The death of the penny

[evman150]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Just don't pay for gas with cash. You realize that prices are not rounded if you pay by debit/credit/speed pass, etc. right?

I think you're missing the point of his post.

[HOOT]

I've already lost 4 cents due to this change in the last two days....FOUR CENTS!!! That's $7.30 per year. There goes retirement!

[1stLand]

I hope the "Leave a Penny" container is filled with Nickels from now on.

[The Yen Man]

Originally Posted by Plett25

The stupidity regarding rounding is staggering...

Shortly after the retirement of the penny was announced, a couple of radio announcers in Edmonton did the math on rounding like this: Gas is 90.9 that rounds to 95 cents per litre, every fill is 100L, that's $4 per fill, twice a week means $400 per year due to the penny being eliminated.

To be fair, they are from Edmonton, so...

Lets put it into perspective to illustrate just how stupid their argument is. For the sake of this argument, lets just say a business always rounds up to the next nickel. In theory, the max you can lose is 4 cents per transaction. To lose $400 per year on gas would mean someone has to fill their tank 10,000 times a year. There are 365 days a year. The person would have to fill on average more than 27 times a day.

[redforever]

I just wish they would do like in New Zealand, where there is no penny, and no nickel either if I remember correctly.

All taxes, rounding up or down, are already calculated into the price displayed on the tag and that is what you pay...the price on the tag.

[ken0042]

How exactly would you eliminate the nickel? I get rounding to the nearest 10¢; but then would you also have to get rid of quarters?

[First Lady]

Originally Posted by ken0042

How exactly would you eliminate the nickel? I get rounding to the nearest 10¢; but then would you also have to get rid of quarters?

Or use them in even numbers.

[Minnie]

Well if they're going to do this, I wish they'd catch up out here already. No rounding up/down whatsoever, when I paid with cash. In fact, one store tried to give me a penny back. Um no thanks.

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by Minnie

Well if they're going to do this, I wish they'd catch up out here already. No rounding up/down whatsoever, when I paid with cash. In fact, one store tried to give me a penny back. Um no thanks.

It'll take a few weeks for the stores to run out, and even then they'll still be popping up occasionally. I use cash or coins so little these days, that I'm not even sure when I'll get to experience this magical rounding first hand!

[Komskies]

Originally Posted by The Yen Man

To be fair, they are from Edmonton, so...

Lets put it into perspective to illustrate just how stupid their argument is. For the sake of this argument, lets just say a business always rounds up to the next nickel. In theory, the max you can lose is 4 cents per transaction. To lose $400 per year on gas would mean someone has to fill their tank 10,000 times a year. There are 365 days a year. The person would have to fill on average more than 27 times a day.

Or participate in an inordinate number of these:

[redforever]

Originally Posted by ken0042

How exactly would you eliminate the nickel? I get rounding to the nearest 10¢; but then would you also have to get rid of quarters?

New Zealand has 5 coins, 10 cent, 20 cent, 50 cent, $1, and $2.

Merchandise sold has all taxes etc computed in the price tag and you pay what the price tag says.

[Jimmy Stang]

I have no problem rounding the final transaction amount, but combining tax and rounding each individual item would end up costing people more. Businesses could and would always round up, and the customer would be paying the extra few cents on each item. Rounding once per transaction will average out to zero for the consumer, which is ideal.

Rounding the final transaction amount, particularly for cash-only sales, is pretty much the easiest way to implement this for everyone. I don't need a pretty, even number when paying with plastic, which is how the majority of transactions are done these days anyway.

[firebug]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

^ In your previous experiences, do you find many that are worth anything special? And will you sell them on eBay immediately or perhaps hang onto them until pennies are more scarce?

Honest questions too. I know that there are coin collectors out there, but I haven't heard of any penny specialists before.

We sell the copper ones bulk at $30 per 10lb bag, and then list the rarer varieties separately on ebay. There are some varieties as recent as 2006 which we sold for over $50 each.

I have 7 boxes filled with 50 mint sealed 2012 rolls each, that will sell for $3-4 per roll.

Per hour its not much money, but I'm weird enough to enjoy the hunt.

This site is a pretty good reference for the more valuable varieties:
http://coinsandcanada.com/coins-prices.php

Beyond keeping a full set for ourselves, we will sell them off pretty quick - I think my moneys better off in silver or platinum.

[anyonebutedmonton]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

I have no problem rounding the final transaction amount, but combining tax and rounding each individual item would end up costing people more. Businesses could and would always round up, and the customer would be paying the extra few cents on each item. Rounding once per transaction will average out to zero for the consumer, which is ideal.

Rounding the final transaction amount, particularly for cash-only sales, is pretty much the easiest way to implement this for everyone. I don't need a pretty, even number when paying with plastic, which is how the majority of transactions are done these days anyway.

This seems like a silly thing to be worried about... You would simply make a purchase decision based on the price that you are willing to pay. There would be no "rounding up" that would cost a consumer more. If businesses were trying to charge too much, you would simply take your business somewhere else.

[Jimmy Stang]

It doesn't worry me. I just prefer any tax and rounding to be done per transaction, not per item. It just seems more transparent to me that way. And that's what will be happening here in Canada, so that suits me just fine.

I believe that merchants have the option to include GST in their prices if they wish, but very few do because it makes their prices seem higher at first glance.

[ricosuave]

I posted this before, but... about $5 per square foot...

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by ricosuave

I posted this before, but... about $5 per square foot...

@ $5 per foot, that costs more than what it did to put marble in on my main floor. not cost effective.

[ricosuave]

^ but unique. And soon to be rare.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

@ $5 per foot, that costs more than what it did to put marble in on my main floor. not cost effective.

but instead of tossing their pennies like most do, they saved for a few years. and had their friends save. i bet the actual amount of pennies they had to go get from a bank or something was pretty small

[bizaro86]

That would also look cool as a backsplash.