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ANOTHER CONCORD REVOLUTION: A BUSINESS BANS THE CENT While Zimbabwe is abandoning its nearly worthless currency in favor of U.S. dollars, one U.S. business is abandoning the U.S. cent. Tim Shuck forwarded this item about a business making a big deal out of dropping use of the lowly cent. They say they want a revolution. Concord Teacakes, a popular bakery across from the West Concord Depot, is gearing up for a campaign of civil disobedience aimed at taking the penny out of circulation. Using a blueprint provided by customer/ blogger Al Lewis, Teacakes will round down prices in a passive- aggressive attempt to avoid having to handle the copper-coated coins.“The beauty of it is that it starts here, in Concord, Massachusetts,” Lewis said. “Concord is the birthplace of civil disobedience, the place where Thoreau went to jail for protesting the Mexican War.” The plan will be put into action on Thursday, Feb. 12, the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln, whose face is on the coin the bakers and blogger seek to eliminate. To mark the occasion, Lewis will drop pennies on the sidewalk outside the bakery, ostensibly asking police to issue him a citation for littering, which he says would prove that federal law requires businesses to accept litter as legal tender. Inside the store, cashiers will round down cash transactions to the nearest nickel so as not to have to pass out pennies for change. For instance, an $11.04 bill gets reduced to $11, while a check for $8.99 would become $8.95. Additionally, all pennies given as payment, the cashiers will toss into a jar designated for a charity. “Everybody hates pennies,” said Teacakes co-owner Judy Fersch. “This will save time. It will save lugging — I end up being the one going to the bank [to pick up pennies] half the time. And it’s ridiculous. All we have to do is find a charity that will accept pennies.” To read the complete article, see: For Teacakes, pennies make no cents (http://www.wickedlocal.com/concord/news/ x1992964198/For-Teacakes-pennies-make-no-cents) Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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