As far back as anyone can remember, picking up a penny on the side of the road is good luck. Nonetheless, whether you believe the penny will bring you good luck or not, it definitely won’t bring you riches, or much of anything else. The penny is the lowest denomination coin in the American money system, and it is time to get rid of it. When this viewpoint is brought to the attention of the public, some feel that the penny is too historically significant to get rid of it. However, the penny happens to be the smallest of all tributes to the 16th President and his accomplishments, thus removing it is not an issue when based on historical significance. Though many people see the penny as an important part of American history, it is expendible to …show more content…
Time is wasted, by all parties involved, in each transaction when cash, and more specifically pennies, are used. In an excerpt from a New York Times article, writer William Safire states, “They cost more in employee-hours—to wait for buyers to fish them out, then to count, pack up and take them to the bank —than it would cost to toss them out.” Getting rid of the penny would save time for not only the customers, but also for the employees and employers. If customers no longer use pennies, the transactions will go faster, allowing more transactions to take place in a given period of time. No longer using pennies can not only save time, but it can also save money. MIT graduate Jeff Gore created an equation to express the amount of money that is lost because of the copper coins, and he concluded that “‘If each person’s time is worth $15/hour then we arrive at the conclusion that each person is losing $60 per year, at a cost to the nation of over $15 billion per year….’” Gore’s equation shows how inefficient the use of the penny is, and further develops the thought that it should be abolished. The penny simply costs more money to use than it is even worth. The current lowest denomination coin has been easily proven to be a waste of time and money, and should no longer be used in the U.S. money …show more content…
One of these advances is credit cards, which are now used instead cash and pennies. Rick Kahn, writer for Globe, perfectly demonstrates how the penny has been subsided by stating that the penny has been “shoved out of the economic picture by charge cards.” While credit cards have taken dominance over cash all together, when cash is used, bills are more common than pennies. Even more so, one can’t buy really anything with the penny anymore, making it even more useless. Also, bills are much easier to grab for than digging for pennies. As a result of this, pennies disappear because they are literally more trouble than they are worth (Safire). Pennies have become impractical. The use of this extremely low denomination coin is more so a burden than anything else, and are no longer needed in the money system. Because of new technologies, pennies have been rendered useless, are no longer necessary for buying products, and should be
The Penny is a wonderful coin. It might only be worth one cent but that one cent can help people in all sought's of situations. The penny should kept in circulation. There are many people that use the penny still in today’s society.
Even though members of Congress are trying to ban to penny, Americans can spare the time to use them. In Ric Kahn’s
In 2001 United States Representative Jim Kolbe introduced legislation to Congress to eliminate the penny coin in most transactions. Although this legislation failed, there are still consistent calls to eliminate the penny as the smallest-denomination United States coin. Our nation is founded on passed traditions. Any American can look basically in any place to understand why America has thrived for centuries. Every tradition, sculpture, monument, or artifact gives Americans history about what has occured. The country struggles to destroy any of these long kept traditions. Although some traditions are completely relevant, the use of the penny is of little worth today. Whether the penny is rolling around in your pocket or resting at the
They became more dead than alive, so people began to melt and sell. The death of the penny would have ended there but with the government realizing that they weren't worth minting and happy that its people were removing they became circulation which according to google means that “movement to and from or around something, especially that of fluid in a closed system.” So they made the melting of U.S. coins illegal and continued making 4 billion pennies each year. The pennies instead did the exact opposite by being a literal dead weight on everyone's cash.
The debate of eliminating pennies or maintaining pennies is a current focus in the United States. Many people think that eliminating the penny would positively affect the United States because the government would not have to devote millions of dollars to pennies. While many other people think that eliminating the pennies would negatively impact the United States because of the rounding tax that would be introduced after the pennies are eliminated. I think that we should continue to keep on manufacturing the pennies because the penny shows how it impacted the English language, it can also help causes that can save lives, and pennies can keep the government from creating the rounding tax which can cost consumers millions of additional dollars. To begin, the United States should not eliminate the penny because the coin has impacted our language by giving us more phrases and words.
Have a good look at the penny, what do you see? You probably see nothing but a copper coated circular poor valued cent. Little does everyone know pennies have been around longer than before their grandparents, even their great-grandparents! Matter of fact, it was around so long ago that Abraham Lincoln’s face was not the first design on the penny. I ask that you take the time to consider the American penny’s worth. Without the people’s belief in its value, the penny will be abolished. I see people every day throwing away a penny rather than to put it in their pocket and save it for future uses. Yes a penny is "outdated, almost worthless, bothersome and wasteful" (Safire) piece of junk, but it's has an economic, cultural, and historical significance to the United States of America. The problem is that nobody pays attention to that, and that gives pennies the image of no value. Three good solutions to show the pennies worth include: tolls and vending machines accepting the coin, more charities to keep their penny drives, and historical evidence of what the penny mean to America so that it can be passed on to the future generations.
The penny is so close to worthless that there is a major debate on whether the penny should be kept in circulation. Keeping the penny in circulation would be mostly for those traditionalists who see this coin as history and luck. Many are working very hard to keep that piece of history from meeting its retirement. ALTHOUGH THE PENNY HAS BEEN AROUND THROUGH AN ABUNDANCE OF GENERATIONS; DEPLETING THE NATION OF THIS COIN WOULD BRING LESS HASSLE AND MORE BENEFIT.
Millions of Americans work full-time, day in and day out, making near and sometimes just minimum wage. In 1998, Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them in part by the welfare claim, which promises that any job equals a better life. Barbara wondered how anyone can survive, let alone prosper, on $6-$7 an hour. Barbara moved from Florida to Maine to Minnesota, working in the cheapest lodgings available and accepting work as a waitress, hotel maid, house cleaner, nursing home aide, and Wal-Mart salesperson. She soon realizes that even the lowliest occupations require exhausting mental and physical efforts and in most cases more than one job was needed to make ends meet. Nickel and Dimed reveals low-wage America in all of its glory, consisting of
The production of a penny costs about two cents each and the value of the penny is gradually decreasing throughout the years, however, penny production should not stop in the United States. Without the penny, all prices would be rounded up to nickel prices. Prices tend to be rounded up considering most prices end in a nine. Therefore, the tax buildup that Americans would pay throughout the next few decades would increase dramatically. The deletion of the penny from our current society will also force Americans to rely more heavily on nickels, which will end up taxing the government more money in the end. Though some believe that the penny should no longer be manufactured, there are a plethora of reasons why the penny is an essential part of the United States’ currency system.
In today's century pennies has no purchasing power,pennies are useless and should be abolished.Pennies are not worth the same amount as they did before. Pennies are made out of copper,but if we use the copper for a more valuable coin that could be utilized,states will get rich and have a beneficial in the economy."Arizona is rich in copper...bigger percantage of the large-denomination coins that might be more heavily used it the penny were discontinue."(Source A) If pennies would be "discountinue" the states that have copper would make coins that are in use and beneficial for the people.For example, quarters,dimes,and nickels are worth more than a penny and are in use and acceptable in stores or even vending machines.Making,"A system under which cash transactions would be rounded up and down"(Source A) would be an advantage for the United States.This is a system that would help the stores by not wasting time counting pennies.When,"replacing paper dollars with long-lasting $1 coins"(Source A) would benifit the economy by making dollar coins which will be more beneficial than an ordinary penny.
In 2001, United Sates Representative Jim Kolbe proposed a legislation to Congress to dispose the penny coin from the currency of America because of its small impact. Although his legislation failed, most people currently argue about the penny’s existence today. Even though the penny stood as a mark of history, it is useless and should be eliminated from America’s currency.
For instance, in the article “Abolish the Penny (Source 3)”, it clearly states, “Where do they go? Two-thirds of them immediately drop out of circulation, into piggy banks or –as The Time’s John Tierney noted five years ago –behind chair cushions or at the back of sock drawers next to your old tin-foil ball.” Adding on, many people view the penny as a useless currency, and they even leave it in hidden places around their own home. The reason why pennies are sometimes located in piggy banks or at the back of sock drawers is that citizens see no purpose in obtaining them. In other words, it seems as if the penny has lost its fame and glory ever since other forms of currency have been established, such as quarters, dimes, and dollar bills. As explained by William Safire, quarters and dimes seem to circulate more often than pennies, and pennies “disappear” due to their worthless value and troubles. Specifically, the reign of quarters and dimes has overtaken the significance of pennies, and as time passes by, the term “penny” might not even be mentioned anywhere around the United States. In addition, more people nowadays tend to use quarters and dimes for due change, leaving the penny to become less essential for our needs. As stated in Source 3, the British and French have already abandoned their low-value coins approximately 30 years ago. This demonstrates the probable
The penny has been in America for centuries, it's a sentimental object for Americans everywhere. However many have debated on whether or not it should be eliminated or continue being made. The penny should be preserved because it is apart of American culture, given to charity, and keeps items cheap.
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew’s proposal to introduce a woman onto American currency, although meant to make up for an injustice, does not come without a major flaw. Lew’s proposal to remove Alexander Hamilton from his prominent position on the ten dollar bill relegates an influential historical figure. Although it is important to recognize women’s contributions to America, it should not be done at the expense of Hamilton when an undeserving man such as Andrew Jackson is honored on the $20 bill. Due to the debate surrounding America’s currency, Thomas Jefferson’s worthiness of being on the nickel has also been questioned. Admittingly, all men and women have their weaknesses, but it is important to recognize when those weaknesses outweigh their strengths.