If the government decides to do away with pennies or nickels, there could be many ramifications.
1. They could announce that all those wishing to be reimbursed for the defunct coins must return them to a bank by X date.
2. The gov't could also set a limit to the amount that can be exchanged. See the article in the link below.
3. The gov't could issue pre-loaded debit cards good for the amount turned in to get Americans used to a cashless society.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/ma ... ncy-reformNotable excerpt:
Although people were allowed to exchange currency – at a rate of 100 to one – only a small amount could be changed. That wiped out the savings of slightly better off North Koreans who had managed to put aside money through trading.
Food prices soared as uncertainty over contradictory policies led to hoarding, the ICG said. By mid-January there were reports of rising deaths from starvation, thought to have prompted the release of emergency food supplies.
The problems may have been exacerbated by the decision to pay those on state salaries the wage level in the new currency – in theory increasing their real incomes 100 times over.
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them... (Thomas Jefferson)