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Comment by bityard | Hacker News Reader

The US military stopped using pennies on most foreign military bases decades ago. So there is at least precedent here.

If there was actually a push to abolish pennies, it would become a partisan/political issue immediately and all rational discourse would evaporate.

If you really want to see the penny go away, do what I do: literally throw them away. I did the math and found that the time, space, and attention needed to deal with them was costing me more than 1 cent per coin.

I estimate that I have thrown away about $10 in pennies over the last few years and don't miss a single one.

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> The US military stopped using pennies on most foreign military bases decades ago.

The stores (PX, or whatever your branch calls it) I used in Iraq used cardboard discs for all coins, including quarters. I figured it was to reduce having to ship all that metal out just so Marines could buy dip. But they're already shipping humvees and such, why not some rolls of quarters?

I kept forgetting to bring them whenever I bought something and amassed a big bag of pogs. Eventually I threw them away. That's probably the real reason. All transactions suddenly round up to the dollar!

It's so if the money ever gets captured by the enemy it isn't usable.

> The US military stopped using pennies on most foreign military bases decades ago.

They would also dump unwanted currency on the military, like $2 bills, Susan B Anthony dollars, etc.

I’ll trade them. Those are my favorite for messing with gen-z cashiers.

Disneyland used to give 2 dollar bills out as change all the time. It was fun.

I used to always ask for those at the bank, if they had any kicking around in the drawer. It was kind of fun but I didn't usually spend them; I didn't want to be the jerk who made store cashiers try to fit them in their cash drawers.

I used to always keep about 100$ in 2$ bills in my travel bag when I traveled often... it was the emergency cash that I'd -never- use unless I was really screwed and needed cash. (Sorry cash only, credit card machine down... Sorry cash only, etc)

Now I just keep a few 20$ behind my phone case for the same purpose.

When I bought my first car, I was friends with the seller and wanted to prank her a little. So when I gave her the cash, I had the first $20 in $2 bills. I don't do stuff like that any more because of the inconvenience but it was fun at the time.

Back in the early 90's I worked with an older gentlemen who was a submariner who told a story about $2 bills. Apparently there were some locals at one port who were constantly complaining about the sailors causing a ruckus, etc.. So to show what a valuable presence the U.S. Navy was, they started paying the sailor exclusively in $2 bills, with the thought being that this would show the local businesses what impact the Navy was having on the local economy. Apparently this was somewhat successful.

Additional precedent (although not one that resonates much with the typical American): Ecuador, a place that uses USD as its currency and where pennies are worth a lot more in spending power, does not use pennies. Nickels and above only.

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