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 Replies: 32 / Views: 1,148 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
965 Posts |
If we really wanted to make the US coinage simple we would eliminate the penny, nickel and quarter, and use the dime to make change, rounding off everything to the nearest 10 cents. Imagine how efficient the Mint would be if they only had to mint one type of coin! They can have several different designs, such as the same used by the current coins. Thus make 1/4th of the dies Lincoln/Shield, 1/4th Jefferson/Monticello, 1/4th Roosevelt/torch and 1/4th Washington/Eagle. The dime is small and light enough to allow one to have a dozen or more in a pocket without weighing you down. Since coins are basically used only to make change for paper money, one would never get back more than a handful in change and could then use that on their next cash purchase. The problem is however that common sense (or is it common cents) doesn't come easy these days. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10786 Posts |
I'm all for doing away with the cent & nickel. Quarters have far too many applications to even consider removing them.
It would make sense to stop producing $1 bills and replace them with the current $1 coins already being produced.
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Valued Member
United States
381 Posts |
In a way, in makes cents (haha). But on the other hand, it just goes to show how much our (US) currency has devalued over time, which is very sad. "A penny (cent) saved is a penny (cent) earned" is now "A buck saved is a buck earned."
Bring back the gold/silver standard! It's funny to think that the debate a hundred years ago was whether to use the gold standard or the silver standard. Now, there's no standard ...
Edited by AllSeasons
02/16/2025 01:30 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4629 Posts |
Modern $1 coins never worked and never will. I can carry 20 1 dollar bills in my wallet with no problem - carry 20 metal dollars in my pocket? Go fish  10 dimes or 4 quarters? - 10 small dimes I can easily lose one or 2 without noticing or 4 quarters?......... Carry 40 dimes or carry 8 quarter for the vending machine?.......  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2201 Posts |
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Modern $1 coins never worked and never will. I can carry 20 1 dollar bills in my wallet with no problem - carry 20 metal dollars in my pocket? I'm wondering why anybody needs to carry around 20 $1 bills or 20 $1 coins?  Oh Yeah, Now I remember.....a dollar doesn't buy squat today! That's why I have to carry around a wallet full of $20's. People need to rethink their thinking and consider anything less than a $5 dollar bill as pocket change. As been said many times before, the only reason a small dollar coin has never worked before is that our government still prints paper dollars. Other countries have figured out how to work a small dollar coin...maybe someday we will too? 
Edited by ratman4762
02/16/2025 01:46 am
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
7621 Posts |
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Modern $1 coins never worked and never will. I can carry 20 1 dollar bills in my wallet with no problem - carry 20 metal dollars in my pocket? Works everywhere else. Just carry a $10 note, $5 note, 2 x $2 notes and you only need one $1 coin. Here in Australia we did away with the $2 note too, but our $2 coin are small, so not too bulky. Here's $5 
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4629 Posts |
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Works everywhere else. Maybe, but the OPs post is about US coinage.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4629 Posts |
Quote:
'm wondering why anybody needs to carry around 20 $1 bills or 20 $1 coins? Oh Yeah, Now I remember.....a dollar doesn't buy squat today! Right - paying with bigger bills you tend to accumulate a bunch of 1's from change back. Eventually you get enough 1's where you can use them for a normal purchase
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
7621 Posts |
Quote:Maybe, but the OPs post is about US coinage. That's the good thing with coins they can be changed. Look at New Zealand for example. They got rid of the 1, 2 & 5 cent coins and made the 10c, 50c & 50c smaller. It's not really a big deal, you just have to take the leap.
View my Coins here, (NOW WITH OVER 16,800 IMAGES).... http://www.coincommunity.org/galler...hp?cat=10048OFEC count = 237 Edited by triggersmob
02/16/2025 02:48 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
579 Posts |
But the penny is my favorite coin to collect, now I gotta find a die chip that looks like a tear coming from Lincoln's eye! Or maybe a strike through, I been on a roll, no pun intended, with them!
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Valued Member
United States
333 Posts |
Half dollars would still be OK because 50 is divisible by 10. Maybe bring back the Twenty Cent Piece? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1608 Posts |
I think that most people are in agreement that eliminating the cent wouldn't be that big of a deal. Many other countries have already done so. The nickel is the only other denomination that currently costs more than face value to produce. Dimes cost about 5.3 cents to produce. What if we stopped minting dimes and instead made them Half Dimes. Production cost would still be just slightly over face value but half the cost of nickel production. It would still enable transactions to the nearest five cents. Of course, how much longer will it be before those production costs rise too? Just something to ponder. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4858 Posts |
What I want to know is why the nickel is bigger than the dime? Shouldn't the higher denomination be a bigger coin?
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Valued Member
United States
415 Posts |
I always thought that the dime was the LEAST used coin. The #1 coin we need is the quarter. Quarters are the only coins still use to buy things; laundromat, gumball machines, Aldi shopping carts. If I don't have a dollar, it is easier to exchange 4 quarters. As return change, all you need is two nickels instead of that flat dime.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
965 Posts |
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What I want to know is why the nickel is bigger than the dime? Shouldn't the higher denomination be a bigger coin? It is a holdover from when coins were roughly based on the value of the metals involved. The dime was silver and weighed 1/5th that of the silver half dollar etc. The Half Dime weighed half that of the Dime. The Penny, Half Cent and 2-cent coins had relative weights of copper. The Nickel was a loner in that there was no other coin in its class except for the short-lived 3-cent piece. Interestingly there was also a silver 3-cent coin that weighed proportionally to that of a dime. If the coins had historically been of the same class, in the same metals, then the weights would have been proportional. Since weight is based on size when made of the same materials the 5-cent coin would be smaller than the 10-cent one.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1954 Posts |
Let's get rid of coins and currency altogether and return to the barter system! I'll play some music for you if you'll give me a sandwich!  |
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Replies: 32 / Views: 1,148 |
Posted 02/16/2025 01:16 am
