Argumentative Essay: Keep The Penny

Keep the Penny!

Congress for years have been trying to get rid of the penny. The penny should be kept, because it would have a negative effect on charities, the economy in general, and many Americans would miss its historical value. As you dive into the essay, you will see my reasons for why the penny should stay.

First, getting rid of the penny would have a negative effect on charities. For example, Washington Middle School raised $3,000 in pennies alone in one week. All the proceeds of the fundraiser went to a charity, and most of charities money comes from pennies. Also, people don’t mind donating pennies because they think they are “cheap”, and are more cautious of donating things like nickels, dimes and quarters. There are power in numbers, people think that them donating one cent won't mean anything, but they add up quicker and more effectively than people think. So, as you can see, charities benefit and get a lot of their money from pennies, so getting rid of pennies, would hurt them (Waterhouse).

Another downside to getting rid of the penny would be the effect on the economy.

One reason is that banks say that if they do get rid of the penny, they wouldn’t get rid of them electronically. Meaning, in your bank account, you would still have pennies in your balance, but you wouldn’t be able to get any of them from the bank. Furthermore, most every store will round up their prices. So if an item is $15.96, practically every store would make the price $16.00. Rounding up prices would cost us Americans $600 million dollars in total(Sommers). Finally, stock market would take a big hit because most stocks are penny stocks. Stocks throughout the country Would lose hundreds of millions of dollars. The final reason we should keep the penny is the

history
The history of the penny is one that is very complex. People are attached to the pennies through sayings like, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” Also, the penny has been with us since the eighteenth century. As we have changed, it has changed with us. Looking back at the penny’s history, you can tell what state of being the U.S. is in and what time period. For example, in WWII, you would know it was that time period by just looking at the penny. Pennies in World War Two were converted from copper to steel, because steel was a cheaper substance to make it with (Story).
Who knows if the penny will or will not be saved, but as you can see, there are many reasons that it should be kept. Without pennies, charities would lose many profits and those charities can change the lives of people. The economy would make us Americans pay $600 million in taxes. Finally, the history. All of that would just be in another history book, with kids from a future generation reading about it, not experiencing it.