A Nickel for Your Thoughts

This week it was announced that the DOGE is telling the Treasury Department that they don’t need to mint the penny any longer. Since it takes almost three cents to produce a penny, that kind of makes sense. However, a nickel is said to cost about 13.5 cents to produce. If stores that still deal in currency don’t round up their prices on items upwards to a five cent price point, how soon will those stores be searching for pennies to make change? When Canada did away with their one cent coin, a survey said that it cost the average household around $321 million more each year to just buy groceries. And if we look into the future, is there going to be a scarcity of 5 cent coins not only at the store but at banks as well? Or will some enter-prising person start selling pennies on the Black Market for twice the price? When I was young, my father and I bought those books that you could insert pennies from different years and different mints. When we finally finished a book, I felt the same satisfaction as if I had completed a very tough jigsaw puzzle. One thing is for sure, we will have to stop saying phrases like my two cents worth or a penny for your thoughts.