The last-ever penny will be minted today in Philadelphia

Declining Usefulness of Coins

• Many commenters say coins—especially pennies—rarely circulate: people pay with bills or cards and dump coins in jars, drawers, or the trash.
• Some try to spend coins aggressively or make exact change, but others consider coin-handling too slow and socially rude in checkout lines.
• There’s tension between those who value “saving time” with taps and cards and those who prioritize careful checking, PINs, and conversation.

Experiences Abroad & Alternative Coin Systems

• Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Russia and others reportedly dropped low‑denomination coins with minimal disruption, rounding cash totals to the nearest 5 cents.
• Several argue the US should go further: eliminate nickels and dimes, maybe even quarters, and push $1/$2 (or higher) coins while phasing out low‑value bills.
• Others strongly prefer bills and dislike heavy coins, or point to existing quarter-based infrastructure (vending, parking, laundromats).

Rounding, Sales Tax, and SNAP Complications

• Rounding rules are the main technical worry: states and cities often legally require exact change, and SNAP rules forbid charging SNAP users more (or less) than other customers.
• Ideas discussed:
  • Round the final total (after tax) to the nearest nickel for all tenders (cash, card, SNAP), to avoid differential treatment.
  • Always round in the customer’s favor and treat it as a small discount.
  • Reprice items or include tax in shelf prices so post‑tax totals land on 5‑cent increments.
• US sales tax complexity (thousands of overlapping jurisdictions, non‑VAT structure) is seen as a uniquely messy constraint.

Economics of Pennies and Nickels

• The penny costs several cents to mint; nickels also cost more than face value. Debate centers on whether that matters given coins’ reuse versus clear seigniorage losses and coins disappearing into jars.
• Back-of-envelope math suggests “rounding down” policies cost individual chains tens of thousands to a few million dollars annually—a marketing expense small relative to revenue.

Politics and Legality

• There’s disagreement over whether existing statutes require pennies to be minted, or delegate quantity (including zero) to Treasury.
• Some see Trump’s order to stop minting as pragmatic but legally “shaky” and emblematic of policymaking by social-media decree rather than structured legislation and transition planning.

Cash, Privacy, and Culture

• Many barely use cash anymore; others stress its importance for privacy, resilience in outages, and inclusion of unbanked or elderly people.
• Threads digress into US currency design: accessibility (size, color, tactile marks), dislike of polymer vs cotton notes, and nostalgia for penny candy and coin-based idioms.