Trump's Doge wants to end the Penny

[Lemon Thrower]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... penny.html

[shinnosuke]

Is that picture of the pile of pennies in the article an AI creation? Upon careful examination there are some old coins there that look remarkably good.

[thecrazyone]

Wonder what the probability is

[Doctor Steuss]

Is that picture of the pile of pennies in the article an AI creation? Upon careful examination there are some old coins there that look remarkably good.

It's real (although I don't know the history behind it). It's a Getty Image (photographer Dennis Hallinan). It was uploaded for licensing/purchase on 4/21/2009 (before household AI fun).

[JobIII]

Interesting. But also not a new fact. Just maybe now more people will become aware of this.

What will be interesting is how the groups that lobby for for keeping the penny respond.

These folk. https://pennies.org/

[Silver4face]

I'm assuming such a proposal would have to pass both the house and the senate. If it passes, you will have a window of time to gobble up ROLLS before they disappear. I will be buying as many as possible. I don't care if it takes a year or two to sort them.

Once gone, CRH's will have to turn to other denominations which will likely prove to be less successful.

[Lemon Thrower]

I'm assuming such a proposal would have to pass both the house and the senate. If it passes, you will have a window of time to gobble up ROLLS before they disappear. I will be buying as many as possible. I don't care if it takes a year or two to sort them.

Once gone, CRH's will have to turn to other denominations which will likely prove to be less successful.

I would worry about there being a deadline to turn your pennies in. But can you imagine what is going to happen when they actually do kill the penny - jars and jars of pennies across the nation are going to get turned in. Pennies that haven't seen daylight in decades.

[Morsecode]

Yes, but a lot of good that Great Migration will do collectors. Along with any deadline to turn them in will also come a directive for all member banks to surrender them. A good time to be a bank teller with sticky fingers maybe, but that's about it.

Weak hands and non-coin people will turn them in. Strong hands will keep their Lincolns, and may enjoy watching them - even the zincs - increase to 5, 10, 25 cents in a couple years, depending how successful the buyback goes. The surrender deadline will extend into the future a couple years minimum.

[thecrazyone]

So my questions are:

1. If you don't turn in the ones you have, do they become useless?
2. Does that allow the melting of coppers to begin?
3. What is the point of buying up rolls of them if they are "going away"?

[Morsecode]

Look to pre-'33 gold for the answer to that.

It was outlawed, and a concerted effort was made to melt it all. Yet today tons of these coins are available to purchase. Seems to be no end to them.

If the government really wanted to bear down on "contraband" cents after a buyback I suppose they could. Maybe, for a few years, they send the Secret Service around to kick in a few doors of people suspected to still be hoarding pennies in coffee cans to send a message. Some years will pass and no one will give a crap anymore about enforcement and every Lincoln left in existence is worth a premium.

I doubt they will ever get that feisty about it. Cents will be taken out of circulation and that will effectively be the end of it, as in Canada. Whatever is held onto by collectors and sorters, in the grand scheme of things, will amount to a drop in a barrel.

[Lemon Thrower]

Pre-33 gold is not a good example. Much of it was taken to Swiss bank accounts and safety deposit boxes. In the late 90s the guy who invented PCGS started buying them up, grading them, and bringing them back to the US.

I think if the US stopped the penny there would be 2 implications. First, one could melt coppers. Second, you would have a legal and practical limit to "spend" your pennies. The government would put a deadline on when they would still be money, and other places like shops and banks would stop taking them. I am already seeing the latter - its very hard to spend pennies or even deposit them unless they are rolled.

[thecrazyone]

Not to be devil's advocate but self checkouts accept pennies. I appreciate the additional info as well!

[TXSTARFIRE]

I doubt the govt would put a deadline on when the cent is money. They would just stop making them and end the melt ban and they would simply go away. To my knowledge the US has never canceled money or made it not spendable. I believe that fractional currency can still be spent.

[Lemon Thrower]

I doubt the govt would put a deadline on when the cent is money. They would just stop making them and end the melt ban and they would simply go away. To my knowledge the US has never canceled money or made it not spendable. I believe that fractional currency can still be spent.

You are probably technically correct. But PRACTICALLY I disagree with you. There are stories of people being arrested for counterfeiting for paying with valid $2 bills.

I guess I'm just not someone with the patience to stuff pennies in a slot at a self checkout one at a time.

[galenrog]

The Department of Government Efficiency has advisory authority only. Most of what they will suggest will require legislative action. Some actions recommended can be remedied by executive action either by department heads or higher.

It is estimated that removal of DEI programs and contracts within Department of Defense, alone, will reduce spending by $400 million.

My advice for anyone who wants to suggest cuts or efficiencies to DOGE do so as succinctly and accurately as possible.m

Time for more coffee.

[Lemon Thrower]

PRESIDENT TRUMP, to whom the Treasury reports, wants to end the penny.

https://www.wnd.com/2025/02/make-no-cen ... w-pennies/

[thecrazyone]

It has started..

https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/09/business ... index.html

[Lemon Thrower]

https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrum ... 4933701762

[smalltimeopn]

It's been forever since I've logged on here but when I heard about this driving in to work this morning, here I am! Good to be here again!

[thecrazyone]

Welcome back!

[TwoAndAHalfCents]

I wonder how many were minted so far this year and if any of those are already making their way into circulation.

[thecrazyone]

We usually start seeing the Philly cents here at end of Feb, so some should already be out there.

[Cu Penny Hoarder]

No April fools posts this year.

[Lemon Thrower]

Those 2025's might be a keeper!

[galenrog]

The US Mint has floated this idea several times, only to be torpedoed by Congress. We shall see.