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Wm. Safire writes: Abolish the Penny



 
 
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  #1  
Old June 2nd 04, 05:46 PM
Edwin Johnston
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Default Wm. Safire writes: Abolish the Penny

http://nytimes.com/2004/06/02/opinion/02SAFI.html
(registration required)

OP-ED COLUMNIST
Abolish the Penny
By WILLIAM SAFIRE

Published: June 2, 2004


WASHINGTON - Because my staunch support of the war in Iraq has generated
such overwhelming reader enthusiasm, it's time to re-establish my contrarian
credentials. (Besides, I need a break.) Here's a crusade sure to infuriate
the vast majority of penny-pinching traditionalists:

The time has come to abolish the outdated, almost worthless, bothersome and
wasteful penny. Even President Lincoln, who distrusted the notion of paper
money because he thought he would have to sign each greenback, would be
ashamed to have his face on this specious specie.

That's because you can't buy anything with a penny any more. Penny candy?
Not for sale at the five-and-dime (which is now a "dollar store").
Penny-ante poker? Pass the buck. Any vending machine? Put a penny in and it
will sound an alarm.

There is no escaping economic history: it takes nearly a dime today to buy
what a penny bought back in 1950. Despite this, the U.S. Mint keeps churning
out a billion pennies a month.

Where do they go? Two-thirds of them immediately drop out of circulation,
into piggy banks or - as The Times's John Tierney noted five years ago -
behind chair cushions or at the back of sock drawers next to your old
tin-foil ball. Quarters and dimes circulate; pennies disappear because they
are literally more trouble than they are worth.

The remaining 300 million or so - that's 10 million shiny new useless items
punched out every day by government workers who could be more usefully
employed tracking counterfeiters - go toward driving retailers crazy. They
cost more in employee-hours - to wait for buyers to fish them out, then to
count, pack up and take them to the bank - than it would cost to toss them
out. That's why you see "penny cups" next to every cash register; they save
the seller time and the buyer the inconvenience of lugging around loose
change that tears holes in pockets and now sets off alarms at every
frisking-place.

Why is the U.S. among the last of the industrialized nations to abolish the
peskiest little bits of coinage? At the G-8 summit next week, the Brits and
the French - even the French! - who dumped their low-denomination coins 30
years ago, will be laughing at our senseless jingling.

The penny-pinching horde argues: those $9.98 price tags save the consumer 2
cents because if the penny was abolished, merchants would "round up" to the
nearest dollar. That's pound-foolish: the idea behind the 98-cent (and I
can't even find a cent symbol on my keyboard any more) price is to fool you
into thinking that "it's less than 10 bucks." In truth, merchants would
round down to $9.95, saving the consumer billions of paper dollars over the
next century.

What's really behind America's clinging to the pesky penny? Nostalgia cannot
be the answer; if we can give up the barbershop shave with its steam towels,
we can give up anything.

The answer, I think, has to do with zinc, which is what pennies are mostly
made of; light copper plating turns them into red cents. The powerful,
outsourcing zinc lobby - financed by Canadian mines as well as Alaskan -
entices front groups to whip up a frenzy of save-the-penny mail to Congress
when coin reform is proposed.

But when the penny is abolished, the nickel will boom. And what is a nickel
made of? No, not the metallic element nickel; our 5-cent coin is mainly
composed of copper. And where is most of America's copper mined? Arizona. If
Senator John McCain would get off President Bush's back long enough to serve
the economic interests of his Arizona constituents, we'd get some
long-overdue coin reform.

What about Lincoln, who has had a century-long run on the penny? He's still
honored on the $5 bill, and will be as long as the dollar sign remains above
the 4 on keyboards. If this threatens coin reformers with the loss of
Illinois votes, put Abe on the dime and bump F.D.R.

What frazzled pollsters, surly op-ed pages, snarling cable talkfests and
issue-starved candidates for office need is a fresh source of hot-eyed
national polarization. Coin reform can close the controversy gap and fill
the vitriol void. Get out those bumper stickers: Abolish the penny!



Ads
  #2  
Old June 2nd 04, 07:12 PM
XpipedreamR
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Posts: n/a
Default

I would like to see a 2009 cent in silver, with the original design and
relief, and then call it quits.

OK, maybe not call it quits...I'm too much of a traditionalitst





"Edwin Johnston" wrote in message
...
http://nytimes.com/2004/06/02/opinion/02SAFI.html
(registration required)

OP-ED COLUMNIST
Abolish the Penny
By WILLIAM SAFIRE

Published: June 2, 2004


WASHINGTON - Because my staunch support of the war in Iraq has generated
such overwhelming reader enthusiasm, it's time to re-establish my

contrarian
credentials. (Besides, I need a break.) Here's a crusade sure to infuriate
the vast majority of penny-pinching traditionalists:

The time has come to abolish the outdated, almost worthless, bothersome

and
wasteful penny. Even President Lincoln, who distrusted the notion of paper
money because he thought he would have to sign each greenback, would be
ashamed to have his face on this specious specie.

That's because you can't buy anything with a penny any more. Penny candy?
Not for sale at the five-and-dime (which is now a "dollar store").
Penny-ante poker? Pass the buck. Any vending machine? Put a penny in and

it
will sound an alarm.

There is no escaping economic history: it takes nearly a dime today to buy
what a penny bought back in 1950. Despite this, the U.S. Mint keeps

churning
out a billion pennies a month.

Where do they go? Two-thirds of them immediately drop out of circulation,
into piggy banks or - as The Times's John Tierney noted five years ago -
behind chair cushions or at the back of sock drawers next to your old
tin-foil ball. Quarters and dimes circulate; pennies disappear because

they
are literally more trouble than they are worth.

The remaining 300 million or so - that's 10 million shiny new useless

items
punched out every day by government workers who could be more usefully
employed tracking counterfeiters - go toward driving retailers crazy. They
cost more in employee-hours - to wait for buyers to fish them out, then to
count, pack up and take them to the bank - than it would cost to toss them
out. That's why you see "penny cups" next to every cash register; they

save
the seller time and the buyer the inconvenience of lugging around loose
change that tears holes in pockets and now sets off alarms at every
frisking-place.

Why is the U.S. among the last of the industrialized nations to abolish

the
peskiest little bits of coinage? At the G-8 summit next week, the Brits

and
the French - even the French! - who dumped their low-denomination coins 30
years ago, will be laughing at our senseless jingling.

The penny-pinching horde argues: those $9.98 price tags save the consumer

2
cents because if the penny was abolished, merchants would "round up" to

the
nearest dollar. That's pound-foolish: the idea behind the 98-cent (and I
can't even find a cent symbol on my keyboard any more) price is to fool

you
into thinking that "it's less than 10 bucks." In truth, merchants would
round down to $9.95, saving the consumer billions of paper dollars over

the
next century.

What's really behind America's clinging to the pesky penny? Nostalgia

cannot
be the answer; if we can give up the barbershop shave with its steam

towels,
we can give up anything.

The answer, I think, has to do with zinc, which is what pennies are mostly
made of; light copper plating turns them into red cents. The powerful,
outsourcing zinc lobby - financed by Canadian mines as well as Alaskan -
entices front groups to whip up a frenzy of save-the-penny mail to

Congress
when coin reform is proposed.

But when the penny is abolished, the nickel will boom. And what is a

nickel
made of? No, not the metallic element nickel; our 5-cent coin is mainly
composed of copper. And where is most of America's copper mined? Arizona.

If
Senator John McCain would get off President Bush's back long enough to

serve
the economic interests of his Arizona constituents, we'd get some
long-overdue coin reform.

What about Lincoln, who has had a century-long run on the penny? He's

still
honored on the $5 bill, and will be as long as the dollar sign remains

above
the 4 on keyboards. If this threatens coin reformers with the loss of
Illinois votes, put Abe on the dime and bump F.D.R.

What frazzled pollsters, surly op-ed pages, snarling cable talkfests and
issue-starved candidates for office need is a fresh source of hot-eyed
national polarization. Coin reform can close the controversy gap and fill
the vitriol void. Get out those bumper stickers: Abolish the penny!





  #3  
Old June 2nd 04, 07:41 PM
Bob Flaminio
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

William Safire wrote:
The time has come to abolish the outdated, almost worthless,
bothersome and wasteful penny.


Bravo!

Why is the U.S. among the last of the industrialized nations to
abolish the peskiest little bits of coinage? At the G-8 summit next
week, the Brits and the French - even the French! - who dumped their
low-denomination coins 30 years ago, will be laughing at our
senseless jingling.


Going euro has actually been a step backward for many countries who long
before got rid of their useless denominations. IIRC, only Finland has
actively discouraged the use of the one and two euro-cent coins. Of
course, it was a step up for Germany, which was still circulating one
pfennig coins. The US may be among the last -- but we are not the very
last. Canada still has one cent coins that are even more worthless than
ours.

The penny-pinching horde argues: those $9.98 price tags save the
consumer 2 cents because if the penny was abolished, merchants would
"round up" to the nearest dollar. That's pound-foolish: the idea
behind the 98-cent (and I can't even find a cent symbol on my
keyboard any more) price is to fool you into thinking that "it's less
than 10 bucks." In truth, merchants would round down to $9.95, saving
the consumer billions of paper dollars over the next century.


Actually, this is not the case. Safire makes the classic mistake of
assuming that cent coin elimination also mandates elimination of the
denomination of one cent -- it does not. Merchants are still free to
price their wares at $9.98 -- indeed, will do so more frequently as the
consumer who buys just one item will end up paying $10.00. However,
random purchases of random quantities of items over time will cancel out
these two cent gains, and I suspect merchants will price their goods no
differently than they do today.

The answer, I think, has to do with zinc, which is what pennies are
mostly made of; light copper plating turns them into red cents. The
powerful, outsourcing zinc lobby - financed by Canadian mines as well
as Alaskan - entices front groups to whip up a frenzy of
save-the-penny mail to Congress when coin reform is proposed.


Ding! Ding! Ding! You got it, Bill. It's all about the zinc.

But when the penny is abolished, the nickel will boom. And what is a
nickel made of? No, not the metallic element nickel; our 5-cent coin
is mainly composed of copper. And where is most of America's copper
mined? Arizona. If Senator John McCain would get off President Bush's
back long enough to serve the economic interests of his Arizona
constituents, we'd get some long-overdue coin reform.


I doubt McCain cares much about copper, but I also question this copper
"boom". I don't see why any increase of nickel production would be
necessary with cent elimination.

What frazzled pollsters, surly op-ed pages, snarling cable talkfests
and issue-starved candidates for office need is a fresh source of
hot-eyed national polarization. Coin reform can close the controversy
gap and fill the vitriol void. Get out those bumper stickers: Abolish
the penny!


This year it will most likely cost more than one cent to make a penny.
It already costs more to get them circulating. And the cost of wasted
productivity to businesses is immeasurable. I think we can suffer them
up to 2009, which will be the centennial of the Lincoln cent and the
bicentennial of Lincoln's birth. If I were king, I'd make 2008 be the
last year of circulating cents, and make a special commemorative cent
for 2009, and then no more.

--
Bob


  #4  
Old June 2nd 04, 11:50 PM
Malanutt 4 Life
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Posts: n/a
Default

I say, leave the cent circulating until 2009, including a regular circulating
2009 cent (Hey, they did it with the 1958 and 1959 cents when they changed it,
so why not have a circulating 2009 cent?) Then I think maybe we should stop
producing the cent and have a 2 cent coin. Just like we should scrap the FBI-RD
for the dollar coin and have a $2 bill for a while. (But not for long. Later
scrap the $2 bill for a coin as well)

I know what you people will say: "No. We don't need a denomination less than 5
cents". Well, I think having a 2 cent coin for a while may help people agree
with eliminating the cent. Let the zinc industry support the 2 cent coin, and
put Lincoln on that. There might be a small profit off 2 cent coins for a
while.

Tom
  #5  
Old June 2nd 04, 11:56 PM
Kyle Mutcher
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Posts: n/a
Default

The answer, I think, has to do with zinc, which is what pennies are
mostly made of; light copper plating turns them into red cents. The
powerful, outsourcing zinc lobby - financed by Canadian mines as well
as Alaskan - entices front groups to whip up a frenzy of
save-the-penny mail to Congress when coin reform is proposed.


Ding! Ding! Ding! You got it, Bill. It's all about the zinc.


It's funny, but the blanks for the Copper Plated Zinc (CPZ) Canadian 1c are
made in the US at the same place US 1c blanks are made in Illinois. Since
2002 there have been CPZ and Copper plated steel being made at the same time
with the CPS coins bearing a "P" mint mark.


But when the penny is abolished, the nickel will boom. And what is a
nickel made of? No, not the metallic element nickel; our 5-cent coin
is mainly composed of copper. And where is most of America's copper
mined? Arizona. If Senator John McCain would get off President Bush's
back long enough to serve the economic interests of his Arizona
constituents, we'd get some long-overdue coin reform.


I doubt McCain cares much about copper, but I also question this copper
"boom". I don't see why any increase of nickel production would be
necessary with cent elimination.


The Copper would most likely come from Chile, and the blanks would be
alloyed in Korea.

What frazzled pollsters, surly op-ed pages, snarling cable talkfests
and issue-starved candidates for office need is a fresh source of
hot-eyed national polarization. Coin reform can close the controversy
gap and fill the vitriol void. Get out those bumper stickers: Abolish
the penny!


This year it will most likely cost more than one cent to make a penny.
It already costs more to get them circulating. And the cost of wasted
productivity to businesses is immeasurable. I think we can suffer them
up to 2009, which will be the centennial of the Lincoln cent and the
bicentennial of Lincoln's birth. If I were king, I'd make 2008 be the
last year of circulating cents, and make a special commemorative cent
for 2009, and then no more.

--
Bob

I move that bob be made king of RCC for 403 days starting Friday. Any one
want to second that movement?


  #6  
Old June 3rd 04, 12:50 AM
Gary Loveless
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Posts: n/a
Default

On Wed, 2 Jun 2004 17:56:45 -0500, "Kyle Mutcher"
wrote:

The answer, I think, has to do with zinc, which is what pennies are
mostly made of; light copper plating turns them into red cents. The
powerful, outsourcing zinc lobby - financed by Canadian mines as well
as Alaskan - entices front groups to whip up a frenzy of
save-the-penny mail to Congress when coin reform is proposed.


Ding! Ding! Ding! You got it, Bill. It's all about the zinc.


It's funny, but the blanks for the Copper Plated Zinc (CPZ) Canadian 1c are
made in the US at the same place US 1c blanks are made in Illinois. Since
2002 there have been CPZ and Copper plated steel being made at the same time
with the CPS coins bearing a "P" mint mark.


But when the penny is abolished, the nickel will boom. And what is a
nickel made of? No, not the metallic element nickel; our 5-cent coin
is mainly composed of copper. And where is most of America's copper
mined? Arizona. If Senator John McCain would get off President Bush's
back long enough to serve the economic interests of his Arizona
constituents, we'd get some long-overdue coin reform.


I doubt McCain cares much about copper, but I also question this copper
"boom". I don't see why any increase of nickel production would be
necessary with cent elimination.


The Copper would most likely come from Chile, and the blanks would be
alloyed in Korea.

What frazzled pollsters, surly op-ed pages, snarling cable talkfests
and issue-starved candidates for office need is a fresh source of
hot-eyed national polarization. Coin reform can close the controversy
gap and fill the vitriol void. Get out those bumper stickers: Abolish
the penny!


This year it will most likely cost more than one cent to make a penny.
It already costs more to get them circulating. And the cost of wasted
productivity to businesses is immeasurable. I think we can suffer them
up to 2009, which will be the centennial of the Lincoln cent and the
bicentennial of Lincoln's birth. If I were king, I'd make 2008 be the
last year of circulating cents, and make a special commemorative cent
for 2009, and then no more.

--
Bob

I move that bob be made king of RCC for 403 days starting Friday. Any one
want to second that movement?

Naah,,,,,we reserve that for Man of the Year!!

Gary

'Rest In Peace Larry Calder'


  #7  
Old June 3rd 04, 12:51 AM
Kyle Mutcher
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Posts: n/a
Default

Bob Says...
This year it will most likely cost more than one cent to make a penny.
It already costs more to get them circulating. And the cost of wasted
productivity to businesses is immeasurable. I think we can suffer them
up to 2009, which will be the centennial of the Lincoln cent and the
bicentennial of Lincoln's birth. If I were king, I'd make 2008 be the
last year of circulating cents, and make a special commemorative cent
for 2009, and then no more.

--
Bob

I move that Bob be made king of RCC for 403 days starting Friday.

We need some sort of Potentate Figure head with nominal powers of persuasion
and decisive problem solving abilities.


Any one want to second that movement?

Kyle.


  #8  
Old June 3rd 04, 01:50 AM
Scot Kamins
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Posts: n/a
Default

In article ,
"Kyle Mutcher" wrote:

We need some sort of Potentate Figure head with nominal powers of persuasion
and decisive problem solving abilities.


I like the idea - the...er...annual potentate could be deemed infallible
in such areas when s/he speaks..um... ex obversia?

Scot Kamins
--
"Speak your truth, even as your voice quakes."
  #10  
Old June 3rd 04, 03:48 PM
ELurio
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Posts: n/a
Default

Everybody here supports getting rid of the $1 FRN [I think], because it would
force people to use the coin.

As to abolishing the penny, we should have wholesale coinage reform.

eric l.
 




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