What is the Use of Pennies in the US

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Currently, the United States uses only bills and coins as official currency. While many Americans have transferred to making virtual transactions with the aid of credit cards, tangible money is still commonly exchanged. However, the smallest denominator of these units, the penny, is no longer a convenient way to purchase goods and services. Pennies are no longer needed and have only survived, thus, far as outdated placeholders. It is in the best interest of the United States to stop minting pennies as they are a useless and ineffective form of currency.

Background information (I didn’t know how to add it to my intro but it is vital to the essay):

Pennies would not simply disappear overnight. Instead, they would slowly be phased out over a period of time (months, years). While the manufacturing of pennies would cease immediately, they would still be accepted at cash registers. The contents of glass jars and piggy banks would not suddenly lose their value. Occasionally, an elderly women might still count out 200 pennies to buy a candy bar. However, cashiers would not give change in pennies. Change would be rounded to the nearest five cents. If paying with a credit card, as so many people do, the price would remain the same. This is very similar to what Canada is doing now as it phases out its penny. This way the number of pennies circulating as currency would diminish exponentially, similar to a half-life. At the end of each month, stores would send all of their pennies to the federal government where they would be melted down. Because the metal used to produce pennies is worth more than 1 cent, the government would actually be making money, some of which it could use to cover the cost of shipping the coins ("2010 Annual Report")....

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"EPA Fact Sheet." The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 5 Dec. 2008. Web. 7 Mar. 2014.

Isidore, Chris. "Should the U.S. Kill the Penny?" CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 04 Feb. 2013. Web. 07 Mar. 2014.

Kolbe, Jim. "Bill Text107th Congress (2001-2002)H.R.2528.IH." Bill Text. The Library of Congress, 17 July 2001. Web. 07 Mar. 2014.

Mallaby, Sebastian. "The Penny Stops Here." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 25 Sept. 2006. Web. 21 Mar. 2014.

"Opportunity Cost." Business Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2014.

Stein, Joel. "Common Cents." Time. Time Inc., 10 July 2006. Web. 07 Mar. 2014.

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