Just a question what are your thoughts?

[pipster]

As i was sorting last night i got to think what would happen if America decided to abolish the penny? scenarios that crossed my mind
1. would their be a recall on them and the fed would re melt?
2.would the banks have to slowly turn in all returned to them for upgraded currency?
3.ban would still be in effect for melting as to point 1.

when they stopped minting "most" coins in silver in 64 the silver price was 1.29ish? therefore the coins were still worth more than melt with copper the price is higher than face... this is what lead me to these thoughts. what are ya'lls

[mtalbot_ca]

I think it could be a mix. Option 1 would be to start assorted of a melt ban. As they cannot force (or enforce) all the pennies to return, this way they could get most of the pennies out of circulation, even with an added bonus for the banks (like maybe a 2$ admin fees to them as they return the boxes).

I do not thing option 2 is going to happen as the penny will not be replaced by anything else,

Then the ban (like 5 years later) could be lifted.

My two cents.

[hobo finds]

I think that when they stop issuing them they continue to circulate untill till they are all gone copper first then zinc! I don't think that the goverment will collect them like Canada is doing, we are just not that smart!

[joeinnj]

Agree.
They’d be legal tender forever (like any other phased out coin of the past), slowly just disappearing from circulation and likely not replaced with anything.
At that time of zero or near zero circulation they’d likely lift the melt ban (10-20 yrs??) YET they may have some numi value at that time (the coppers, like wheat cents do today)
Look for the US Nickels composition to be changed to some sort of plastic feeling garbage or steel at best in the near future also.
But then again and like mentioned above, our Gov isn’t all that smart so anyones guess

[scyther]

I really hope it doesn't take 10-20 years for the melt ban to get lifted. I'm not really buying the idea that people will continue to trade them as copper bullion like they do for silver...

[cmw]

I do think coppers will be traded for multiples of face value.

When melt value reaches 4+ times face I think public appreciation will broaden.

Additionally the eventual, inevitable, replacement of nickels will serve as a catalyst for greatly increased recognition and demand.

I don't have timeline but do expect the effects of inflation of the money supply to continue to ramp upwards.

[HoardCopperByTheTon]

I think they will continue to circulate until they just disappear. When was the last time you got a 2 or 3 cent piece in circulation? It would certainly limit the ordering of multiple boxes from your bank.. so your supply line would dry up.

[penny pretty]

jardin( the zinc planchette provider to the US) still has lobbyists,and lobbyists still rule this country. Obama is on the hotseat for jobs, and the chance of the US govt eliminating jobs to a contractor at this point in time is slim

[knibloe]

The penny isn't costing the gov much. They like to make it out like it does because they can divert attention from the real issues that way. The cost of production that they state for the penny is inflated. I am not sure why the mint wants to get rid of them. They would have to lay off a lot of people. I believe that they are really looking to get the power to change compositions away from congress. Hope that never happens.

In short, I believe the penny is here to stay a while.

[stonewallrabbitry]

I read somewhere (probable on this forum) that the mint says that they own all coinage, if they already say that they own it then what is stopping them from saying that all pennies must be turned in or face a fine? Maybe I worry too much but it wouls suck to have a couple ton of copper when copper hits 4+ dollars a pound and have the government say you have to turn them in at FV

[scyther]

I read somewhere (probable on this forum) that the mint says that they own all coinage, if they already say that they own it then what is stopping them from saying that all pennies must be turned in or face a fine? Maybe I worry too much but it wouls suck to have a couple ton of copper when copper hits 4+ dollars a pound and have the government say you have to turn them in at FV

Public backlash. Not many people hoard pennies, so most wouldn't care about that, but the same would apply to junk silver and numismatics. That would set off a lot of alarms for a lot of people.

[Engineer]

I think if the government added a zero to the end of our currency the cents in circulation would circulate as dimes do today until they were eventually replaced in circulation by the newer coins. At that point, coin hoarders would do better than the people with their money in banks which could convert them to the new currency electronically.

The logistics of an overnight currency swap would be huge, so you have to ask yourself what the treasury would need to do with our current money supply. I believe they'd need to either provide a transition period for currently circulating notes and coinage to be exchanged, or simply declare that an old penny is worth a new copper dime of the same size.

[Numis Pam]

I think if the government added a zero to the end of our currency the cents in circulation would circulate as dimes do today until they were eventually replaced in circulation by the newer coins. At that point, coin hoarders would do better than the people with their money in banks which could convert them to the new currency electronically.

The logistics of an overnight currency swap would be huge, so you have to ask yourself what the treasury would need to do with our current money supply. I believe they'd need to either provide a transition period for currently circulating notes and coinage to be exchanged, or simply declare that an old penny is worth a new copper dime of the same size.

+1 Interesting comments, had not thought along these lines before

[JerrySpringer]

I read somewhere (probable on this forum) that the mint says that they own all coinage, if they already say that they own it then what is stopping them from saying that all pennies must be turned in or face a fine? Maybe I worry too much but it wouls suck to have a couple ton of copper when copper hits 4+ dollars a pound and have the government say you have to turn them in at FV

Public backlash. Not many people hoard pennies, so most wouldn't care about that, but the same would apply to junk silver and numismatics. That would set off a lot of alarms for a lot of people.

As long as copper stays high(er) in price, the 95% Cu cent will be a piece of collateral or trade-equivalent on par with any currency denomination IMHO. In other words, the government could forever, in our lifetimes at least, not budge and not allow the melt to be legal, but as long as Cu keeps on keeping on, there will be a market to trade them. I cite the fact that that people put a lot of trust of those federal reserve pieces of paper we keep in our wallets. Just.a.piece.of.paper. At least copper has something more going for it. I am an advocate of setting aside cents if time and space permits. However, if interest rates start to climb, might be a good thing to unload some and collect a few % in interest too. Who knows, but I truly think the current state of things leaves little choice but to look for ways to preserve buying power if not to try and leverage it with growth assets.

[scyther]

I read somewhere (probable on this forum) that the mint says that they own all coinage, if they already say that they own it then what is stopping them from saying that all pennies must be turned in or face a fine? Maybe I worry too much but it wouls suck to have a couple ton of copper when copper hits 4+ dollars a pound and have the government say you have to turn them in at FV

Public backlash. Not many people hoard pennies, so most wouldn't care about that, but the same would apply to junk silver and numismatics. That would set off a lot of alarms for a lot of people.

As long as copper stays high(er) in price, the 95% Cu cent will be a piece of collateral or trade-equivalent on par with any currency denomination IMHO. In other words, the government could forever, in our lifetimes at least, not budge and not allow the melt to be legal, but as long as Cu keeps on keeping on, there will be a market to trade them. I cite the fact that that people put a lot of trust of those federal reserve pieces of paper we keep in our wallets. Just.a.piece.of.paper. At least copper has something more going for it. I am an advocate of setting aside cents if time and space permits. However, if interest rates start to climb, might be a good thing to unload some and collect a few % in interest too. Who knows, but I truly think the current state of things leaves little choice but to look for ways to preserve buying power if not to try and leverage it with growth assets.

I agree that copper cents will continue to trade for above face value, but they also go for much less than spot value, and probably significantly less than you get selling them to be melted. Another consideration is the significant cost of shipping, the inconvenience of carrying them (if they were ever to actually be used as money), and even storage issues if you have a lot of them. There's a lot of waste there compared to junk silver. I think we'd be a lot better off if we could cash them in for scrap.