Posted on 01/24/2025 9:34:10 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has a new target to cut down costs: the US penny.
DOGE said on X that the penny costs over 3 cents to make and cost US taxpayers over $179 million in the 2023 fiscal year. “The Mint produced over 4.5 billion pennies in FY2023, around 40% of the 11.4 billion coins for circulation produced,” the post read in part.
The US Mint in 2023 reported it circulated around 4.1 billion pennies. In fiscal year 2024, the US Mint said in its annual report that the US penny costs about 3.7 cents to produce and distribute, up more than 20% from the previous year. The rising cost of metals, including zinc and copper, is part of the reason it’s getting more expensive to make the coin.
Musk isn’t introducing a novel idea. For years, people have advocated eliminating the penny, as pennies are rarely spent as change. And since the Covid-19 pandemic, more consumers are shopping online or avoiding physical currency altogether.
More than 20 years ago, in a 2001 episode of the political drama “The West Wing,” fictional character Sam Seaborn goes into a rant about the penny.
“Majority of pennies don’t circulate. They go in jars, sock drawers,” Seaborn said.
(Excerpt) Read more at channel3000.com ...
thanks...
no kidding.
it costs about 10.4 cents to produce a nickel,
Let’s be done with pennies. We have inflated them out of usefulness.
The only way to make coinage work again (which I support) is to revalue the dollar $1 new dollar -= $100 old dollars, or whatever the math dictates.
Other countries have done away with their pennies
For me, typing on this screen, it’s a piece of cake. So why not both? In the real world, we’ll have to see if they crow about the small potatoes while they ignore the elephants in the room.
If they stop circulating new pennies, my jars of coins are going to be worth a pretty penny, I think.
They need to think this through a bit more.
“A penny for your thoughts” wouldn’t be understood by the next generation.
The time/space continuum might fold in on itself!!!
And it’s, of course, all Trump’s fault........
Collectors items grab what you can get.
Unless you are paying with a card. Those things will eat pennies like nothin’.
It’s a way to move us to a cashless society.
I’d be happier if they’d bring back the $500 and $1000 bill.
This counting bundles of $100’s, every time I buy or sell something, (cars, boats, heavy equipent, farm implements) is a waste of time.
“As of tomorrow morning, every Federal agency except the military and Social Security, will see their budgets cut by 10%.”
He’s on a roll! I wouldn’t put it past him. :)
Unless your local bank demands it, I just take them to the change machine at my credit union or the Walmart - no need to roll them anymore.
My credit union does it for free, Walmart (of course!) takes a small fee for letting you use the machine; I seem to remember it was a couple of bucks on a $200 cash in last time I did it.
I LIKE seeing a ‘Penny Dish’ on a counter at an establishment. For starters, Paying It Forward is a good thing to do as far as Karma is concerned. ;)
Secondly, it makes me ‘do the math’ in my head to keep me sharp and to help the Cashier out because s/he can’t make change of a Dollar in the first place. *Rolleyes*
I’m a Cold, Hard Cash Gal, too. The only one that has my Debit Card info is Jim Robinson. ;)
Some banks have free coin exchange machines and you just dump the coins into the machine. Ours used to have one but it broke down too many times and they got rid of it.
thank you very much, Diana in Wisconsin!
I recall in the mid 70’s all the military commissaries and exchanges in Europe stopped using the penny. It was just too expensive to ship them to Europe. Prices were rounded up or down to the nearest .05. Didn’t seem to cause any problem.
I sure miss using a Commissary for groceries! Wonder what the prices are like in one these days?
In the 90’s, in Okinawa, they didn’t use pennies on the military bases, just nickels.
They vendors would round up or down to five cents. It didn’t matter to us US troops.
There are billions of pennies in circulation, skipping a few years of minting is irrelevant!
Trump needs to be on the $1000, bill...or make it counterfeit proof....
Even more now (11.54 cents for nickels)....mostly “labor cost” tho.. The raw materials to make a nickel are valued at 5.4 cents. For pennies the raw material cost is 0.54 cent. So labor/manufacturing cost drives the cost for pennies to 3 cents. Increase manufacturing automation and/or only mint pennies every 3rd year or so to drive down costs (same for nickels).
https://learn.apmex.com/answers/how-much-does-it-cost-to-produce-current-circulating-u-s-coins/
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