugee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c68b51/32.png) [@bannerrefugee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bannerrefugee)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-the-us-use-more-coins/520371/33 "2009-12-08T03:39:30Z")
Right-the sales tax kind of screw up paying thing out in even numbers. That is somewhat mitigated by tips. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-the-us-use-more-coins/520371/34 "2009-12-08T03:47:45Z")
> [@TokyoPlayer](#): > > Japan eliminated the 500 yen (about $5) many years ago, and I don’t miss it. The smallest bill is 1,000 yen. So…does a pack of gum cost at least 1,000 yen, then? $5 seems awfully high to be getting rid of. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-the-us-use-more-coins/520371/35 "2009-12-08T05:00:55Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > This bears repeating because it’s true. > > It also suggests (to me, at least) that for a currency overhaul in the US to work, sales taxes would need to start being incorporated into prices and rounded off to multiples of 5c, so you don’t end up with weird prices like the $4.83 in the quoted post, necessitating the use of otherwise pointless and superfluous 1c pieces. I thought that when wonky prices were the total in Australia (like $XXX.83, which is entirely possible at a supermarket or gas station), they were rounded up or down to the nearest 5c, as appropriate; _unless_ you were not paying in cash. Pay by credit card or EFTPOS (debit card for Americans, Interac for Canadians), and you’d be paying to the penny. Did I misunderstand? It’s been some time since I was last in Australia, so it’s possible things have changed, but that’s how I remember them. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-the-us-use-more-coins/520371/36 "2009-12-08T05:15:37Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > I thought that when wonky prices were the total in Australia (like $XXX.83, which is entirely possible at a supermarket or gas station), they were rounded up or down to the nearest 5c, as appropriate; _unless_ you were not paying in cash. Pay by credit card or EFTPOS (debit card for Americans, Interac for Canadians), and you’d be paying to the penny. > > Did I misunderstand? It’s been some time since I was last in Australia, so it’s possible things have changed, but that’s how I remember them. That’s still the case, but as you note, it’s mainly something you get at the supermarket or the petrol station (or somewhere like K-mart). For general, day-to-day shopping, the odd price thing isn’t nearly as prevalent here IME as it is in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-the-us-use-more-coins/520371/37 "2009-12-08T05:32:43Z")
There’s maybe another reason to consider. See what you think. The US $1 bill has a portrait of George Washington on it, as it has for all of living memory. I think some Americans would howl bloody murder if you took away this bill. If so, perhaps we could mollify the hordes by putting Washington on the new (that would be _yet another_ “new”) $1 coin. Even though he’s already on the quarter. Alternatively, I’d propose putting Washington on the $20 soon after eliminating the $1 bill, thereby replacing Andrew Jackson, who I suspect won’t have nearly as vocal a fanbase. ---
**Author:** ![phi2dao](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6de8d8/32.png) [@phi2dao](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phi2dao)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-the-us-use-more-coins/520371/38 "2009-12-08T05:39:55Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > So…does a pack of gum cost at least 1,000 yen, then? $5 seems awfully high to be getting rid of. Presumably, there are 500 yen coins, just not 500 yen bills. ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-the-us-use-more-coins/520371/39 "2009-12-08T06:21:48Z")
pennys? pennies? the penny, wtf the PENNY?!?!?! the only reason for this coin to exist is what? they take up vast amounts of time for customers to count out or cashiers to count out in transactions, and we are talking about THE penny here. if counting out pennies takes just 2 second per transaction it is a complete waste of my life. 60 seconds in a minute X 60 minutes in an hour =3600 seconds in an hour. divide that in half and you end up with 1800 seconds or $18.00 per hour spent MOVING PENNIES BACK AND FORTH!!! and the damn things don’t even add up to 18.00 in that same time frame. yeah I am down with the whole dump all coins below the quarter, dump the 1 and 2$ (not that you see this one much) bills as well. for that matter Dump ALL coins leaving just the .25, the $1 and the $2. cause simple is often better. and I know the inertia of Americans is a huge factor, its the same dumbass reason we are still standard system for measurement. even though it would be a pain for us to do now it would save future generations billions of dollars and hours lost to our current moronic system. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-the-us-use-more-coins/520371/40 "2009-12-08T06:40:36Z")
The only compelling reason for changing from paper dollars to coins is the money that would be saved by the government. While I’m accustomed to the way we currently handle money in the United States I didn’t have any trouble adjusting to German coins (back when they used Marks). However my preference for dollar bills or your preference for coins isn’t really a compelling argument no matter how you shape it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-the-us-use-more-coins/520371.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-the-us-use-more-coins/520371.md?page=3)