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.
Eliminating the penny requires a plan to dispose of the physical coin. This plan would include a way to collect the coins. This means people would need to be motivated to hand over their pennies. A positive impact could be made if Americans chose to donate the coins to various charities. The charities would take the pennies to banks to be cashed out. This would give tons of cash to the charities and a pile of valuable metal to the banks (source #1). In turn, the banks would have the coins melted down and earn the value of the metal which is higher
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the value of the one cent penny. This is because the copper and zinc (the metal used to create the penny) is worth more as metal than the value of the penny (source #1). The penny is not worth much by itself but when it is combined with all the pennys in the nation, it would quickly add up (source #3). Even though the penny seems light, in weight, it takes up a lot of space. When was the last time you accepted a penny rather than giving it back as a tip or donation? This demonstrates how Americans do not value the penny. Rounding prices to the nearest five cents is a great idea, if we eliminate the penny. This can be successful because American military bases, outside of the United States, have already stopped using pennies and have adjusted prices accordingly. Those living on the bases have not reported any problems. In fact, they state it works great. Other countries, such as Canada, stopped using pennies and implemented price rounding (source #1). Their economy has not had a negative impact due to this change. The penny costs 1.8 cents to make and distribute but only sells for one cent. Clearly, it costs more to make the penny than the value of the penny. For example, in 2011 America lost $60.2 million due to the cost of making pennies. The rate of loss continues year over year. In 2010 it was a loss of $27.4 million and $19.8 million in 2009 (source #1). These values include the production rate fluctuation due to cost of materials and labor. Pennies continue to cost more than they are worth. In addition to the $60.2 million lost, is the cost of shipping pennies. Once they are created the pennies are shipped to banks to be used. The shipping cost is high because pennies are heavy in bulk (source #2). Again, the cost of shipping is more than the value of the penny. This is an expense that America can eliminate by stopping production and use of the penny Those who disagree with eliminating the penny argue that the penny is a valued piece of history, a piece of our culture and english language.
Specifically it is how we use the coined phrase such as: “a penny for your thought” and “not one red cent”(source #4). The argument continues that pennies are still around today because they have been around for over 200 years and tradition is important . Even though they are over 200 years old they are no longer useful. In fact, they are rarely used for trading, they tend to be used for collecting. It is common for people to store pennies in a jar. Once the jar is full they deposit it at the bank (source #1). Another argument against eliminating the pennies is a fear businesses might round up instead of rounding down when they adjust prices to remove the penny. This could cost Americans additional money each year (source #1). However, as much as the rounding could potentially cost, the penny is already costing Americans over $60.2 million a
year. The penny is not helping our national debt in any aspect. In reality, money should be helping to build up the American economy, not tear away at it. Let’s unite as a nation, and take all of our pennies to charities and donate them. We need to round our prices and make our process more efficient. Let’s take away the problem of the expensive penny, and collectively boost the economy with donations.
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.
We strive on making everything more efficient. As stated by a www.globe.com article, “The National Association of Convenience Stores and Walgreens drug store chain estimated that handling pennies adds 2 to 2.5 seconds to each cash transaction (remember that we are including the occasional customer who spends 30 seconds looking for the penny in his pocket)” (Source B) That is a lot of unneeded time. When you get the penny back does it mean anything to you? It was also estimated that if you add those 2.5 seconds, it equates to 4 hours per year handling pennies. In keeping with the thrive and efficiency to move along in America, you can be using those 4 hours for something much more productive. As another example, say you are walking down the street and you see a penny on the ground, will you stop and pick it up? You most likely will not pick it up because it has no value. Now what if it was a nickel, or a quarter? Will you pick it up? Most people will definitely pick it up. A penny is just a waste of time. Finding a penny at the bottom of your pocket or in your bag drives cashiers crazy. There would be no need for this wasted time if we abolished the penny. The penny is stopping every great American from pursuing the next biggest breakthrough or
In America’s modern day economy, the penny is very useless and irrelevant in our society today. As source C states, “The time has come to abolish the outdated, almost worthless, bothersome, and wasteful penny.” There is not one item that can be purchased with a penny anymore (Source C). As source C states, “it takes nearly a dime to buy what a penny bought back in 1950.” Stores such as the Dollar Store prove how the cheapest items you can purchase are with only a dollar, not a cent. Pennies are shoved out of the economic picture by credit cards and because of the modern-day technology, there are even self-service machines that help convert coins into paper money (Source B). Furthermore, pennies are easily tossed into piggy banks or appear behind chair cushions. It is not used the same way as it was before.
They became more dead than alive, so people began to melt and sell. The death of the penny would have ended there but with the government realizing that they weren't worth minting and happy that its people were removing they became circulation which according to google means that “movement to and from or around something, especially that of fluid in a closed system.” So they made the melting of U.S. coins illegal and continued making 4 billion pennies each year. The pennies instead did the exact opposite by being a literal dead weight on everyone's cash.
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 affect the United States because the government would not have to devote millions of dollars to pennies. While many other people think that eliminating the pennies would negatively impact 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. To begin, the United States should not eliminate the penny because the coin has impacted our language by giving us more phrases and words.
Have a good look at the penny, what do you see? You probably see nothing but a copper coated circular poor valued cent. Little does everyone know pennies have been around longer than before their grandparents, even their great-grandparents! Matter of fact, it was around so long ago that Abraham Lincoln’s face was not the first design on the penny. I ask that you take the time to consider the American penny’s worth. Without the people’s belief in its value, the penny will be abolished. I see people every day throwing away a penny rather than to put it in their pocket and save it for future uses. Yes a penny is "outdated, almost worthless, bothersome and wasteful" (Safire) piece of junk, but it's has an economic, cultural, and historical significance to the United States of America. The problem is that nobody pays attention to that, and that gives pennies the image of no value. Three good solutions to show the pennies worth include: tolls and vending machines accepting the coin, more charities to keep their penny drives, and historical evidence of what the penny mean to America so that it can be passed on to the future generations.
In fact there are many people that oppose abolishing the penny. In source E it states “that 62 percent of people oppose abolishing the penny that has a income less then $25,000 a year.” If the penny was to be abolish then the nickel would be the lowest coin in amount of money. If the nickel was the lowest amount of money there was then that means the purchase prices of items sold would increase. The prices would increase on items sold because the penny would not be in circulation to allow the customer to pay with the correct amount of change. Instead of being able to pay $3.47 for a kids meal at MacDonalds the customer would have to pay $3.50 for the kids meal. With the increasing prices of merchandise sold in stores there could be a budget upset for many families that have to follow a tight budget. Many families have to follow a tight budget to be able to provide for there families. With a tight budget there is no room for the prices of merchandise to increase due to losing the penny. Every penny counts when it comes to having a tight budget and providing for your
Millions of Americans work full-time, day in and day out, making near and sometimes just minimum wage. In 1998, Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them in part by the welfare claim, which promises that any job equals a better life. Barbara wondered how anyone can survive, let alone prosper, on $6-$7 an hour. Barbara moved from Florida to Maine to Minnesota, working in the cheapest lodgings available and accepting work as a waitress, hotel maid, house cleaner, nursing home aide, and Wal-Mart salesperson. She soon realizes that even the lowliest occupations require exhausting mental and physical efforts and in most cases more than one job was needed to make ends meet. Nickel and Dimed reveals low-wage America in all of its glory, consisting of
Finally, making pennies is a waste of time, money, and minerals. The minerals in pennies are copper and nickel. Over time, copper has gotten more rare and nickel is in other coins, so let's use it for them! You may deem that these are not strong, but if you support this it could help us in the future when we need the minerals. In the time that it takes to make pennies we could be making other coins or bills. Like Denver Nicks said it takes 1.7¢ to make a penny, two pennies for one! That is wacky, those can oomph to better uses. We can endure those minerals and use them for other things in the
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.
The penny has been in America for centuries, it's a sentimental object for Americans everywhere. However many have debated on whether or not it should be eliminated or continue being made. The penny should be preserved because it is apart of American culture, given to charity, and keeps items cheap.
There is definitely no purpose and meaning in continuing the creation of these worthless objects. All they do to the United States is cause trouble, and they are clearly a bothersome to uphold them in our possession since they barely contain any value. Our economy would be fit with just dimes, quarters, and nickels as our coins. Abraham Lincoln, who was the president represented in this penny, would disapprove having his reputation and honor shown in a futile currency. The government needs to stop producing pennies. They create a loss of money rather than a profit; therefore, these copper cents need to be gone from our economy. What other choice is available? What can these pennies do in order to redeem their glory? It is nearly impossible to convince residents to use pennies once again. The penny has lost its value, and their dignity has become faint to us. It is time to eliminate pennies–for
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
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).
The penny that has been in circulation since the 1700’s should not be done away with. The first reason being that greed is a motive for some. Second, the penny is very important to our nation's history. and third, although being under constant pressure and criticism from people like William Safire, the penny is still popular with a majority of citizens, and most of the info on pennies is false.