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"Think about it: You go and buy a candy bar and it costs 13 cents. You give the guy a dime and two two-cent pieces. Well, you need one-cent in change. If there's no penny, how do you do that?"

Tell me what kind of real world transactions involve increments of less than ten cents? Paying a day laborer for ten seconds work? Buying an ounce of flour? A sip of Pepsi? A half-cup of gasoline?

The fact is that throughout most of the 20th century (during much of which prices were one-tenth of current prices) no one complained at having to round up or down to arrive at an even hundredth of a dollar. Shop keepers didn't agonize whether to price candy at one cent or two, or whether the one cent piece was too large to enjoy.

I'm hard pressed to think of a transaction that requires pennies and nickels. And consider the real economic waste cost to society for all the time and resources spent keeping those tiny coins in circulation. (For those who like the penny, why not a return to the half-cent, for some ultra-precise calculation of sales taxes? Should I feel screwed by the sales tax rounding that costs me up to a half of a cent on some transactions?)

>>>Tell me what kind of real world transactions involve increments of less than ten cents? Paying a day laborer for ten seconds work? Buying an ounce of flour? A sip of Pepsi? A half-cup of gasoline?

It doesn't need to be under 10 cents to require pennies and nickels. Have you ever heard of cents after the dollar amount? Let's say you (wanting little to no change back) had to pay these totals:

$18.94 -- Even if you choose three quarters and two dimes to make 95 cents, you'd still need a penny back.

$32.07 -- need a nickel and two pennies. A two-cent piece would be worthless here: if you give four two-cent pieces (what most FReepers are pushing for), you still need a penny in change; if you give him a dime, you need three pennies back (or a two-cent piece and a penny).

Face it: annoying as they may be, people still need small change. If it bothers you so much, do what I do--store them in a bottle or jar, then roll them up and take 'em to the bank. I got about $60 dollars before from pennies, dimes, and nickels.