Our daughter had stopped at the DSW footwear discount store and saw this sign on the counter.
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I'm sorry the sign is blurry because this photo was texted to me.
It says: Due to the discontinuation of the penny, we may have to round the change you receive to the nearest $.05 or $.10.
The sign also says that if you use a credit card the payment won't be impacted.
(I'm assuming this means you can still use your pennies to pay them.)
Well... Art loves to look for change on the ground when he goes for his runs/walks.
He adds them all up and gives it to charity.
Well.... I'm seeing quite a few pennies there.
So I looked this penny thing up on line.
I got this from Govmint.
https://www.govmint.com/learn/post/can-you-still-pay-with-pennies?srsltid=AfmBOoq9diXIqAx9vJvF9N-Xx7gxT_RKdOU6uxT3YrX_yqcySwQq3AR2#:~:text=Yes%2C%20you%20can%20still%20make,the%20supply%20to%20dry%20up.
Yes, you can still make purchases with pennies. As of the end of 2025, the U.S. Mint officially stopped producing pennies for circulation. While they are still "legal tender" in a technical sense, the government is effectively allowing the supply to dry up. Most banks have stopped ordering new rolls, and many businesses are already rounding their cash totals to the nearest five cents.
If you have a jar of pennies at home, you do not need to panic. You can still use them to buy things, but you might run into some "private policy" issues. Since there is no federal law that forces a private business to accept physical cash (or specific denominations), a store can legally refuse your bag of 400 pennies if it decides it is too much of a hassle to count, but that has always been the case.
So there you have it.
Wow!
It is worth a fraction of a US penny. And yes, it's still in circulation. We had a bunch of them and ended up sending them to my cousin in Tokyo. 😁
Canada has been doing this for years. It just helps cash transactions to round up or down. But who pays cash anyway?
ReplyDeleteI always think I'm getting a deal when the price of something is rounded down.
ReplyDeleteAll this time I thought any coins or bills were "legal tender".
ReplyDeletePerhaps with the penny going away, they won't have ridiculous prices like $99.99. Will we now have to say " A nickel for your thoughts?" I do still pay cash and there are several contractors who have worked for me who prefer part of the payment in cash.
ReplyDeleteWe have jars of pennies too, Kay... and I don't want to roll them up anymore than the bank does.
ReplyDeletePennies aren't pure copper anymore and it costs way more than 1¢ to produce. We are a society that is gearing up for cashless payments. Rather sad.
ReplyDeleteI've seen a couple of those signs. Our old time butcher market still likes cash. With a certain garden newsletter, there's a coupon for 10% off there on Thursdays. And, if you pay with a credit or debit card, they add 3% to the total because that's what they lose accepting those. So those customers with cash are trimming a bit off their meat bill. It has all kinds of Kansas cows, so the cuts are beautiful and sausage tastier than regular grocery stores. Yesterday he gave me some pennies in change when I bought Daddy Day steaks. Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteI carry cash and use it at small businesses that have a small enough profit margin without having to pay credit card fees. I used it today to pay a $27 dry cleaning bill, but didn't have enough left to pay $32 for lunch at a small shop so used a credit card. Banks are closed today or I would have picked up more cash before heading to my various spots.
ReplyDeleteSo many of our local business like cash or debit card as they add 2 or 3% to the bill for a credit card. Cash is king in rural 'merica.
ReplyDeleteI used to pick up any coin I'd spy on the ground. Now I've left the pennies behind. Here's something funny. I used a vending machine at the Vermont Welcome Center recently but only had a $20 bill. I was expecting change in coins and bills but it all came in $2 coins! I've since had a chance to use those up. The last ones went into a tip jar at the ice cream shop.
ReplyDeleteI was aware of this and I do have some pennies in a change jar, but I almost never use cash anymore.
ReplyDeleteOur penny was gone years ago. I think cashless will happen before we get rid of more coins.
ReplyDeleteWe have a few stores in our area that no longer accept pennies. This is the latest thing my husband gets fired up about. First he will argue with the poor cashier who did not make the rules. I have to remind him of this. He will use his card only to find out that the vendor is "rounding up" on the purchase to avoid an amount with pennies. This further aggravates him. He now has a roster of stores he will shop at who do accept his exact change.
ReplyDeleteWe still have pennies in UK, but it's quite difficult to spend actual cash these days!
ReplyDeleteUgich from Mumbai. Way back in 1970 , I was at the grad school in UC Irvine, and there used to be some guy who used to trouble me . Our group had all been out once and each owed him ten dollars. (Tel calls in kiosks were a dime, ten dollars was a huge sum, pennies were important,), and just to get him mad i returned him ten dollars in pennies. I got them nicely stacked and packed in the bank, but mixed them up before i gave them so he would have fun counting them. :-) This situation of the lowest denomination coin disappearing from the market is a world wide phenomena, including here in India.
ReplyDeleteFind a penny, pick it up, and all day long you'll have good luck. I always pick up a Penny when I see them on the ground. I guess they are covered with germs though.
ReplyDelete