http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10783019

Quote :

"In hidden vaults across the country, the US government is building a stockpile of $1 coins. The hoard has topped $1.1bn - imagine a stack of coins reaching almost seven times higher than the International Space Station - and the piles have grown so large the US Federal Reserve is running out of storage space. Americans won't use the coins, preferring $1 notes. But the US keeps minting them anyway, and the Fed estimates it already has enough $1 coins to last the next 10 years. And at the current rate, the inventory will grow to $2bn by 2016, the Fed estimates. The coins began to pile up in 2007 when a law went into effect creating a new series of $1 coins commemorating dead US presidents."

What the fuck is wrong with the government here? Are they really that thick? This is a very simple situation to solve. They are trying to have their cake and eat it too.

They either need to phase out the bills or stop making the coins.

Jesus this is such an idiotic waste. Quite sad really, in today's world with all the fucked up economic conditions, natural disasters, and wars.

Quote :

"In a 2002 report, for instance, the investigative arm of Congress described "public resistance to begin using the dollar coin" despite a three-year, $67m effort to promote the previous series. Since the presidential coin programme began, the US government has spent an additional $30m to promote them but they still have not taken hold. "We have tried every major idea that we can come up with, with limited success," US Mint Director Edmund Moy told a congressional panel last month."

You are a fucking moron, Edmund Moy. A retard has more intelligence than you.

Quote :

"The US Mint has also identified an economic "awkward moment" in retail transactions involving the $1 coin. The buyer is afraid the cashier will reject the coin and cashiers are afraid buyers won't accept them in change, so both are disinclined to try. Mint and Fed officials have also identified a vicious cycle. Retailers will not stock the coins because they do not see consumers using them, while consumers will not use the coins because retailers do not stock them."

No fucking shit. As I said, either phase out the bills or stop making the coins.

And here is another benefit of using the coins:

Quote :

"Because a coin can last four decades while a note lasts only a few years, replacing the dollar bill with the coin could save the US $500m to $700m per year in printing and paper costs."

But "of course", that will never happen:

Quote :

"Only an act of Congress could slow or halt the coins' pile-up, either by phasing out the $1 note or halting the minting of the coins. Neither is likely to happen soon in today's polarised, bitterly partisan political environment, though some in Congress are clearly frustrated."

So sad.

8/10/2010 8:48:22 AM

no one wants to go back to carrying a satchel

8/10/2010 8:50:51 AM

lets get rid of pennies

8/10/2010 8:54:04 AM

tl;dr

8/10/2010 8:54:45 AM

^^ so everything will increase in price by 4 cents

8/10/2010 8:55:59 AM

everyone just needs to get one of these:



they can wear it on the other side of their fanny pack.

8/10/2010 9:01:05 AM

Fuckin' Scrooge McDuck and shit.

8/10/2010 9:04:43 AM

Quote :

"lets get rid of pennies"

agreed...round up or down, appropriately?

8/10/2010 9:07:14 AM

I like the $1 coins

8/10/2010 9:07:18 AM

8/10/2010 9:08:26 AM

^^me too


They were fun for our nickel and dime poker nights because it was like, "oooh shit- he's gonna bet that gold dolla boy- he must have a hand!!"

8/10/2010 9:15:17 AM

It's about convenience. as things are becoming smaller and more compact, it just makes sense to use the dollar bill. it fits nicely in a wallet or money clip and stacks/folds well. People don't carry coin purses anymore and coins in your pocket will get bulky and just plain annoying to carry.

8/10/2010 9:18:43 AM

i'm not a fan of dollar coins. after spending two summers in canada it would just get so annoying carrying around pockets of change.


but they were great at the bar being able to slide one across the bar for a tip.

8/10/2010 9:21:33 AM

I am not a fan of coins as well. I am in the UK currently, and goddamn they even have a £2 coin. You pay for something that costs £1.50 with a £10 bill, and you get back a kilo of coins, it is so annoying.

Note I am not saying the government should put the coins to use. I am saying they have to either put them to use and phase out the bill, or stop making them.

They have already spent $100s of millions making and promoting them, and all that money has literally gone to waste. They are burning money, and that's just sad. And they are continuing to make the coins, because "it is a law", which is the sickest thing I have ever heard... it is a law to literally waste money!


[Edited on August 10, 2010 at 9:33 AM. Reason : ]

8/10/2010 9:30:52 AM

i havent even seen the things. get them in circulation is the problem.

8/10/2010 9:33:17 AM

Quote :

"They have already spent $100s of millions making and promoting them, and all that money has literally gone to waste. They are burning money, and that's just sad. And they are continuing to make the coins, because "it is a law", which is the sickest thing I have ever heard"

This is a pretty sad situation. (We really need a Libertarian revolution.)

Quote :

"lets get rid of pennies"

Quote :

"so everything will increase in price by 4 cents"

How do you figure?
Nearly all prices end in ".99" or ".95".
Getting rid of pennies would result in ".99"s becoming ".95"s, a 4 cent decrease.
Right?

Quote :

"lets get rid of pennies"

Quote :

"agreed...round up or down, appropriately?"

Round to what? The nearest nickel?
Without pennies, we'd have [.05, .10, .15, .20, ... .90, .95], and that's it.
Think about how fucked up that would really be.



We should be getting rid of dimes.
Then it'd be simple:
5 pennies per nickel, 5 nickels per quarter, 4 quarters per dollar

8/10/2010 9:34:19 AM

i use the shit outta them things

three or four times now however, the stupid fucks working at either a drive through window or walmart has had to ask if they accept them

fucking hell

8/10/2010 9:36:40 AM

I like the $1 coins.

And at least we don't live in a country where the smallest paper bill is $10

8/10/2010 9:37:37 AM

My wallet doesn't take coins and I already have a 70 lb bag of them in the closet. Plz to keep them in the warehouse.

8/10/2010 9:37:45 AM

Quote :

"Getting rid of pennies would result in ".99"s becoming ".95"s, a 4 cent decrease. Right?"

How do you rationalize this argument? Most likely prices would not change or .99 would go up a penny to the next dollar. Either way because of taxes, you'd never get to a point where everything ended in .05. Stores/cashiers/computer systems would just have to round up or down to the closest .05.

Australia did away with the penny years ago and it was no big deal. The US needs to do the same.

8/10/2010 9:41:24 AM

we cant get rid of pennies with our current sales tax system. Stores can sell things in 5 cent integrals, but once you tack on sales tax the final price will inevitably be somewhere in the 1-4 cent range. We wouldnt be able to pay for anything in the 1-4 cent range without pennies (duh) so it would never work

I think this whole situation is ridiculous, we have all this money being made which isnt even going into circulation. So, does this mean that they are also printing out a dollar bill for ever non-circulated dollar coin? Would that mean that the value of the dollar is going to be decreased even further with the extra money being minted?

8/10/2010 9:45:14 AM

Quote :

"They were fun for our nickel and dime poker nights because it was like, "oooh shit- he's gonna bet that gold dolla boy- he must have a hand!!"

Hahaha

8/10/2010 9:45:36 AM

oh shit. so i need to save them. all i got to do is go to car washes and trade a dollar for it.

im starting this this week.

8/10/2010 9:47:03 AM

Well, you should all know that a price of x.99 isn't really x.99, but x.99*1.(whatever tax is).

So something that is 1.99 with a 7% tax is really 2.1293, which a store would round to $2.13. Getting rid of the penny would mean they would probably round up to $2.15. A 2 cent increase. Big fucking deal.

But I know some people will bitch and moan about having a 0-4 cent increase on their bill, which the higher the less the impact has. Getting rid of the penny would reduce all the damn change we end up losing anyway (really guys, we just end up losing the pennies anyway). How often have you dropped a penny and thought to yourself "is it really worth the effort to pick it up?"

As for your bank accounts, well, I guess it is up to your bank as to how they want to do it with interest and everything. They could keep the penny there, but if you try to withdraw cash, you may not be able to take out the remainder of 4 cents, or it could be dropped if you decide to move your money (unless it's all done electronically).

8/10/2010 9:47:17 AM

Quote :

"we cant get rid of pennies with our current sales tax system. Stores can sell things in 5 cent integrals, but once you tack on sales tax the final price will inevitably be somewhere in the 1-4 cent range. We wouldnt be able to pay for anything in the 1-4 cent range without pennies (duh) so it would never work"

Because Europe and Australia never figured it out

8/10/2010 9:49:41 AM

Quote :

"How do you rationalize this argument? Most likely prices would not change or .99 would go up a penny to the next dollar."

I'm saying that .99 wouldn't go to the next dollar, because retailers really love for their prices to be just under a dollar (for the illusion of it being cheaper.)

Quote :

"Either way because of taxes, you'd never get to a point where everything ended in .05."

What?


I just don't see the point, really -- getting rid of dimes is superior to getting rid of pennies.

8/10/2010 9:51:06 AM

Quote :

"Big fucking deal. "

its a pretty big deal when you go to buy something expensive

8/10/2010 9:51:26 AM

i dont think ragged knows how to multiply

8/10/2010 9:54:32 AM

^^

^


Lol

8/10/2010 10:01:48 AM

The train in Charlotte gives back only coins as change

You always forget and use a 20 for a $3 ticket and are like "Oh Fuck" when 17 coins come out

The Hooters next to the station has banned the coins as payment

8/10/2010 10:04:12 AM

that's illegal.

8/10/2010 10:05:06 AM

Quote :

"The Hooters next to the station has banned the coins as payment"

Pretty sure that legally they can't deny legal tender as payment.

8/10/2010 10:05:20 AM

Quote :

"What?"

Is it really difficult for you to figure out sales tax?

You have something that costs 2.95, with an 8% sales tax. You and I both know that when you walk up to that register, you ain't paying 2.95. Instead, you're going to be paying 3.186, rounded to $3.19.

I don't know about you, but I find it rare that the price comes out to not needing a penny (ie, something with x.x5 or x.x0). Don't get me wrong, I've had it happen before, but it's pretty damn rare.

Or, we could get rid of the penny, nickel and quarter and drop the hundredths place in our rounding, and round to the tenths place. The nickel could become 0.5 instead of 0.05, and of course we can keep the dime.

8/10/2010 10:06:07 AM

Quote :

"You have to have bills. Paper money. You can't pay with this"

The common refrain from any waitress

[Edited on August 10, 2010 at 10:07 AM. Reason : x]

8/10/2010 10:07:43 AM

Then I guess they're giving you free food because any cop that would walk in there would tell them to take your coins and stfu

[Edited on August 10, 2010 at 10:08 AM. Reason : r]

8/10/2010 10:08:35 AM

Pretty sure its legal to refuse coins as payment.

8/10/2010 10:10:55 AM

^ No, no it's not. It's legal tender.

8/10/2010 10:12:34 AM

http://www.snopes.com/business/money/pennies.asp

well ill be damned

8/10/2010 10:14:10 AM

But its a private business. They can refuse service for any reason they see fit, absent race or gender discrimination.

8/10/2010 10:14:15 AM

^^ FUCK YOU! I WAS GOING TO POST THAT!

[Edited on August 10, 2010 at 10:16 AM. Reason : Dammit]

8/10/2010 10:16:06 AM

Yes they could refuse to serve you, but they couldn't refuse your money unless they felt like not getting paid for their food. I'd like to see them call the cops because they refuse to take $1 coins.

8/10/2010 10:16:31 AM

People would spend so much more at strip clubs. I mean, it's not like those girls want coins in their panties.

8/10/2010 10:18:50 AM

Pretty sure they'd accept the coins if you'd already eaten and they were the only form of payment you had. Its not a hard and fast rule there; more like a strong suggestion. They have signs and the waitresses usually tell you before you order. Its not like they're going to call the cops because you try to use coins to pay for your chicken sandwich.

8/10/2010 10:19:37 AM

you just said refuse payment and refuse service in two different posts and they are two completely different things, can they choose not to give you your food (or i guess take it away once they realize you plan to pay with coins), yes. can they not accept your coins after you've ingested their meal? not unless they plan on giving it to you for free.

8/10/2010 10:20:45 AM

which means they'd have to verify how you were going to pay before you even sat down. and that's discrimination against the coin-totin' charlotte transit riders damnit!!

[Edited on August 10, 2010 at 10:25 AM. Reason : .]

8/10/2010 10:24:18 AM

Figure most people will have their CC or debit card with them even if coins are the only actual money they have on their persons, so it rarely ends up being an issue, and I haven't seen any conflict escalate in the 3-4 times I've been there since they instituted this policy.

I just know that the manager and the staff there really got sick of people getting off the train and using all the dollar coin leftovers on food and tips there, so they decided to 'strongly suggest' that people use another form of payment.

In the end, money's money, but you have to imagine what a huge pain in the ass it would be to deal with an onslaught of coins every night. I don't blame them for it at all.

8/10/2010 10:28:03 AM

It's not a huge pain in the ass. When I worked retail at a toy store every Christmas we'd get an onslaught of kids spending their dollar coins grandpa or whoever gave them. As long as you give them out as change as well it's no big deal.

8/10/2010 10:36:49 AM

Different when you're posted up at a checkout counter at Toys R Us compared to being a waitresses running around from table to table with your pockets jingling like a panhandler.

8/10/2010 10:44:39 AM

Good thing they don't have waitresses in Great Britain, Australia or New Zealand.

8/10/2010 10:46:50 AM

$1 coins should be square

[/mytwocents]

8/10/2010 10:50:50 AM