The Penny: A One-Cent Piece of History In 2014, the US Government spent over $130 million in order to make and distribute over eight billion pennies (“Should the US” 22). This, to former senator Jim Kolbe, is “government waste at its worst” (qtd. in “Pinch the Penny” 3). For the past thirty years, people have argued over whether the penny was worth keeping in circulation. Many people say that it costs the United States government too much to produce, while others say that it keeps the economy and keeps prices in check. Although the penny is an important piece of American history, eliminating the penny will save time, money, and the environment. Even though there are over one trillion pennies in circulation today, their face value along with …show more content…
This will save considerable amounts of government money: almost $40 million annually (Cavanaugh 70). Eliminating the penny will also save time in lines at grocery stores and will save the environment from pollution. In order to avoid these adverse effects, penny production must be either eliminated or lowered. Although many people have thought of a penny-recycling program to try to avoid these adverse effects, no ideas have been implemented. “Despite the fact that the US has recycled 21.8 million tons of metal in 2013, a recent year for which details are available, not a single penny is recycled, at least by the mint” (Cavanaugh 70). The fact is that, as forms of electronic payment such as credit cards or PayPal are becoming more popular, all forms of physical currency, not just the penny, are becoming obsolete. Some might even argue that the nickel or dime isn’t worth keeping in circulation, not to mention the penny. By eliminating the penny, the government will spare not only United States citizens, but also itself the trouble of dealing with the insignificant …show more content…
“Penny Reign: America’s Least Valuable Coin Endures.” Reason, Jan. 2011, p. 70+, Opposing Viewpoints in Context.
Fragale, James A. “In Praise of a Humble Coin.” Newsweek, 7 Apr. 2008, p. 20, Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Fund, John H. “Penny Wise.” [“Proposal to Abolish the Penny”]. American Spectator, vol. 39, no. 5, June 2006, pp. 46-47, EBSCOhost. “Pinch the Penny? Debating the Value of the Penny.” Current Events, a Weekly Reader publication, 29 Sept. 2006, p. 3, Opposing Viewpoints in Context.
“Should the U.S. Get Rid of the Penny?” Junior Scholastic/Current Events, 8 Feb. 2016, p. 22+, Opposing Viewpoints in Context.
Sommer, Jeff. “Penny Wise, or 2.4 Cents Foolish?” New York Times, 8 Apr. 2012, p. 6(L), Opposing Viewpoints in
Between 2001 and 2006, there has been an increase of .6 cents for the reproduction of the penny. This increase displays economic problems that may lead to fatal ones. The penny is composed of 2% copper and 98% zinc. These elements are exponentially in demand causing the price of these materials to skyrocket. Many Americans think the penny is putting our country in jeopardy with financial losses. This meaningless coin is losing money for the mint, and should be abolished.
They must be eliminated, but you might think. Wont prices go up and charities lose money? No. new zealand , finland, and the netherlands stopped using the one cent or the one cent euro and noticed no change in cost instead they round to the nearest five cent. Anyways the US has already gone through this process without trouble like the half cent it was eliminated in 1857 because it was too little worth. Another thing is that everyone loves lincoln so they might think that his monument might be taken away but taking away the penny won't take away his memory we will still have him on our five dollar bill which won't go away. Yes you might think it is unpatriotic or disrespectful to take away lincoln but the us military is not using pennies because they have already realized that pennies are useless and not needed so they round to the nearest five cent. So basically pennies just aren't worth making, they waste people's time and they don't even work as money like they are supposed to, and because of inflammation lose more value every year making them making everything
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 influence the United States because the government would not have to devote millions of dollars for pennies. While many other people think that eliminating the pennies would negatively influence 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.
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.
“The purpose of the monetary system is to facilitate exchange, but the penny no longer serves that purpose,” Harvard professor N. Gregory Mankiw, a former chairman of President Bush's Council of Economic Advisers, has argued. “When people start leaving a monetary unit at the cash register for the next customer, the unit is too small to be useful.”
First of all, one of the main reasons that the United States should get rid of the penny is because it is very expensive to make. “The United States government- that is the taxpayers- lost $60.2 million on the production and distribution of pennies in the 2011 fiscal year, the mint’s budget shows, and the losses have been mounting: 27.4 million in 2010, and $ 19.8 million in 2009” ( Source 1). The losses
Though the penny’s value has decreased a good amount, some Americans condemn the idea of abolishing the penny because they believe the penny is sentimental to American history. Penny fans argue
The one-cent coin, more commonly known as the “Penny”, was made a legal form of money in 1864. The penny has been used as a form of payment for centuries. It is now 2018 and time for a change as the use of the one cent coin has declined. We should eliminate the penny. In doing so we can support charities, adjust the american pricing system and eliminate production costs. Pennies are too expensive compared to their actual value.
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
A buyer brings along with him snacks that he would like to purchase in a dollar store: chocolate chip cookies, a Pepsi, gummy bears, and a bag of chips. He waits in line, eager to consume this huge delight. It is his turn, and he hurriedly placed his treats on the counter, waiting anxiously to pay immediately. The cashier replies to him, “The price will be $5.99, sir.” The buyer takes out five one-dollar bills and four quarters. Not an instance did he ever use a penny in this case, which he thought was useless and meaningless. As you can see, the penny has become quite worthless and diminished in purpose. Many citizens would prefer to round up and pay rather than spend time and look in their
Countries like New Zealand, Brazil, and Canada have all concluded that pennies are no longer worth making because of all the negatives about them. In the article, “The Penny Debate- Should We Keep the Penny or Get Rid of It”, the author states that getting rid of small coins doesn’t hardly have an effect on anything because most people don’t use them anyway. If all the other countries have abolished their small coins with no problem America should be able to get rid of the penny with no
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.
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.
This statement is true the pennie is part of American history, although no one sees the point in using pennies anymore. Most people refuse to take pennies as change, others just store them in jars, but what really takes the cake is that some people just throw pennies away into water fountains. No one wants to hang on to a pennie, people just want to get rid of them. Sure you can save up pennies until you have enough to buy something, but that will take way too long. You are better off saving quarters or dollar bills. You might think “well what if some people want to collect pennies”. That is completely fine although, people pay for these pennies to be made. So when people lose pennies on drawers or in the back of dressers it’s only causing people to lose money. The United States mint should stop making these pennies for the fact that no one ever uses them they just collect them or lose
Safire, William. "Abolish the Penny." The New York Times. The New York Times, 02 June 2004. Web. 09 Nov. 2013.