Are Coins Becoming Obsolete?

[Doug31]

Re: Are Coins Becoming Obsolete?

I still use coins, but someone let me keep change for I think the first time ever for me recently, and melting down pennies wouldn't be a very good idea, since they aren't made completely of one material, they are just covered with one, and the entire inside of the penny is made of something really cheap. I still think we should do away with pennies, though, since they cost more than a cent to make.

[Mystik3345]

Re: Are Coins Becoming Obsolete?

if you throw away your change, you have a lot more money than I do. I save all my change, including pennies. It adds up eventually, and an extra $100 every now and then isn't a bad thing when you finally take it in to get it added up. I don't really keep track of my pennies, I have way too many of them to count myself, and I rarely use them, but I do use quarters all the time. If you throw away quarters, you must REALLY have a lot of money. Quarters start to add up very quickly and I could probably turn mine in monthly to find I have an extra $20-$50 in my pocket. The penny is worthless, it is coated with copper on the outside but is made with a cheap metal on the inside. The inside metal actually has a lower melting point than copper. Hold a penny made in the last 10 years up to a hot flame(preferrably blue, such as from a torch, not red or orange like on a lighter) for about a minute, then smash it on a hard surface. It will pop open easily, revealing the cheap unvaluable metal it is actually made with. The good thing about coins is that they have actually value, while paper money has none, and the same with digital money. Paper and digital have no actual value, but rather theoretical value. Coins have actual value.

[ckj846]

Re: Are Coins Becoming Obsolete?

I think it is just the coins in the US that are becoming less and less valuable/important/a neccessity (sp?). Like, in Japan and even in Mexico, you hardly ever use bigger bills. And when you do, the people tend to look at you a bit weird. Like in Japan, some vending machines wouldn't even have a bill slot, just a coin slot, because they have 5 dollar coins (500 yen). Mexico has the 100 peso coin (10$) and so on. Pennys are worthless. Nobody gives exact change anymore, and that is because society is becoming much more lazy. I carry around a ton of change and I try to give exact change as much as possible just because it is a hassle carrying around useless coins.
O_o

[Mystik3345]

Re: Are Coins Becoming Obsolete?

that could be the problem as well, either americans are getting extremely lazy or extremely rich, and i know it isn't the latter for most people. one thing that needs to be brought back in america is the 50c and $1 coins. then people might be more careful.

[JurseyRider734]

Re: Are Coins Becoming Obsolete?

I save all of my coins and most of them go into a bag that we end up taking to the bank to get exchanged for paper money.

I just hate handling change because it makes your hands smell bad, and you don't know where that stuff has been. Same with paper money, but change smells worse.

^ That's the germophobic OCD in me.

[ruifio894]

Re: Are Coins Becoming Obsolete?

I'm a bit different, Everynight before i go to bed, when i take off my pants, i empty my pockets, and any change i find goes in a little box or something, it saves up, ive ended up with fourty dollars at a coinstar at farmer jack.

[somerndmguy]

Re: Are Coins Becoming Obsolete?

The only time I ever use pennies are when I have to pay for items that are $1.06 or something like that. I use one penny so I can get a nickel in change.

Although for the life of me I still don't understand why Canada replaced the two-dollar bill with the toonie. I must admit, the toonie is pretty easy to carry, but it adds a lot of weight to your pocket.

It's like in Hong Kong, where they have so many different denominations of coins like 10 cents, 20 cents, 1 dollar, 5 dollars, 10 dollars, and 20 dollars. It's insane carrying them around. Maybe that's why they have that Octopus Card system, where it's like a credit card that you can use anywhere. You just tap the card on a pad, and it deducts the price from the value in your card. Very useful.

actually, if you melted $5 or $6 in pennies (copper melts at a lower temperature than most metals) and then took it to a scrapyard and sold it, you could get $30-$40 easy.
Good way to make money =D

Interesting thought. It would work except...
Isn't it illegal to damage, deface, deform, or destroy any type of currency? Or is that just Canada?

[masterhickle]

Re: Are Coins Becoming Obsolete?

I like the idea of doing away with pennies and nickels and rounding of to the nearest tenth of a dollar, it would make things quite easy. Then again, that would link to the fact that america may be getting lazy.

Also, wouldn't all the tax rates have to change so that pennies and nickels would never be needed? Granted they wouldn't be needed at vending machines, but what about shopping?

[slickskater29]

Re: Are Coins Becoming Obsolete?

We're forgeting one important and overlooked aspect of coins...COIN COLLECTORS!

Ok, melting down pennies is a bad idea, but me and my dad recently completed a set of pennies dating from 1800-1900. We sold $1 worth of pennies to a coin collector for $50! So there are some ways to profit from change, if you are willing to put some work into it.

[YungYung]

Re: Are Coins Becoming Obsolete?

actually, if you melted $5 or $6 in pennies (copper melts at a lower temperature than most metals) and then took it to a scrapyard and sold it, you could get $30-$40 easy.
Good way to make money =D

There's a legality issue with this.

[emptiness]

Re: Are Coins Becoming Obsolete?

He probably watched that commercial on pennies losing their value and (verizon) pitching the penny texting idea.

[The_Q]

Re: Are Coins Becoming Obsolete?

Yes, they are obsolete. Throw them away!

(Trust me admins, I'm going somewhere with this.)

Q

[solocontigo1922]

Re: Are Coins Becoming Obsolete?

I like the idea of doing away with pennies and nickels and rounding of to the nearest tenth of a dollar, it would make things quite easy. Then again, that would link to the fact that america may be getting lazy.

Also, wouldn't all the tax rates have to change so that pennies and nickels would never be needed? Granted they wouldn't be needed at vending machines, but what about shopping?

i used to work for carls jr. and they just included the tax in to the price of the item so everything was rounded to the nearest quarter i think that is much more effective cuz quarters are used everywhere!

[tsugomaru]

Re: Are Coins Becoming Obsolete?

I'd have to say yes, coins are becoming obsolete. When I am at school, I can always find someone with a dollar they are willing to lend, but never coins. No one ever carry coins with them anymore.

~Tsugomaru

[thyraxicmole]

Re: Are Coins Becoming Obsolete?

tell that 2 mario ROFL