The
Old Coot throws in his two cents.
By
Merlin Lessler
It’s
claimed we have a coin shortage in this country. As a result of the Corona
Virus. Everyone is jumping on the “corona virus excuse” these days. Maybe it’s
true for the coin shortage. They say the flow of currency through the economy
has slowed down, almost stopped. Nothing new for me; I’ve always experienced a
shortage of currency, though more like the five, ten, twenty- and fifty-dollar
bill variety. I never have enough of them. I do have a ton of pennies though.
If the mint stopped penny production and shifted to nickels, dimes and quarters
they might solve the problem. Forget the half-dollar: I think they stopped
producing them in any quantity years ago. I miss them. A great coin to flip and
use as a protractor to draw a circle. But the vending machine industry put them
on death row years ago.
It
costs 1.83 cents to make a penny. Not too smart. But’s it’s the government;
what do you expect. The mint, or some other entity, should buy back the pennies
from banks, stores and the public; it would cut the production cost nearly in
half. Or, even better, just take the penny out of circulation. Stores, restaurants
and other cash business places could round off the sales slip to the nearest nickel,
using the math most of us learned in the 3rd grade. If the bill is
$18.32, it gets rounded to $18.30. If it’s $18.36, up it goes to $18.40. Nobody
would complain. Most of us would say, “Thank you,” for not asking for the few
cents, or giving me pennies back in change.
Many
of us throw the pennies in a jar or drawer and hope they go away. I sometimes
throw them on the parking lot in public places and let someone willing to bend
over and pick them up have them. The worst transaction in a penny society is
paying the tab that comes to $10.02. You don’t have the 2 cents so you hand
over a twenty and end up with nine ones 98 cents in coin.
It
would take an act of congress to get this passed, so it will never happen. We
have to take it into our own hands, and not accept pennies in change, leave
them with the merchant. And, take the pennies we have lying around and cash
them in for usable money. Wala! You now live in a penny free society! There’s a
penny that’s been laying in my driveway for over a month. It fell there when I
got out of the car. Old Coots don’t bend over to pick up a penny. We’re afraid
if we dip that low, we won’t be able to get back up. I’m not going to push my, “Help
I’ve fallen and can’t get up alarm” for a penny. I’m saving it for a worthwhile
situation. Like a bend down for a half-dollar. I couldn’t stop myself if I saw
one lying on the ground. I guess it’s a paper route thing. When I delivered the
Evening Press the cost was 45 cents a week. When I did my collections every
Monday night, I received a pocketful of half dollars. My other pocket was
loaded with nickels, so I could give the customers their change. Only three
people on my route of 67 customers ever said, “Keep the change, kid.” And people
think I’m a cheapskate.
Comments?
Complaints? Send to mlessler7@gmail.com
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