Some say the United States should stop using pennies because the cost of producing the coin is now higher than the value of the coin. Learn more about why the penny should be abolished. 10 reasons why we should keep the penny - elzanproperties.com Dominic Townsend is a successful article author based in New York City. A 2015 Harris poll shows that 51% of Americans favor keeping the penny, while just 29% think we should eliminate it. This argument pointing to honoring Lincoln has been enough to stave off elimination for years, with few anti-penny advocates willing to make this penny point in their arguments against it. [12], Pennies and nickels both cost more to make than their face values, but on average over the last five years, nickels have been made at a loss of 2.58 cents per coin, compared to .65 cents per penny. Several unsuccessful legislative efforts have sought to bring about the pennys extinction. Here are the proper bibliographic citations for this page according to four style manuals (in alphabetical order): [Editor's Note: The APA citation style requires double spacing within entries. 10 reasons why we should keep the penny . 9 " Centsible " Reasons to Get Rid of the Penny. The elimination of a $58 million dollar annual cost on a federal government running trillion dollar annual deficits each and every year isnt going to move the needle one micrometer back towards fiscal sanity in this country. However, the nickel is in just as bad a shape as the penny. Life Without Pennies. Rating: 4 (257 reviews) Highest rating: 4. Dominic is passionate about writing stories that have the power to make a difference in peoples lives.He believes that knowledge is key to understanding and progress, which he strives to bring to his readers through his work. It is unclear whether the rounding would be up or down. And nickels cost 10 cents to make. Charities such as the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and Ronald McDonald House raise funds through penny drives, encouraging people to donate their unwanted pennies for important causes. These coins have become highly sought-after collectibles and in 2010 one sold for $1.7 million - a record amount paid for a 1943 copper cent! However, while many people are calling for the pennys retirement, others are working just as hard to keep the coin in circulation. According to Americans for Common Cents, this will lead to a rounding tax. In other words, stores will deliberately manipulate their prices to ensure transactions are always rounded up instead of down. Politics latest updates: NHS 'on the brink' says nursing union; 10% A lot of pennies never get spent. He has written for many top publications, such as The New Yorker, Huffington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. They are also bf and environment this doesnt make your hands very very very stinky I dont like the smell of metal. The penny should be abolished because it costs more to produce than it is worth . Act is still in committee. However, it doesn't say what those reasons are. Theyre so hard to use that they end up stuffed in jars or abandoned on sidewalks. Since the penny costs 0.26 more than face value to Make sure you have some later too. The difference between the face value of a coin and and the actual cost to make it is known as seigniorage. Every year charities like the Lymphoma Society and Ronald McDonald House raise funds through penny drives, encouraging people to donate their unwanted pennies. [11] In 2009, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society announced that school children had collected over 15 billion pennies in support of its charitable work thats $150 million dollars for blood cancer research and treatment. What Are Elastic, Unitary and Inelastic How to Approach Change in an Organization. 10 reasons why we should keep the penny - 247healthandfitness.com We should get rid of pennies because it cost less and is useless but it could be helpful, I think we should keep the penny because it is sill money, what the creep who ever wrote these are all bum hahahahaha. Cryptocurrencies provide users with an alternative form of money that is not controlled by any government or bank, but is instead based on blockchain technology. A low-denomination coin helps keep prices in check. Why We Should Kill the American Penny | PBS NewsHour " THE PENNY DEBATE" written by Brad Andrews explains to the readers the important points and reasons on why we should keep the penny and important points and reasons as to why we should get rid of the penny. And its very easy for a child to say, Will you help me support this nonprofit, will you give me your pennies? [6] Elementary school students in Los Angeles, CA, gain significant leadership and civic engagement experience from USCs Penny Harvest program by choosing how to donate the money they raise. The penny should stay | Silver Chips Online The problem was resolved by reducing the size of the cent and changing its composition from copper to an alloy of copper and nickel. Some are opposed to change, and others are attached to the penny for sentimental reasons. There's been a debate brewing over the value of the penny, and conversations have grown amid a national coin shortage. That would cost an estimated $10.9 million more annually than it would cost to keep making pennies. In fact, during that year the Mint accidentally made 40 copper pennies! 10 reasons why we should keep the penny. Top 3 Pros and Cons,", ProCon.org, "Should the Penny Stay in Circulation? Many foreign nations have eliminated their most minor denominations with almost no impact on commerce or consumer confidence in the monetary system. The price of zinc has soared over the course of the last few years, and with that the price to produce the penny has gone up. The Indian Head cent endured for half a century before its design was replaced by the Lincoln portrait in 1909, the 100th anniversary of the 16th Presidents birth. Most Americans want to keep the penny. The cost of producing them is higher than face value. One-cent pieces account for nearly three-fourths of the coins now This cost includes the metal content and the labor used to produce them. Today, theres literally nothing you can buy with a single penny and you cant do much else with it either. [9]. However, once stores stop accepting pennies, consumers will have even more incentive to donate the coins to charity because they wont be able to use them anywhere else. Abolish the Penny Essay - PHDessay.com The use of cryptocurrency for small payments such as the penny could revolutionize how people manage their finances, allowing them to make quick, secure purchases without worrying about currency conversion rates or transaction fees. And in February 2014, President Barack Obama argued during a YouTube chat that pennies were obsolete and a symbol of U.S. government waste. Pennies don't buy as much as they used to: In 1913, a penny purchased a little more than a quarter does today (about 28 cents). [14], Dagmar Serota, who created a nonprofit called Good Cents for Oakland, said, Pennies are easy to ask for and they are easy to give. The penny-pinching . The U.S. Mint does lose money on pennies and nickels. For instance, penny supporters claim that eliminating the coin could harm the economy or hamper charities in their fundraising efforts. Freshly minted pennies at the US Mint in Denver That's why last December, Congress directed the United States Mint to nd ways to produce our coins more cost-effectively. Aaron's argument resonates with many modern consumers who remember when a person could buy a mini Tootsie Roll, Mary Jane or ice cream cone at the candy store with just one penny. A Dozen Money Facts You Should Know | Cheapism.com In 1990, he testified before the Senate Banking Committee that his careful statistical analysis of prices showed that rounding cash sales up or down to the nearest nickel would cost consumers around $600 million per year (around $1.2 billion in 2021 dollars). This is because rounding up would make their already tight budget even tighter. At this rate, the United States loses millions of dollars producing pennies and nickels. They are good for societies that help with cancer, fundraiser, etc. Economist Greg Mankiw of Harvard University argues that pennies are simply no longer useful as a means of exchange: When people start leaving a monetary unit at the cash register for the next customer, the unit is too small to be useful.. Unlike some other foreign governments, the penny remains legal tender in Canada. OTC Markets. For all its current problems, the penny has a long and proud tradition dating back to 1793, when one-cent pieces were the very first coins produced by the fledgling U.S. Mint. With that in mind, halting production of the penny may be a sensible decision for society as a whole. (This is true for lots of U.S. ,Sitemap,Sitemap, richard sargent obituary new providence nj. One of the functions of prices is to provide participants in the economy with information about the scarcity, supply and demand for a particular good. To the average American, this is a perfect match: the common mans President on the common mans coin. A zinc penny weighs 2.5 g. Doing the math, 327 billion pennies weigh 1.8 billion pounds Commerce continued without any major hiccups, even though the one-cent copper coin suddenly shrunk from a hefty, over an inch in diameter piece of copper that weighed almost 11 grams, to a penny that was less than half the weight and 40% smaller. Companies would need to update their price catalogs. 325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200 Those profits result from seigniorage, a positive cash flow that occurs when coins face value exceeds the cost of minting them, rather than the other way around. The new penny, first issued in 1857 with a Flying Eagle design, was about one-third smaller in diameter than the large cent and less than half the weight. All of this numismatic change took place without any significant problems. A nonpartisan organization called Citizens to Retire the U.S. Penny has attracted the support of economists from Harvard and Wake Forest University. Cash transactions there are now rounded up or down to the nearest $0.05. Beyond the excess millions the U.S. Mint spends to crank them out, pennies also take up the lions share of the Mints production capacity. Read more to learn about the potential benefits of eliminating the penny. Those little extra costs could add up quickly. shutterstock.com Around 8% of coppers are thrown in the bin every year. Pennies are so hard to spend that many people dont even bother they just store them all in jars, or even throw them away. Remember to focus on content rather than grammar or mechanics. Another significant change in U.S. coinage occurred without any catastrophic effects on commerce. In his spare time, Dominic enjoys running along the Hudson River and exploring the citys art galleries. At the direction of Congress, the Mint has been studying potential new compositions that would make the coin cheaper to produce and save the denomination from the scrap heap. Unlike its hefty predecessor, it had much less value as metal than as money. With more consumers moving toward contactless payment methods, news sources from Fortune to NPR began asking: Is the penny finally on its way out? There are reasons for the elimination of the penny, mostly having to do with the inconvenience of the small coin. Economist Greg Mankiw of Harvard University argues that if people start leaving pennies at cash registers due to their lack of purchasing power (in 2020 dollars, 15 pennies would be worth one monetary unit), then maybe then the useless halfpenny will finally be stamped out too. The group's mission is to keep the penny in use. The penny debate gained renewed attention when the coronavirus pandemic led to a nationwide coin shortage as consumers moved towards contactless payment methods. How would removing pennies impact people who primarily rely on cash transactions? The penny has increased to 7.6 million dollars a year to make a penny. Of course, spending $0.018 to make a coin thats worth only $0.01 isnt necessarily a bad idea because coins are reusable. This is backed up by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; they state there are 343 million consumers in this country adding up to over 25 million hours wasted on counting pennies. This is only the opening salvo in the Great Penny Debate, however. The existence of pennies helps raise a lot of money for charities. ProCon.org is the institutional or organization author for all ProCon.org pages. And since the Mint produces billions of pennies a year, the government loses millions of dollars annually in the process. That means the cost of some items would go up. Benefits of Keeping the Penny | Bizfluent 1. Pennies don't last forever, and the US Mint explains that the copper surface can corrode away after a few years. They support keeping the penny because pennies represent the most expendable part of pocket change. Why Keep The Penny? - AMAC Why or why not? According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, zinc ores contain only 3% to 11% metallic zinc. Pro and Con: Pennies | Britannica procon@eb.com, 2023 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. E-Trade. There are plenty of DIY penny jewelry ideas out there, including a bracelet, a lucky penny necklace, and a bejeweled ring. 2023 Money Crashers, LLC. The penny no longer serves that purpose. Get tips on managing costs, finding financial assistance & more! Pro-penny groups argue that even if pennies seem worthless, they actually add up to hundreds of millions of dollars in charitable donations each year. Several Chipotle restaurants tried this in 2012, but customers who had extra cents added to their bills complained. You're saving it. This is why anti-penny advocates argue that its a bad idea to keep making them when the mint loses money doing so, while other coins like nickels cost less to make but have higher value. Charities rely on penny drives as an easy way to raise funds, and pro-penny groups argue that the elimination of the coin would have a negative impact on charitable donations. According to an old superstition, its good luck to find a penny on the sidewalk. People who get them in change during the day often dump them in mayonnaise jars, sugar bowls or drawers when they empty their pockets at night. They dropped the penny and rounding happens just the way you learned in like 2nd grade. However, he also stresses that even if prices did increase, the difference would be so tiny it couldnt possibly affect the CPI. Considering all these factors, dispassionate observers might wonder why the powers-that-be in Washington have been dragging their feet for years on killing the cent, especially now that Canada has acted decisively and, it appears, successfully to carry out a similar execution. 6.9 Reasons Why America Should Get Rid of the Penny - The Balance. The pro-penny group backs up its claim by pointing to the work of economist Raymond Lombra. 10 reasons why we should keep the penny. Susan also belongs to the American Numismatic Society (ANS) and CONECA (error and variety coins club). In this blog post, we explore the potential of cryptocurrencies to replace the penny. A graduate of NYU, he has an MA in English literature and loves literature from all ages. Halting production of the coin is becoming a more and more popular topic among anti-penny advocates. The reason that we should continue the production of pennies is because the citizens of the United States do not deserve more change than is needed. Whaples, by contrast, analyzed actual data from more than 200,000 convenience-store transactions in seven states. Making pennies wastes natural resources and is toxic to people and the environment - Pennies are 3 percent copper, and 97 percent zinc and are primarily made from virgin ore. Making pennies from . 10 reasons why we should keep the penny - artyrox.com In 1857, the U.S. Mint stopped making the half-cent coin, partly because the cost of making it had exceeded its face value, and somewhat because it was considered to be too small a denomination and it was no longer needed. The analysis also shows that tooth decay is still the most common reason for hospital admission with 30,000 children and young people aged 0-19 admitted to hospital last year. TOP 10 10 reasons why we should keep the penny BEST and NEWEST Amy Livingston is a freelance writer who can actually answer yes to the question, "And from that you make a living?" Should we get rid of the penny? To access extended pro and con arguments, sources, and discussion questions about whether the penny should stay in circulation, go to ProCon.org. the penny under one cent. According to the 2020 Annual Report from the U.S. Mint, it now costs about $0.018 or 1.8 cents to make one cent. Most US coins have an expected circulation life of 20 to 30 years, meaning a single penny could be used thousands or even millions of times. News sources such as NPR began speculating whether the penny would finally be retired or if crypto possibilities might replace it. November 29, 2022; did jesus walk on water before or after his resurrection . Why We Should Get Rid Of The Penny - The Odyssey Online All these toxic metals can contaminate water, soil, and plants in the area surrounding the mine. But whether or not you believe picking up that penny will bring you luck, one thing it definitely wont bring you is wealth. A Penny For Your Thoughts: Why Pennies Are Still Necessary But if we get rid of the penny we would have to stick with the nickel. . The Lincoln cent, now more than 100 years old, is by far the longest-running coin in U.S. history. )," YouTube.com, Sep. 6, 2010, Greg Mankiw, "Get Rid of the Penny!," gregmankiw.blogspot.com, Apr. Proper citation depends on your preferred or required style manual. In 2017 it cost the U.S. Mint 1.8 cents to make each penny and 6.6 cents for each nickel. These adjustments are not costless, so there is resistance from some parties who do not want to pay transition costs. Currently, the cost to make a penny is around 1.82 cents. When the Baby Boomers were young, a penny still had some value. A pro-penny group funded by the zinc industry calls these claims absurd, as they argue employees would save more time spent counting change than people would necessarily spend if we got rid of them. In all, it lost $58 million - and the Mint, keep in mind, is a federal agency that traditionally makes money in more ways than one. Vending Machines Don't Want Them. The Mint made nearly 6 billion pennies in 2012 and lost a cent on every single one of them. We Have a Precedent for Eliminating Worthless Coins. Abraham Lincolns face replaced an image of Lady Liberty on the penny in 1909, the 100th anniversary of his birth, making him the first real person featured on a regular-issue American coin. Some stores are even refusing to accept cash altogether. Although originally made of pure copper, pennies today are composed of 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper. You can also make some hand-stamped bling like this . The group that conducted that survey Americans for Common Cents advocates retention of pennies, but impartial polls have come up with similar results. Lombra also argued that this small change in prices would trigger an increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The very fact that pennies have so little value makes them useful to charities because people are happy to give them away. There have been several other minor changes in the coin metal composition. In 2013, Aaron wrote an anti-penny screed pointing out that it costs more to make a penny than its face value - 1.8 cents each - and therefore it is not cost-effective. For obvious reasons, pressure to keep the cent has been applied persistently by providers of zinc and copper, the two component metals in the coin, who would lose contracts worth tens of millions of dollars every year if pennies were abolished. Often, when we pay with cash at a store, the total amount doesnt end in a multiple of $0.05. Ironically, getting rid of it might actually make it more difficult for people to donate money since fewer coins would be available. That means whenever the Mint produces a penny and sends it out to a bank, its losing money on the deal. The Department of Defense banned the use of pennies at overseas military bases in 1980 because the coins were deemed too heavy and not cost effective to ship. Despite all this, surveys consistently show that most Americans dont want pennies discontinued. The main pro-penny lobbying group is Americans for Common Cents, which represents Jarden Zinc, the company that makes the zinc and copper blanks from which pennies are produced. The cost of pennies is a minor problem. In fact, it has been struck in greater numbers than all other coins combined including not just U.S. coins but the coins of all other countries throughout recorded history. This organization has conducted polls showing that more than two-thirds of Americans favor keeping the penny. Pennies are worth so little now that by taking five seconds to pick one up, youre earning just $7.20 an hour less than the federal minimum wage.
