What use does the penny serve?

[whiskygalore]

One for any economically minded people out there. If you can no longer buy anything useful for 1p, is there still a need for it to be in circulation? Also, CAN you buy anything for a penny any more?

[Wednesday]

Well most things are however many pounds and 99p so you would need the 1p for change. That, and you could buy some penny sweets.

[xyzzy@bok]

Who buys one penny sweet? even kids aren't that poor. 99p? why not 95p thus eliminating 1p's and 2p's. Also metallically, their scrap value is higher than their face value.. and did you know that approximately half of your pennies are magnetic? try it on a few.

[carlos]

If 1p's were taken out of circulation then that would mean that the lowest price increase on an item would be 2p. I know it doesn't sound much, but thats 4 times the amount when the 1/2 p was around. Then after a time would we be saying the same thing about 2p's, then 5p's etc? Does keeping the 1p mean a better deal for consumers? Also, I think the lowest value coin is perceived to have no value -someone dropping pennys, and not even bothering to pick it up. Sometimes a penny matters, I used to work at a petrol station, and people would become irate, even aggressive, when the price of petrol went up by 1p!

[rekstout]

Changing the retail price of an item from 99p to 95p could reduce profit for the supplier or retailer by as much as 25% - a penny might seem a small amount relative to the sums of money we are used to discussing but it can mean a great difference relative to a smaller sum. A price drop of that magnitude could spell disaster for suppliers.

In Hong Kong, the smallest monetary unit in circulation is the ten cent coin but a one cent note is available in order to ensure that rounding is not required in complex financial transactions. (less useful now due to electronic transfers I admit)

Look after the pennies....

[beenee]

As far as I'm concerned, the only function that 1p coins fulfill is irratating me by making my wallet unnecesarily heavy and jangly.

[woodpam]

Pennies (and 2ps) are great for the Hoover-Pusher-in-Chief to collect up from all around the house when no-one can be bothered to pick them up. These are then put into a pot on the kitchen windowcill and periodically tipped out to buy an ice cream when the van comes round. In Bali when the amount of change includes almost worthless coins the shop keeper will give you a few small sweets instead.

[whiskygalore]

Cheers for answers, everyone.

[sft42]

if you notice on the streets there are alots more coppers about that's because kids don't bother keeping them anymore....if they are given them in change they throw them away....i was amazed when i was told this but it's true.