Are businesses required to take pennies?

[Scouzer]

Originally posted by: Rumpltzer

Originally posted by: WobbleWobble
In Canada, there's a law for the maximum number of coins a store is require to accept. I don't remember the numbers off the top of my head, they're in one of my law books at home. But I'm pretty sure in Canada that legally they don't need to accept 100 pennies to pay for $1.

In Canada they're not allowed to add caffeine to sodas.

We don't want to be like Canada.

You are incorrect.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: BigJ

Wow. Can't you basically process an electronic transcation with a person's Name, Account Number, and Routing Number? Talk about a huge privacy breach.

And I hear you about the weight of the change. Those $500 boxes of quarters. $100 boxes of nickels, and $25 boxes of pennies are heavy.

You can, but then again you could do the same thing wich a check I guess, and people write checks and give them to stores all the time. An unscrupulous employee could get the routing number and account number off the check.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: Citrix

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: glutenberg

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: glutenberg

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: StevenYoo
lots of people out there want to abolish the penny.

the actual copper in a penny is now worth more than the penny itself, u know.

STOP POSTING!!!

I hate it when people love to claim something as truth yet have no real knowledge (like this person and the OP)

Pennies are mostly zinc not copper. Been that way for many many years. They have very little copper and the copper in a penny is NOT worth more then a penny.


And as someone already posted...

""There is, however, no Federal law mandating that a person or organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or services."

That's it. All this means is that the Federal Reserve System must honor U.S. currency and coins, not necessarily anyone else. "

You're only half right about this. It's true they're made of 97.5% zinc and 2.5% of copper but with rising zinc costs, the penny is worth only about .75 cents.

WSJ Article

Half right? Try reading again. Everything I said was true. Heck you even backed it up. A penny only has 2.5% copper. That is no where near the value of a cent by weight.

Read the second article on the WSJ site. It explains the value of the penny versus the cost to make it.

Actually, you're reading the WSJ wrong. The raw metal value of a penny is just slightly under 1 cent because Zinc is now nearing $2 a lb.

It is not worth .75. That is what that author is claiming the material, production and distribution costs are for the mint to maintain a supply of pennies.

http://www.coinflation.com/coins/1982-2007-Lincoln-Cent-Penny-Value.html

$0.0095782 is the melt value for the 1982-2007 zinc cent on January 16, 2007.

from the WSJ piece

Due to rising demand in China and other developing countries, the price of zinc (which makes up 97.5% of the metal in a penny) has soared to nearly $2 per pound. At this price, the value of the metal in a penny is MORE than one cent -- exceeding the face value of a penny by about 10%. Add to this the cost of minting each coin, and the U.S. Mint is now losing about 0.75 cents on each penny it cranks out. Assuming that it continues the current pace of producing nine billion or so pennies a year, this would add up to an annual loss of about $67.5 million.

PEOPLE please read before you post.

The WSJ article was posted Nov 16, 2006. Amused posted a link to a site that takes the CURRENT price of metal and puts it in value on right now. As of TODAY, as per Amused's link site, a penny has just under 1 cent value in metal. Let alone the cost of trying to melt it etc...

A lot of metals are coming down as demand is dropping. I think even copper has dropped a good bit. At least based on how much copper piping prices have gone up and now down.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: Citrix

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: glutenberg

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: glutenberg

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: StevenYoo
lots of people out there want to abolish the penny.

the actual copper in a penny is now worth more than the penny itself, u know.

STOP POSTING!!!

I hate it when people love to claim something as truth yet have no real knowledge (like this person and the OP)

Pennies are mostly zinc not copper. Been that way for many many years. They have very little copper and the copper in a penny is NOT worth more then a penny.


And as someone already posted...

""There is, however, no Federal law mandating that a person or organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or services."

That's it. All this means is that the Federal Reserve System must honor U.S. currency and coins, not necessarily anyone else. "

You're only half right about this. It's true they're made of 97.5% zinc and 2.5% of copper but with rising zinc costs, the penny is worth only about .75 cents.

WSJ Article

Half right? Try reading again. Everything I said was true. Heck you even backed it up. A penny only has 2.5% copper. That is no where near the value of a cent by weight.

Read the second article on the WSJ site. It explains the value of the penny versus the cost to make it.

Actually, you're reading the WSJ wrong. The raw metal value of a penny is just slightly under 1 cent because Zinc is now nearing $2 a lb.

It is not worth .75. That is what that author is claiming the material, production and distribution costs are for the mint to maintain a supply of pennies.

http://www.coinflation.com/coins/1982-2007-Lincoln-Cent-Penny-Value.html

$0.0095782 is the melt value for the 1982-2007 zinc cent on January 16, 2007.

from the WSJ piece

Due to rising demand in China and other developing countries, the price of zinc (which makes up 97.5% of the metal in a penny) has soared to nearly $2 per pound. At this price, the value of the metal in a penny is MORE than one cent -- exceeding the face value of a penny by about 10%. Add to this the cost of minting each coin, and the U.S. Mint is now losing about 0.75 cents on each penny it cranks out. Assuming that it continues the current pace of producing nine billion or so pennies a year, this would add up to an annual loss of about $67.5 million.

The WSJ article is 3 months old... when zinc was 1.96 lb.

It now (today) sits at 1.71 lb.

Timing is everything... and in this case, timing makes me right. 😛

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: BigJ

Wow. Can't you basically process an electronic transcation with a person's Name, Account Number, and Routing Number? Talk about a huge privacy breach.

And I hear you about the weight of the change. Those $500 boxes of quarters. $100 boxes of nickels, and $25 boxes of pennies are heavy.

You can, but then again you could do the same thing wich a check I guess, and people write checks and give them to stores all the time. An unscrupulous employee could get the routing number and account number off the check.

I just find it interesting as to why they'd even put that information in there in the first place.

 

[OutHouse]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: Citrix

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: glutenberg

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: glutenberg

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: StevenYoo
lots of people out there want to abolish the penny.

the actual copper in a penny is now worth more than the penny itself, u know.

STOP POSTING!!!

I hate it when people love to claim something as truth yet have no real knowledge (like this person and the OP)

Pennies are mostly zinc not copper. Been that way for many many years. They have very little copper and the copper in a penny is NOT worth more then a penny.


And as someone already posted...

""There is, however, no Federal law mandating that a person or organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or services."

That's it. All this means is that the Federal Reserve System must honor U.S. currency and coins, not necessarily anyone else. "

You're only half right about this. It's true they're made of 97.5% zinc and 2.5% of copper but with rising zinc costs, the penny is worth only about .75 cents.

WSJ Article

Half right? Try reading again. Everything I said was true. Heck you even backed it up. A penny only has 2.5% copper. That is no where near the value of a cent by weight.

Read the second article on the WSJ site. It explains the value of the penny versus the cost to make it.

Actually, you're reading the WSJ wrong. The raw metal value of a penny is just slightly under 1 cent because Zinc is now nearing $2 a lb.

It is not worth .75. That is what that author is claiming the material, production and distribution costs are for the mint to maintain a supply of pennies.

http://www.coinflation.com/coins/1982-2007-Lincoln-Cent-Penny-Value.html

$0.0095782 is the melt value for the 1982-2007 zinc cent on January 16, 2007.

from the WSJ piece

Due to rising demand in China and other developing countries, the price of zinc (which makes up 97.5% of the metal in a penny) has soared to nearly $2 per pound. At this price, the value of the metal in a penny is MORE than one cent -- exceeding the face value of a penny by about 10%. Add to this the cost of minting each coin, and the U.S. Mint is now losing about 0.75 cents on each penny it cranks out. Assuming that it continues the current pace of producing nine billion or so pennies a year, this would add up to an annual loss of about $67.5 million.

PEOPLE please read before you post.

The WSJ article was posted Nov 16, 2006. Amused posted a link to a site that takes the CURRENT price of metal and puts it in value on right now. As of TODAY, as per Amused's link site, a penny has just under 1 cent value in metal. Let alone the cost of trying to melt it etc...

A lot of metals are coming down as demand is dropping. I think even copper has dropped a good bit. At least based on how much copper piping prices have gone up and now down.

I did read it you tool, did you read my other post where the metal in a penny is worth more than a penny according to the US Mint? :disgust:

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: Citrix

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: Citrix

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: glutenberg

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: glutenberg

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: StevenYoo
lots of people out there want to abolish the penny.

the actual copper in a penny is now worth more than the penny itself, u know.

STOP POSTING!!!

I hate it when people love to claim something as truth yet have no real knowledge (like this person and the OP)

Pennies are mostly zinc not copper. Been that way for many many years. They have very little copper and the copper in a penny is NOT worth more then a penny.


And as someone already posted...

""There is, however, no Federal law mandating that a person or organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or services."

That's it. All this means is that the Federal Reserve System must honor U.S. currency and coins, not necessarily anyone else. "

You're only half right about this. It's true they're made of 97.5% zinc and 2.5% of copper but with rising zinc costs, the penny is worth only about .75 cents.

WSJ Article

Half right? Try reading again. Everything I said was true. Heck you even backed it up. A penny only has 2.5% copper. That is no where near the value of a cent by weight.

Read the second article on the WSJ site. It explains the value of the penny versus the cost to make it.

Actually, you're reading the WSJ wrong. The raw metal value of a penny is just slightly under 1 cent because Zinc is now nearing $2 a lb.

It is not worth .75. That is what that author is claiming the material, production and distribution costs are for the mint to maintain a supply of pennies.

http://www.coinflation.com/coins/1982-2007-Lincoln-Cent-Penny-Value.html

$0.0095782 is the melt value for the 1982-2007 zinc cent on January 16, 2007.

from the WSJ piece

Due to rising demand in China and other developing countries, the price of zinc (which makes up 97.5% of the metal in a penny) has soared to nearly $2 per pound. At this price, the value of the metal in a penny is MORE than one cent -- exceeding the face value of a penny by about 10%. Add to this the cost of minting each coin, and the U.S. Mint is now losing about 0.75 cents on each penny it cranks out. Assuming that it continues the current pace of producing nine billion or so pennies a year, this would add up to an annual loss of about $67.5 million.

PEOPLE please read before you post.

The WSJ article was posted Nov 16, 2006. Amused posted a link to a site that takes the CURRENT price of metal and puts it in value on right now. As of TODAY, as per Amused's link site, a penny has just under 1 cent value in metal. Let alone the cost of trying to melt it etc...

A lot of metals are coming down as demand is dropping. I think even copper has dropped a good bit. At least based on how much copper piping prices have gone up and now down.

I did read it you tool, did you read my other post where the metal in a penny is worth more than a penny according to the US Mint? :disgust:

And did you read my post pointing out that the price of the metals has fallen, making that claim OUTDATED?

Chill, Citrix. In the metals market, timing is everything. Zinc has fallen .25 lb since your story.

 

[AStar617]

Originally posted by: allisolm

Originally posted by: Pantoot

Businesses are free to accept or reject pennies as they see fit; no law specifies that pennies cease to be considered legal tender when proffered in quantities over a particular amount.

Snopes

Yes. The fact that pennies are legal tender has nothing to do with whether or not a business accepts them in payment.

Does it matter at all that the only thing stopping OP from using his pennies was the lack of a roll?

Put another way, could I request that all $1 bills must feature a penciled-in mustache on the Washington portrait for them to be accepted? It doesn't change the fact that an otherwise-accepted form of $ is there and being offered.

Interesting thread.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: Citrix

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: Citrix

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: glutenberg

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: glutenberg

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: StevenYoo
lots of people out there want to abolish the penny.

the actual copper in a penny is now worth more than the penny itself, u know.

STOP POSTING!!!

I hate it when people love to claim something as truth yet have no real knowledge (like this person and the OP)

Pennies are mostly zinc not copper. Been that way for many many years. They have very little copper and the copper in a penny is NOT worth more then a penny.


And as someone already posted...

""There is, however, no Federal law mandating that a person or organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or services."

That's it. All this means is that the Federal Reserve System must honor U.S. currency and coins, not necessarily anyone else. "

You're only half right about this. It's true they're made of 97.5% zinc and 2.5% of copper but with rising zinc costs, the penny is worth only about .75 cents.

WSJ Article

Half right? Try reading again. Everything I said was true. Heck you even backed it up. A penny only has 2.5% copper. That is no where near the value of a cent by weight.

Read the second article on the WSJ site. It explains the value of the penny versus the cost to make it.

Actually, you're reading the WSJ wrong. The raw metal value of a penny is just slightly under 1 cent because Zinc is now nearing $2 a lb.

It is not worth .75. That is what that author is claiming the material, production and distribution costs are for the mint to maintain a supply of pennies.

http://www.coinflation.com/coins/1982-2007-Lincoln-Cent-Penny-Value.html

$0.0095782 is the melt value for the 1982-2007 zinc cent on January 16, 2007.

from the WSJ piece

Due to rising demand in China and other developing countries, the price of zinc (which makes up 97.5% of the metal in a penny) has soared to nearly $2 per pound. At this price, the value of the metal in a penny is MORE than one cent -- exceeding the face value of a penny by about 10%. Add to this the cost of minting each coin, and the U.S. Mint is now losing about 0.75 cents on each penny it cranks out. Assuming that it continues the current pace of producing nine billion or so pennies a year, this would add up to an annual loss of about $67.5 million.

PEOPLE please read before you post.

The WSJ article was posted Nov 16, 2006. Amused posted a link to a site that takes the CURRENT price of metal and puts it in value on right now. As of TODAY, as per Amused's link site, a penny has just under 1 cent value in metal. Let alone the cost of trying to melt it etc...

A lot of metals are coming down as demand is dropping. I think even copper has dropped a good bit. At least based on how much copper piping prices have gone up and now down.

I did read it you tool, did you read my other post where the metal in a penny is worth more than a penny according to the US Mint? :disgust:

And did you read my post pointing out that the price of the metals has fallen, making that claim OUTDATED?

Chill, Citrix. In the metals market, timing is everything. Zinc has fallen .25 lb since your story.

:thumbsup:

 

[Cruisin1]

Originally posted by: alphatarget1
OK so I have a ton of pennies around and I wanted to spend them, so I counted a dollar (100 pennies) out + 6 cents and went to jack in the box. The lady said they don't take so many unless they're in rolls. I kept repeating that it's legal tender but finally gave in and just paid her with a dollar bill + 6 cents. She also said a lot of merchants don't take it.

Aren't they required to take pennies?

If I for some weird reason worked as a cashier and you did this to me I'd accept the pennies, but you BEST believe you'd be getting one "special" ingredients in your meal.