Time to kill the $ 100 bill?

Larry Summers, former signatory (Sec. Tres., 7/2/1999 - 1/20/2001) ...

Link to WashPost article

His arguments take a shot at terrorist cells.

What denominations (if any) would you do away with and why?

I have long been a proponent of re-introducing a 2-cent coin (we had one around the time of The Civil War...I even own one!!) and this would enable us to cut penny production by three quarters, because you'd never need more than one penny in any transaction.

I would also get rid of the quarter, and replace it with a 20-cent coin...and re-introduce the 50-cent piece.

This would make our coinage actually make more sense, as every next denomination would be 2 or 2.5 times the previous value

1 Penny
2 Cent (2x previous)
Nickel (2.5 x previous)
Dime (2 x previous)
Twenty-Center (2x previous)
50-Cent Piece (2.5 x previous)

As it is now...
we have penny
Nickel (5x previous)
Dime (2 x previous)
Quarter (2.5 X previous)
Then the dollar coin they keep trying to pawn off on us (4 x previous)

one reason the $500 and up were discontinued - making it harder for the criminal element to transport cash. (electronic transfers made such large bills less necessary for legit transactions). then again, inflation is making the current high denominations more useful.

I'd like to see more $2 bills, partly as a middle ground between paper and metal dollars. No pennies is also a good idea. I wouldn't mind more halves.

I thought halves were still being minted for circulation (not that they are actually circulated, of course). I looked at the Mint website for a moment, but didn't have the time to dig deeply to find out if my thoughts were valid regarding the half.

The world of paper (and thus, metal) money has been decreasing every year for the last 20+ and will continue to do so. Apple Pay and Andriod Pay will continue to disrupt the traditional market place.

I can foresee a day when the $ 1, $ 2 (perhaps the rest of the paper) and all the metal are gone.

dctim wrote:I thought halves were still being minted for circulation (not that they are actually circulated, of course). I looked at the Mint website for a moment, but didn't have the time to dig deeply to find out if my thoughts were valid regarding the half.

The world of paper (and thus, metal) money has been decreasing every year for the last 20+ and will continue to do so. Apple Pay and Andriod Pay will continue to disrupt the traditional market place.

I can foresee a day when the $ 1, $ 2 (perhaps the rest of the paper) and all the metal are gone.

I would rather no money at all...than go to Apple Pay or Android Pay.  I don't trust it.  All you gotta do is lose your cell phone or get it stolen and you are screwed.  Someone could probably get every last cent you got!!  No thanks.

Call me a Luddite if you wish, but we are going too far in the wrong direction.  Used to be a time when...if someone wanted to rob you, they had to push you into an alley and hold a gun on you.  You KNEW you were getting robbed.  And you were gonna lose whatever you had on you.  And that was it.

Nowdays...someone can rob you from halfway around the world...clean you out...and you never even KNOW that someone is doing it to you!  And good freaking luck trying to get any of it back!  I am a firm believer in what you could call mattress money.

Then, too, the numismatist in me...laments the passing of coinage into electronic money. Coins had HISTORY...which is why I collect them. Not to sell or trade, I like them for the historical value. My most prized coin is an 1842 large cent...back when pennies were the size of 50-cent pieces. And it isn't worth a lot, not in very good condition. But the historical value...hell, Abe Lincoln himself may have once held that coin!

The Mint still makes circulation-quality halves and dollars for collector sale, along with proofs and other special products.

Alan From Rochester wrote:The Mint still makes circulation-quality halves and dollars for collector sale, along with proofs and other special products.

Indeed. But not much, if any, of it gets into actual circulation.