I always thought the US kept the penny because of all the "monument" commemorative penny machines about the place.

Only true for the US. British penny and eurocent are copper plated steel. The zinc lobby might be the main factor preventing the US ditching the penny but not why we have the penny.

Because it takes legislation to get rid of the penny. Since it makes sense for both conservatives and liberals to do it, there is nothing to fight over. I'm not making a joke, there are studies on why unanimously agreed upon things don't get done. Like marijuana reform. Something like 80% of the population agrees that the laws should change. Trump said before he got elected that he didn't really like the war on drugs. The Dems agreed. So what happened? It's not worth fighting over, because it will not get you re-elected. It not partisan, so it's a waste of time.

Of course there are studies and propaganda claiming that legislation is flawed and can not possibly progress because of psychological quirks and bureaucratic proceedings. It's not like the big powers (like pharma) would use their big money to keep inconvenient laws (like legalizing marijuana) from passing. Most of the conflicts between conservatives and liberals are orchestrated by the power mafia; usually to divide people and distract from more important matters.

@@quantumangel ???? I don't know if you are agreeing with me or not...but anyway, marijuana was just one example. Others include better education, and legalizing prostitution. Every is for these when asked, but no one makes a big deal about it, because they focus on things that they hate about the other side.

In the Netherlands we dont have 1 and 2 cents. But we still have prices like 9,99

@ Stupid question I know, but in that case how do you pay? Do you have other coins that can add up to 0,09, like 4 cent coins or something?

If something is €9,99 you pay €10 and if it cost 9,97 you pay 9,95. That is only with cash. If you pay with card you pay the correct number.

In New Zealand we got rid of 1 and 2 cent pieces in the 1990s and the 5 cent in the early 2000s. We also reduced the size of all our coins. It's extremely likely that the 10 and 20 cent will be removed from circulation in my lifetime. Mostly we don't find it weird as most transactions are electronic these days.

Something ending in .99 is a trick to make you spend that dolar extra without realizing because you only read the big number so when something is 1.99 your mind reads it as a buck and not 2 bucks

To coin a phrase

Thoughts are costing $0.38 these days ...

@@russcrawford3310 before or after tax

@@SpitfireMLG If a $1 note could actually buy something substantial, it would be another story. One can't buy a candy bar for a $1 anymore. Inflation has made the $1 bill obsolete.

Yea but sales tax brings that back up over $8.

@@cbernier3 Irrelevant.

@@GonzoTehGreat no it isn't. It's very relevant in America, where sales tax is added to the total. Except in the states that don't have sales tax or purchases that are exempt. If the point is to make something seem like less than $8, then with tax, it's really 8.63, it's not less than $8 anymore. I always round the prices up, this psychological trick doesn't work on people who round up. It's also relevant to the change. You can set prices to end in 0 or 5 to not need pennies, but then the taxes make you need pennies again. After you add like 5-10% tax, you no longer care about the difference between 7.99 and 8.00, you end up paying almost 9.

@@cbernier3 Ah OK, you're saying the addition of the sales tax can result in a total which still requires pennies, which is indeed relevant. My bad. I suppose they could use calculators to set the prices so this doesn't happen or include the tax in the price, but both are a lot of effort to eliminate pennies, so it's probably easier to just keep using them when paying by cash, while making it easier to pay electronically.

Yeah nickelback is a overrated band

Or you know just include the tax in the price

Yeah I think that digital payment includes the thousands of a euro / pound /dollar

Apple Pay FTW, and I’m in the US

Ivo Poblete PayPal etc. I pay everywhere with that and rarely have cash on my hands lol

CONTACT LESSSSSSS BEEEEER now poor lol

That's kinda dumb :D

@@bayraktarx1386 Nah it's a marketing technique.

To be fair, we only round to 5c for cash sales. Card / contactless sales are always rounded to the nearest cent. So although it is a marketing technique, (arguably) most sales are still rounded to the closest cent. Don't even get me started on Petrol Stations having petrol prices rounded to a 10th of a cent though… that must to be a marketing technique through and through!

Same with Canada. Works well 👍🏼.

There's also a lot of $x.95 for that reason

Good catch. Thanks for letting us know. We're updating to reflect the correct date, 2012.

Why would you want that? That would reduce economic growth and limit investments.

jamie 123 not if the change is a lot

what is fiat? money not backed by gold and silver?

@@Abdi-uy1kh yes, money based on trust in central banks.

​@@foxy7558 The only real problem it cause is making it hard for governments to print endless amount of money, inflating the supply, and robbing people of their hard-earn purchasing powers

We have Fiat currency for economic growth. By pegging the dollar to gold, you can only grow a certain amount (the rate you mine gold/silver)

@@manhp gold is so unpredictable that mining may cause the value to drop or rise incredibly

They do. If you place the penny on its edge directly on the glass and then hit it with a hammer then it breaks the glass. You’ll need a razor blade to peel the laminated layer but after that you’re good to take the goods you need. Be a good chap and leave the penny inside when you’re done :-)

InterestingTopics - A Deeper Analysis They’ll still ask for Lowest amount to donate

Cashiers could just ask if you’d like to add a donation if you use card. Most wouldn’t donate just one cent with fear of looking bad. Unless you’re paycheck-to-paycheck, you can spare 5 cents.

I love how the Antilles still use the Guilder

No pennies add up . I care about my money and making it stretch I don't want to be cheated in my change

Mad Mod a penny has saved me many times

@Abuse The Poke Trust me I do pay with card, I never use cash. However, there are still cash only places or places that have fees for using your card. In that event, I don't want to be cheated. Sorry, but for as many transactions as I have to make in a month the pennies add up. Unless you plan to foot the bill the penny should stay. It could be made of plastic for all I care so long as its there.

Loaf for a dollar? Where are you shopping?

@@hairyrope1912 dollar tree usually has bread for a dollar.

It's called "psychological pricing", where instead of, say, £10 you say something costs £10 minus the minimum currency unit... it works just as well whether that unit is worth 1 or 2 or 5 or 10 nominal minimum currency units (e.g., pence, cents). Here in North America, some retailers deliberately use, e.g., $__.97 instead of $__.98 or $__.99 so they're at least one or two cents cheaper than their competitors who use a higher psychological price-here's looking at you, Walmart. >.>

Only the charities that people really don't want to give to, but don't want to appear uncharitable by giving nothing, would lose out.

Hassle? Here in the US you’d be looked down upon for having to count where has 10 other people would have finished with their cards. What’s wrong with debit cards? Some 70% of transactions here in the US are card/phone/whatever

If something was £7.99 why would you round it up by 5p ? That would be £8.04, id rather just pay the extra 1p to make it £8.00, the government raised vat to 20% from 17.5% that was more costly than a 1p rise on 1 product

David Marchant They’re talking about round down the original price 8.00 by 5 pence. Not to mention, even if you round 7.99 to the closes 5 pence, it would be 8.00 and not 8.05.

@@Endergirlz right 1. he said round it to the nearest 5p which that will make it £8.00 and 2. I never claimed it be £8.05 i said £8.04 lol

Jack LaBue Well it would be 904 million pounds if it was in the UK, not dollars

Jack LaBue rubbish*

9.04 million pounds

I don't really know why anybody uses cash on a regular basis anyway It has its uses, but not for day to day use

Debasement is a lowering amount of precious metals in coins. Inflation is an increase of prices. Debasement causes inflation. But not necessarily other way round. You can still have inflation with gold/silver based currency.

@KILLERxPRO99 have you ever worked in a restaurant? they kiss off more than that because it's just not worth worrying about. let's say they sell 50 pizzas a night at €8, or 57 pizzas at €7.99 or €7.95-that's a difference of €2.28. how much are they saving by not dealing with pennies? I don't know but probably not as much as €2.28. so, let's say they're still down €2 for setting their price at €7.95. how much does each worker make, per hour? does the manager come through and rush everyone in the kitchen through they're final cleanup-to make sure they clock out as quickly as possible? I guarantee you that they could save way more than €2 by doing that, and that's even if no one it milking the clock by sitting around for five minutes without clocking out after they finish-which is super common, and which, in my experience, managers often have better things to worry about. they'll do something if they catch someone doing that, but I've never seen someone proactively checking for it. saying something about "4 cents profit" makes a lot of sense if you have a lot of high-precision processes. if you're manufacturing millions of hinges at a factory in China, and you can cut the price you pay per hinge by even 1 cent, that's _huge,_ but that's just not what restaurants are like. in other businesses, I think this is handled in different ways, but the death of the penny hasn't crippled the economy of places that have already stopped using it.

I live in Poland and I don't remember lollipops being this cheap even 25 years ago

Well, that's a matter of opinion I guess. I personally think the government spending millions so I can have five minutes of fun is a very reasonable and appropriate use of tax payers money

Garbage is an American English word. The appeasement comes from the fact that an obviously British English speaker has tried to use an Americanism in place of a British English word. Which is why we've ended up with "garbage bin".

mrkt yeah, I get what you’re saying. They title should’ve been “Why we STILL have pennies” or “Should we still have pennies” something like that.

@steve gale they don't have to accept money, unless you are in debt to them But it would be very stupid to refuse

🙁

The rich kids be playing on the 10p machines.

marcranger I seriously doubt that. Yes cash is being used less. But they’re not rare.. you make it sound as if it’s been 8+ years since you’ve seen a single coin or bill.

Nobody cares who the hell you are. You are not important enough to be spied upon.

What about 2p

5p Freddos tho. 10p 2x Freddos and 25p energy drinks.