What they all have in common? They have all seen better days and times, expressions and ideas which have become old and hackneyed (just like THAT word).
It was widely anticipated since February and now reported that the US Mint has placed its final order of penny blanks and will stop producing the coin when those run out by early next year, marking the beginning of the end for one of the oldest continually printed money pieces in America, a Treasury Department spokesperson confirmed Thursday.
Why? Because it costs four cents to mint a penny.
Soon, we will see the Lincoln Head coin, minted since 1909 and its reverse, the Lincoln Memorial, a mainstay since it replaced the wheat penny in 1959, hit the road, Jack.
And what about advertisers and marketers? How will they sell their products, having people think whatever it is being sold is a bargain at $XXX.99? Will they round up to $X.00 or round down to $X.95?
How about the sales tax? It will, no matter what you buy, generally total the cost back to that elusive odd amount, not a flat total. Do you round to the nearest nickel?
Are we now Canada? That’s what Canadians do.
There are currently a whopping 114 billion pennies in circulation in the US, according to the agency. Do you save your pennies as a reminder that it has been in continuous circulation, in various forms? Since 1792.
Numismatists will be calling to offer premiums for your now useless coins. Let them make you an offer you can’t refuse.
So, good-bye to the oldest coins used in the USA. We hardly knew you.
Like the Edsel, the Model-T and the Cadillac with fins.
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