State lawmakers rush to set rounding rules for when there are no pennies

[eppur_se_muova]

20. A cent coin is not a commodity, it's a token, like a certificate. It's worth what it is by fiat, not by cost.

Maybe it takes 3.7 cents to make, but it can be used over and over for years before it wears out, participating in many dollars worth of transactions. Discontinuing it because of material costs is a bit short-sighted.

Over the years, the US, and the Colonies before that, have phased out the half-cent, the quarter-cent (aka farthing), the half-farthing, and the quarter-farthing, because they no longer made sense. The cent will eventually go too, but there's no rush. It is part of the basis of our money system, not just our coinage. It seems to me it would have been smarter to issue a 2-cent coin, probably in the same diameter, but thinner, and a different color (at least slightly). Thinner would mean less cost to make. Banks might dislike having to modify their coin sorters, but most people wouldn't be affected. Retail stores would just toss a small box in the pennies bin, and put either the new coins or the old ones in that, until the changeover (no pun intended) ran its course. And rounding to the nearest 2 cents would be less of a problem than rounding to 5 cents.

It's still not too late, either ..... having a shortage of cents might make it easier.