OT: Death of the Canadian penny

[jstewismybastardson]

Pretty sure one of the major reasons that Canada is dumping the penny is the fact that it costs 1.6 cents to make...

and in the US it costs 2 cents to make

 

[LeaderOCola]

Were you saying the US is not even close to getting rid of the penny?

Or were you debating my point about the penny costing more to make than it is worth?

I'm saying the economic value of currency is not solely determined by its face value.
That's the very reason currency exists.

 

[BOSSMANPC]

Pretty sure one of the major reasons that Canada is dumping the penny is the fact that it costs 1.6 cents to make...

Then it makes cents to discontinue making them.

 

[dash]

Then it makes cents to discontinue making them.

Oh, a funny money punny post...Clever.

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

I'm saying the economic value of currency is not solely determined by its face value.
That's the very reason currency exists.

Wow, that's a whole lot to say in 4 completely non-descript words, but OK. Still don't really see what your argument is or how it translates to me being "not even close" in saying that the cost to produce a penny is more than the value of the penny.

Saying that it costs more to produce a penny (.02) than the value of the coin (.01) is a simple statement of fact.

 

[BOSSMANPC]

Wow, that's a whole lot to say in 4 completely non-descript words, but OK. Still don't really see what your argument is or how it translates to me being "not even close" in saying that the cost to produce a penny is more than the value of the penny.

Saying that it costs more to produce a penny (.02) than the value of the coin (.01) is a simple statement of fact.

I agree and they have talked about this for years. It is very basic economics no matter how much people try and spin the facts. If it cost more to make than it's value, it's not worth making. Period!

 

[LeaderOCola]

Wow, that's a whole lot to say in 4 completely non-descript words, but OK. Still don't really see what your argument is or how it translates to me being "not even close" in saying that the cost to produce a penny is more than the value of the penny.

Saying that it costs more to produce a penny (.02) than the value of the coin (.01) is a simple statement of fact.

[/B]


I agree and they have talked about this for years. It is very basic economics no matter how much people try and spin the facts. If it cost more to make than it's value, it's not worth making. Period!

The statement "not even close" was not so much in dispute of the cost of minting a penny, but rather that to analyze the problem from ONLY that context is ridiculously over-simplifying it.
But fine. I'll temporarily grant your point of view for a moment...

A nickel also costs more than its face value.

Ready to get rid of that too?
Ready to lose potentially 0.09 of value on every cash-based transaction that exists in the national economy? And then factor in the spending (or lack there of) multiplier associated with said transactions?

Again, the value of currency is that it is used repeatedly to facilitate commerce. Typically several thousand times in its life, if not more. If that penny causes even one "purchase" to be made that would not occur with its absence, then voila, you have already overcome the 'cost gap' of its minting in a true economic sense.

OK,
Now, since you are so gung ho on 'getting value', studies show that while a US$ coin costs 30 cents to make, and a US$ cotton bill costs 10 cents to make, the coin has a lifetime of more than 10x more than the cotton bill. (Hence is at least 3x better lifetime value in minting) Are you willing to be 'economically sound' and abandon the dollar bill in place of the far more efficient coin? Oh, wait. Let's see. The bill also offers convenience the coin does not you say? You like light weight, ease of putting in wallet, etc? Easier to put in a stripper's gstring? Hmmm, methinks you are adding economic value to the currency that exists beyond its face value

 

[dare2be]

Well said, Cola. I too heard that the dollar bill is likely to be phased out in place of a dollar coin for just that circulation longevity reason. It may be 3x more expensive to mint a dollar coin vs. a dollar bill, but the frequency of production due to life span would be cut by 10-fold.

 

[puckhead]

Now, since you are so gung ho on 'getting value', studies show that while a US$ coin costs 30 cents to make, and a US$ cotton bill costs 10 cents to make, the coin has a lifetime of more than 10x more than the cotton bill. (Hence is at least 3x better lifetime value in minting) Are you willing to be 'economically sound' and abandon the dollar bill in place of the far more efficient coin? Oh, wait. Let's see. The bill also offers convenience the coin does not you say? You like light weight, ease of putting in wallet, etc? Easier to put in a stripper's gstring? Hmmm, methinks you are adding economic value to the currency that exists beyond its face value

fwiw, canada got rid of the $1 and $2 bills in favo(u)r of coins as well.
seems to work fine

 

[LeaderOCola]

fwiw, canada got rid of the $1 and $2 bills in favo(u)r of coins as well.
seems to work fine

My wife is a native-born Greek, we travel in Europe (not as much as I'd like) occasionally. I don't have a problem with it myself. Just throwing it out there. I think in America past attempts to sway consumer sentiment to a $ coin have really fizzled.

 

[jstewismybastardson]

'Murica is gonna shit their pants when they move to a polymer bill

 

[BOSSMANPC]

LOC, I agree with you on the dollar. The problem is for some reason Americans are very cold to the coin dollar and they like the paper dollar. This has been tried before and failed. Why? It just seems to be what people want here. Not saying I agree but it's not like they have never tried it.

Americans are different when it comes to some things like rail travel. This works well in Canada and Europe but not here. Sometimes things are done because it's what people demonstrate they want, be it right or wrong.