In this blog post I predicted "the demise of the penny coming by the end of a second Obama administration." This is an inevitable result of the demonetization of the dollar, which took place from 1933 to 1971. The only question is, how soon will it happen? Even before Obama was elected, it became clear that he intended to print his way out of this credit crisis, and that spells bad news for the penny.
Well, as it turns out the idea is already starting to take hold. This blog reports on a city that has already tried to abolish it--I don't know how well they've done, but as the entry points out, pennies are no longer legal tender at tollbooths.
Stand by. Right now copper is pretty cheap in terms of dollars, but once that disparity is rectified, the penny is a goner. And it will probably happen overnight.
Well, it finally happened. I was at a store that declined to give a customer a penny in change. The penny change was only due to a sales tax being imposed on one of the items bought; everything in the store could otherwise be purchased just with nickles.
ReplyDeleteNot sure which will happen first: a 10% sales tax rounded to the nearest nickle, or confiscation of all pennies, except those held by collectors.