Reconsidering the Penny: An Economic Evaluation

What would our economic system be like without the penny? Would prices be rounded up for better profits, or rounded down for competitive marketing? And, more importantly, why should we care? After evaluating the major points of both sides of the argument, I’ve come to the conclusion that pennies should be redesigned so that they are worth equal to or less than they cost to make, rather than its production coming to a total halt.
From what I have discovered so far, there are three big proponents to keeping and redesigning the penny, the first of which having to do with the cost. Believe it or not, according to Jeff Sommer’s article “Penny Wise or 2.4 Cents Foolish,” “In the United States, the mint says, each zinc and copper coin (in other words, each penny) costs 2.41 cents to produce and distribute.” That means that it costs almost 2.5x the original value of the penny to actually produce one, and the Mint makes billion of pennies per year. Sommer also mentioned that “The [US] government -- that is, taxpayers -- lost $60,200,000 on the production and distribution of pennies in the 2011 fiscal year…” Although the penny’s cost efficiency has been improved

All this means is that because pennies are worth so little, when a penny drive is organized within a large group of people, with everyone pitching in, the money raised will add up fast. According to Ted Waterhouse’s article “Give a Penny -- Save the Day!” he observed a good example of this principle in action; “Last week, Washington Middle School (WMS) hosted its annual Penny Drive for Charity. Students from every grade brought in bags and jars for pennies, and, with everyone’s assistance, they raised over $3,000 in one week!” The main point that the article has clearly made is “because they are worth so little, people don’t mind donating them to charity,” and I couldn’t have said it