What happened to the penny?

[Asher]

So the US is a democracy while Canada and the UK have their societies engineered from the top down?

$1 coins are already available and no one wants to use them. Spending a few billion on something that hundreds of millions of people prefer is not a waste.

It is a waste if it's unnecessary.

This is why your country is broke, by the way. Little **** like this. Americans are resistant to change, so they'll waste money with inefficiencies while whining about how much debt the country is in. It's a joke.

If you want to save money, there's no silver bullet. You need to do everything efficiently. The US government is a monstrous example of inefficiency from top to bottom.

[regexcellent]

$30bn over 30 years to make our currency more efficient isn't sending us broke.

[Asher]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creeping_normalcy

[Dauphin]

I prefer coins to notes. I like that the Swiss use five franc coins rather than five franc notes. What annoys me though, is that the ATM nearest my office only gives out CHF50 and CHF100 notes.

[giblets]

It is a waste if it's unnecessary.

This is why your country is broke, by the way. Little **** like this. Americans are resistant to change, so they'll waste money with inefficiencies while whining about how much debt the country is in. It's a joke.

If you want to save money, there's no silver bullet. You need to do everything efficiently. The US government is a monstrous example of inefficiency from top to bottom.

You haven't successfully made the case that this is actually a waste of money. Hint: doing everything the cheapest way possible is not always a good idea. Cash is far more convenient than coins.

[regexcellent]

I can fit dozens of banknotes in my wallet and they're thin and light and they don't make noise or bounce around or whatever inside my pocket.

Christ, the money we'd save probably wouldn't even offset the cost to update vending machines.

[Main_Brain]

Thats looking at the total economic cost. Why would the Government care about privatized costs like Vending machines?

[Hauldren Collider]

Because it cares about the economy?

[Asher]

It actually encourages spending in the economy. A good thing.

Let's face facts here -- the American $1 bill is an anachronism that makes zero sense financially for the government (as per their own studies).

The only reason it's still there is Americans can't handle change as well as the rest of the world.

[giblets]

Why not replace all paper money with coins in an attempt to save money on minting money?

[regexcellent]

Why not get rid of all currency and just tell people to use their credit cards? That will save money won't it?

NOBODY in this country wants $1 coins except people who fetishize europeanness.

[kentonio]

It beggars belief that you guys can really give that much of a **** about a coin. For something as low value as 1 dollar, what's wrong with a coin, especially if it's going to save your country billlions? Last I checked weren't you all whining about how services would need to be slashed across the board because of that vast debt of yours? So you can push grandma down a well but paying for vending machines with a coin is a step too far?

[regexcellent]

The amount of money a $1 coin would save us is completely negligible.

[Tuberski]

I can fit dozens of banknotes in my wallet and they're thin and light and they don't make noise or bounce around or whatever inside my pocket.

Christ, the money we'd save probably wouldn't even offset the cost to update vending machines.

Yes but a fistful of bills won't defend your money as well as a fistful of coins.

FACT!

ACK!

[Asher]

It beggars belief that you guys can really give that much of a **** about a coin. For something as low value as 1 dollar, what's wrong with a coin, especially if it's going to save your country billlions? Last I checked weren't you all whining about how services would need to be slashed across the board because of that vast debt of yours? So you can push grandma down a well but paying for vending machines with a coin is a step too far?

It's just your typical American stubbornness. Still with Imperial even though the rest of the world has moved on to Metric.

If it causes your average dumb-as-****-American a moment of confusion, progress will never happen. It's a country stuck in the past.