Seriously, though...for YEARS I've held the opinion that the penny and nickel should be eradicated. They cost LOTS of money to mint and serve no useful purpose in modern society (and haven't for decades). Apparently Illinois in the past (50 years) has campaigned heavily against (multiple) attempts in Congress to eradicate the penny. There's no need for them to do that. We could also get rid of the dollar bill and bring back the half dollar and dollar coins as "regular currency", and one of those could have Lincoln's mug on them. We could also re-work hard currency so that coin size increased significantly with each denomination (the dime remaining its current size as the smallest). The "small bill" in the register could be the two-dollar bill instead of the one.. *** Funny...I remember as a kid buying multiple candies (like bubble gum or mini tootsie rolls) for a single penny...but those days are long gone. The dime should be the smallest denomination coin, for the sake of economy (i.e. so that we don't spend so much money minting small coins) and for the sake of individual convenience (so we don't have to deal with so much small change).

Your idea advocates a never-ending rise in inflation. Why do you suppose the penny and nickel became valueless? It was because the rise of inflation devalued them. If the dime were the smallest denomination, how long would it take for that too to become worthless? As for the idea of making the half dollar and dollar coins functional again, the reason they were phased out was convenience. The old dollar coins (aka "cartwheels") were too big and heavy to carry around as pocket change and the half dollar soon followed as an inconvenience. Half dollars and even dollar coins are still being produced but not for regular circulation - they're now being made for collectors only. The two-dollar bill was discontinued because it was mistaken for a 5 dollar bill by the public and, as you might imagine, people lost money. The answer to this quagmire is to bring inflation down so that the currency has value again.

The inflation has already occurred. The idea merely makes economical choices that are feasible now that that inflation has already occurred. The penny and nickel are not valueless so much as they are cumbersome and unnecessary. That sort of monetary change does not incite inflation. *** Your idea that inflation should be reversed (called "deflation") is contrary to what economists consider to be a healthy economy. That is: deflation (according to economists) is financially harmful to an economy.

Did you know that the dollar bill is worth less than the penny? Yet, it's still used. Any US currency that says "Federal Reserve Note" at the top of it is called "fiat" currency - meaning there is nothing of intrinsic value to support its worth. The Federal Reserve was created to rob the taxpayers (the Income Tax law was passed the same year - coincidence?). The idea was to loan the government all the money it wants (which explains today's runaway spending) - at interest. Guess who pays that interest? It's the consumer through his taxes. The worst part is, the Federal Reserve doesn't fund domestic economic needs (except to keep the banks afloat - which is in its own interest). The sole purpose of the Federal Reserve is to fund foreign policy. That's where all of the money goes to "help" other countries and fund wars. You and I and everyone else who pays taxes pay for all of that and we get nothing in return but mandates, inflation, and illegal immigration.

The only change I use is a quarter for my cart at Aldi. I suspect with more people using cards less minted and printed money will be needed.

There is no longer any relationship between US circulating coins and their intrinsic value. Of currently produced circulating coins, only nickels are worth more than face value because of the copper content. The composition of US pennies was changed in 1982 from mostly copper to mostly zinc because the copper value had exceeded one penny at that time. This is all based only on "melt" value of the metal, not the actual cost of minting and distributing coins.

Paper money either.

You probably need that worse than I do.

For a dime?!

Good to see you again, bostjan!