From: SURNAME@panix.removethispart.com   
      
   In the previous article, Adam H. Kerman  wrote:   
   > >COIN LOSS: The United States ended production of the penny on   
   > >Wednesday. For more than 230 years, the penny has circulated   
   > >through American piggy banks and cash registers. But rising   
   > >production costs - each penny now costs nearly 4 cents to make -   
   > >and shifts in consumer behavior have made it impractical to keep   
   > >producing them.   
   >   
   > A coin circulates numerous times. The fact that it costs more to   
   > produce than its face value is meaningless.   
   >   
   > The real question is why we don't have coins to replace $1 and $5   
   > currency.   
      
   Because we are Americans, and we are simultaneously smarter than, and   
   way stupider than, the rest of the world.   
      
   Smarter because we know that coins for denominations like $1 are   
   idiotic -- I'm carrying about 30 bills right now (not just ones, but   
   they might as well be), and it's a trivial weight. But 30 hefty coins   
   are a different matter entirely. That would suck to carry around.   
      
   Stupider because when we finally came up with a dollar coin intended   
   to be introduced into regular circulation, we made it look really   
   close to the quarter. God, we're idiots.   
   --   
   jd   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)