They did it again!

[gfretwell]

... or copper plated, zinc shot pin washers?

[Tim Smith]

The least expensive gas station around here (ARCO) doesn't take credit cards. They do take ATM cards, but it costs $0.45. The gas stations that do take credit cards are usually sufficiently more expensive than ARCO that even with cash back or other rewards, gas costs more there.

[James Bond 007]

Rick, that is not entirely true. Dollar coins would be popular if = vending machines took them. They don't. Vending machines have been = modified to take dollar bills, not dollar coins. If the machines would = have been modified to take the coins, the dollar coins would likely have = become more popular. Maybe not mainstream, but more popular. At least = useful enough for people to carry around to use in vending machines at = work or in public places like malls, airports, or whatever.

Coins are popular for saving because it's easy to do. We dump them in = jars at home and then roll them up because it's an easy way to save. We = then take the rolls to the bank and deposit them into our savings = accounts. The dumb ones that are too laze to count them and roll them = up themselves take them to those machines that count them up for them = and give them a receipt. They "pay" for that service by not getting = full value for their coins.

I think that eventually, pennies will likely be taken out of circulation = altogether. It almost costs more than a penny to make a penny (if it = doesn't already). Might as well just round things to the nearest nickel = and forget about pennies.

[James Bond 007]

Sorry about spelling error. People are "lazy", not "laze".

Rick, that is not entirely true. Dollar coins would be popular if = vending machines took them. They don't. Vending machines have been = modified to take dollar bills, not dollar coins. If the machines would = have been modified to take the coins, the dollar coins would likely have = become more popular. Maybe not mainstream, but more popular. At least = useful enough for people to carry around to use in vending machines at = work or in public places like malls, airports, or whatever.

Coins are popular for saving because it's easy to do. We dump them in = jars at home and then roll them up because it's an easy way to save. We = then take the rolls to the bank and deposit them into our savings = accounts. The dumb ones that are too laze to count them and roll them = up themselves take them to those machines that count them up for them = and give them a receipt. They "pay" for that service by not getting = full value for their coins.

I think that eventually, pennies will likely be taken out of circulation = altogether. It almost costs more than a penny to make a penny (if it = doesn't already). Might as well just round things to the nearest nickel = and forget about pennies.

[Rick Brandt]

We are only a few years away from vending machines that take plastic or let you pay with a cell phone. These are already used in Europe and Japan. That will spell the death of coins to a large degree (as well as the paper dollar).

[harleyron]

A question about dollar coins was posted and to this I say:

Better yet get rid of all coinage and paper money! Some years ago my folks went to Finland to visit the relations and the locals "load" there cell phones with credit than when they want A candy bar or A soda they aim the phone at the vending machine and pull the "trigger" which activates the machine vending the product of choice deducting the cost from the stored credit on the phone.No muss-no fuss and no dirty lucre to lug around. This would really P.O. the street level drug dealers and prevent vending machine owners from any profit skimming . Haven't figured out the tag sale problem yet but give me time to work on it! H.R. P.S. I understand Japan has the same kind of thing on there phones.

[gfretwell]

When we get our embedded chip we won't need money at all.

[HeyBub]

The Bureau of Printing & Engraving prints Federal Reserve Notes - and charges the Fed for the product (some $500 million in 2006). The Bureau of Printing & Engraving also prints passports, military identification cards, revenue stamps, and other stuff. The BPE began printing postage stamps in July 1894 but on June 13, 2006, the BPE printed its last postage stamp.

[Jim Yanik]

wrote in news:KElCh.28868$ [e-mail]:

Technically,the Gov't could eliminate cash,both paper and coins,altogether,except that people in lower income classes often don't have bank accounts and thus can't use debit cards and may not have credit cards. It would also put a real hurt on panhandlers.(too bad!)

[Jim Yanik]

[e-mail] wrote in news:17755-45DA5909-803@storefull-

3318.bay.webtv.net:

What do the people who can't afford cell phones do?

[Fake ID]

Any rounding should be in the favor of the buyer. Sellers control pricing. They are in a position to set prices so a "fair" rounding scheme always produces rounding in their favor. This adds up, and is essentially free money. I don't see how a business could pass it up.

I suggest dropping the penny and $1 bill and using $1 coin and $2 bill. This keeps the number of bins in a cash register the same (one of the anti-change lobbies).

The $1 coin media blitz had me comparing Half, 1, and Quarter coins. To me, the 50 cent coin is about the right size for a $1 coin. It's visibly larger than a quarter, but not absurdly large like previous $1 coins. What the hell were the SBA dollar designers thinking?

m

[Mike Hartigan]

In a free market economy, *Buyers* control pricing.

They can't ingore competition. Imagine that a particular style of widget was previously priced at $1.97. If seller A rounds up to $2.00 and Seller B rounds down to $1.95, who do you suppose makes the sale?

[tmclone]

I have a Chase, Discover, and Bank of America, and they all do that. I only use the BoA, however, because it has the highest percentage with extra "points" on what I buy most. I thought everyone's cards did this.

[tmclone]

text -

I'm so rural I can't see my neighbors, so we've never had ANYONE selling anything door to door. We've never had a trick or treater in

25 years. Again, maybe some people have a need for cash, but not where I live.

[tmclone]

Well, when you're selling antiques furniture at more than $100 a piece, you have much better sales if you take plastic.

??? If you only get 1% back, yes, but not if you're getting a sliding percentage based on buying habits. Also, if you buy EVERYTHING on plastic, then the points add up quickly. I only spend about 30k on plastic a year, and a huge amount of that is the "extra points" purchases I use for my business, which get about 5%. It's not a "business" card, it's just my consumer card. Everyone can do this. What's the big deal?

[Jim Yanik]

Mike Hartigan wrote in news: [e-mail]:

The store you happen to be in at the time;most people will not alter their buying habits for such small sums(that do add up over a year's time).

[HeyBub]

There seem to be two alternatives:

1. They starve.
2. The government provides free phones.

[HeyBub]

Browsing one night I found a used truck I liked.

Told the salesman I'd have to go home for a check.

Instead, he accepted my American Express card for $11,400.

Evidently he computed that the certain discounted Amex price was worth more than the possibility of me returning with a check.

[Rudy Canoza]

This is *SUCH* a typical topic for misc.rural! This group has a hugely disproportionately high percentage of people in it who believe in the sinister "they", i.e. "they did it again", "they say...", etc.

[Elmo]

I would expect that, like most other things, competition on price alone would be ineffective. If they are in the same consignment shop, B might have the edge. If A is next door and B is across town, B's price is never seen.