The demise of the penny piqued my interest. Coincidentally or not, Bennett Kleinman at Word Smarts posted, on the very day that the penny ceased to be minted in the US, Why do we ‘give our two cents’? “A dollar doesn’t go as far as it used to, but giving your two cents can still go a long way. Let’s look at the potential origins of this monetary idiom.”
“The truth is, there’s no clear origin story, but there are a number of possible examples. One relates to the Bible, specifically the Widow’s Offering, a parable that appears in the Books of Mark and Luke. In the story, a poor widow places two small coins into an offering box, which Jesus finds to be more meaningful than any of the vast sums donated by wealthier folks…
“The phrase also may come from the Twopenny Post, an early 19th-century British mail service. In 1801, Parliament passed a law increasing the cost of letter delivery from a single pence to two pence. So, if you wanted to send a letter expressing your thoughts to someone, you’d have to pony up two pence — or give your two cents.”
Nostalgia
The Boston Globe (paywall likely) noted: “First produced in 1793, pennies have been a living link to an earlier era in American history — the one in which one cent meant something — and so their end provoked a certain amount of numismatic nostalgia.”
That’s true for me. When I was a kid, I used to collect pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and half dollars. I knew about the mints in Philadelphia (P) (generally unmarked in the day) from Denver (D), and even San Francisco (S). To this day, if I see a wheat penny (1909-1958), I throw it into my Mickey Mouse bank that I’ve had for decades.
And surely, I bought penny candies from Ellis’ store on Mygatt Street in Binghamton, NY, in the 1960s, especially red licorice.
Globe: “In recent years, though, the story of the penny’s persistence has never really been about pennies. It’s been about government dysfunction: how America continued to make a zombie coin that nobody wanted or needed anymore, and which cost taxpayers more than it was worth…. Even as other countries made the rational choice to discontinue their low-value coins as inflation ate away their worth, the United States continued spending four cents to make one-cent coins, up until [November 12].”
What’s the plan?
The problem, unsurprisingly, is that there was no plan for what comes next. The regime “did not lay any of the groundwork needed for banks and retail businesses to handle the transition in an orderly way… Only now, with penny shortages reported across the country, is the Treasury Department “considering issuing guidance to help businesses navigate the transition, including how to round cash transactions and handle payments without one-cent coins, according to people familiar with the plans.”
Politico: ” Trade groups representing retailers, grocers, restaurants, and gas stations are urging Congress to pass legislation establishing a national standard for rounding cash transactions to the nearest nickel. Without such a policy, businesses are worried about potential class-action lawsuits under state consumer protection laws that could argue rounding shortchanges customers. Industry groups say a federal standard would create consistency and protect businesses from legal risk.”
People, and they are legion, who say that “nobody” uses cash anymore haven’t seen the eyes of retailers light up when offered cash, a function of how much they have to pay to accept credit cards, something I recall from my retail days. That’s why many of them offer discounts for greenbacks.
USA Today reported on November 13(!): “Already, some convenience stores, supermarkets and retailers, including Kroger and Home Depot, have had locations dealing with penny shortages.”
Double your money!
WTEN: Market 32 and Price Chopper are offering customers a chance to double the value of their spare change on November 16. That Sunday, grocery stores will host a Double Exchange Day from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., where anyone can bring in their spare pennies and trade them in for double their value.
“When shoppers come in with a minimum of 50 cents and a maximum of $100 in pennies, an employee will count the change and match it with a gift card reward on the spot worth twice the amount the person came in with.”
Syracuse.com adds: “Double Exchange Day will take place at all 129 Price Chopper and Market 32 locations… The stores are located in six states: Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont.
This happened Tuesday, December 13, 2022, a day-in-the-life story. It was more like four hours.