A penny for your thoughts

Discussion in 'The Chatterbox' started by swarden43, May 23, 2025.

  1. swarden43

    swarden43 "It's your shave. Enjoy it your way."©

    Looks like the gov't has purchased its last order of zinc blanks, used to stamp pennies. Pennies are being phased out - finally!

    I was stationed in Germany back in the 80s. It cost too much to ship pennies overseas to all the military bases, so all transactions were rounded to the nearest nickel.

    Again that was for every total sale, not rounding for each individual item. Sometimes you pay an extra 2 cents. Sometimes you save 2 cents.

    I don't really see an issue with dropping the penny, seems most people seldom use cash these days, anyways.

    Whatcha think?

    And please, keep the politics out of the conversation.
     
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  2. John Beeman

    John Beeman Little chicken in hot water

    When I was a kid I spent my whole 25 cent weekly allowance on penny candy.
     
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  3. wristwatchb

    wristwatchb wristwatch "danger" b

    I go cashless as much as possible and rarely carry change. I keep a quarter in my car to use for the grocery store shopping cart.

    A penny in 1950 equates to 13 cents of spending power today, and it costs more to mint than it is worth. No need for it, in my opinion.

    I guess we'll have to change the expressions "lucky penny," "a penny saved is a penny earned," and "a penny for your thoughts" too. :)
     
  4. wristwatchb

    wristwatchb wristwatch "danger" b

    And what will we call @richgem now that "bad penny" will no longer be an option? :happy102:
     
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  5. wristwatchb

    wristwatchb wristwatch "danger" b

  6. richgem

    richgem suffering from chronic clicker hand cramps

    I'm voting for bad quarter. You know, inflation and all.

    I never carry change with me and for the longest time have not seen the point of the penny particularly when they cost more to make than they are worth.
     
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  7. swarden43

    swarden43 "It's your shave. Enjoy it your way."©

    If, big IF, I have change at the end of the day, it goes into a tray on my dresser. Once a quarter (no pun :p, every three months), we have Bucket Sunday at the church. Everyone brings in their change and pours it into one of two galvanized buckets we have sitting out. All that change goes to support our Youth ministry.
     
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  8. John Beeman

    John Beeman Little chicken in hot water

    Spare change goes in a jar and eventually rolled and turned into folding money which goes for shave stuff.
     
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  9. wristwatchb

    wristwatchb wristwatch "danger" b

    I can't decide between Naughty Nickel or Despicable Dime for myself. :)
     
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  10. richgem

    richgem suffering from chronic clicker hand cramps

    I'm not naughty, I'm just drawn that way. :p

    Bonus points if you get the movie reference
     
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  11. wristwatchb

    wristwatchb wristwatch "danger" b

    ...says @richgem and Jessica Rabbit. :)
     
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  12. macaronus

    macaronus Sir Nice-a-Lot

    In The Netherlands (and most of the EU ( IIRC ) the one and two cents coins aren't used anymore. Smallest coin is 5 cents. Since I almost exclusively pay digitally I don't mind at all.

    I do have some paper cash on me (10 - 50 €) but that is mostly for the beer jar in the tram museum where I volunteer. :eatdrink047:

    Or when I buy something small that SWMBO doesn't need to know about :scared003:
     
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  13. mrchick

    mrchick Odd, Terrible Avatar

    I’m in Sicily and picked these in my change last week. I’m not sure how, as nothing is priced in a way that would require them.
    [​IMG]
     
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  14. macaronus

    macaronus Sir Nice-a-Lot

    Well, I checked in with Count Count of Sesame Street and he reminded me of the fact that these three add up to 5 cents. Which makes sense if you pay, let's say, €2,00 for something that costs €1.95. You tend to get €0.05 return. ;)
     
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  15. DaltonGang

    DaltonGang Ol' Itchy Whiskers

    I like pennies. . They helped teach my kids the value of what a jar full of pennies is worth. Never pass up on coins abandoned on the ground. Before debit cards, any coins I would get as change, I put in a large 5 gallon jar. At the end of the year, it would usually add up to $200-$300. Now, not so many coins are saved.
     
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  16. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    It's been a while since I've seen penny candy, and that was a big jar of Tootsie rolls at the local convenience store.

    Can't say I'll miss the penny, though I'd be more put out if Lincoln wasn't on the $5 bill too.
     
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