There was a drug store right next to my grade school which had a huge selection of penny candy by the register. If one were lucky enough to find a soda bottle to return for two pennies, one could spend an hour selecting two pieces from that vast collection of goodies.
In my lifetime it has happened in spades in the UK. When I was young we could still use farthings (i.e. quarters of pennies) but, while we learnt about them in school, I cannot remember ever using one in a shop.
Then farthings were removed from circulation in 1961. The smallest coin was then a half-penny but in 1971 we converted to a decimal system with 100 pence in a pound. Our new, post decimal, pennies were 2.4 old pennies.
We did have half-pennies which were equivalent to 1.2 old pennies but they were withdrawn in 1984. So our current smallest coin is nearly ten times as big as it used to be when I was little.
For your entertainment, please read "Making Money" by Terry Pratchett. There is a coin (the Elim) slated for elimination for the exact same reason the penny is now.
The Elim is the smallest unit of currency in Ankh-Morpork and is worth one-sixteenth of a penny. An indication of just exactly why the Royal Mint is in trouble can be gleaned from the fact that it costs one shilling to make an elim coin, because of all the fine fiddly detail that needs to be engraved onto it. (The manufacture of each coin costs one hundred and ninety-two times its face value).
On reputable report, it may be exchanged in certain places for a cigarette end (partially smoked), a half-consumed apple core, or a very small potato that hasn't gone all that green yet.
Like similar small denomination coins in Roundworld, its high cost is leading to its "elim" ination. After all, if you can't make money when you have a license to print money, there is something wrong with your business model. The creation of a small denomination like the elim is as logical in Discworld as in Roundworld. Coins originally were worth their face value and simply cut in half, then cut again into quarters, then eighths (pieces of eight) then 16ths (likely the smallest piece you could reasonably cut) depending on the value of the goods for which you needed to pay. Until the decimal system came along and coins no longer had a value related to their actual metal content but were simply an IOU, this was the logical monetary system.
I remember walking to the store for penny candy. Jaw breakers for one, HA!
Who remembers these around town...usually they were filled with colored Chichlet type gum.
https://i.postimg.cc/hPz9pZgd/s-l1600.jpg
Still my favorite gum along with Bazooka!
There was a drug store right next to my grade school which had a huge selection of penny candy by the register. If one were lucky enough to find a soda bottle to return for two pennies, one could spend an hour selecting two pieces from that vast collection of goodies.
OH we scoured the ditches for pop and beer bottles too! Beer bottles brought 5 cents.
When it costs more to make than it is worth, then yes, IT SHOULD ABSOLUTELY stop being made.
My thoughts have now risen in value to a Nickle.
Thank you for giving us your
210 cents! 😉😄In my lifetime it has happened in spades in the UK. When I was young we could still use farthings (i.e. quarters of pennies) but, while we learnt about them in school, I cannot remember ever using one in a shop.
Then farthings were removed from circulation in 1961. The smallest coin was then a half-penny but in 1971 we converted to a decimal system with 100 pence in a pound. Our new, post decimal, pennies were 2.4 old pennies.
We did have half-pennies which were equivalent to 1.2 old pennies but they were withdrawn in 1984. So our current smallest coin is nearly ten times as big as it used to be when I was little.
The Cantillion Effect
For your entertainment, please read "Making Money" by Terry Pratchett. There is a coin (the Elim) slated for elimination for the exact same reason the penny is now.
The Elim is the smallest unit of currency in Ankh-Morpork and is worth one-sixteenth of a penny. An indication of just exactly why the Royal Mint is in trouble can be gleaned from the fact that it costs one shilling to make an elim coin, because of all the fine fiddly detail that needs to be engraved onto it. (The manufacture of each coin costs one hundred and ninety-two times its face value).
On reputable report, it may be exchanged in certain places for a cigarette end (partially smoked), a half-consumed apple core, or a very small potato that hasn't gone all that green yet.
Like similar small denomination coins in Roundworld, its high cost is leading to its "elim" ination. After all, if you can't make money when you have a license to print money, there is something wrong with your business model. The creation of a small denomination like the elim is as logical in Discworld as in Roundworld. Coins originally were worth their face value and simply cut in half, then cut again into quarters, then eighths (pieces of eight) then 16ths (likely the smallest piece you could reasonably cut) depending on the value of the goods for which you needed to pay. Until the decimal system came along and coins no longer had a value related to their actual metal content but were simply an IOU, this was the logical monetary system.
It's a lot funnier than it sounds.