How important is the penny? How many of the little coins are lost throughout the year? Jim Kolbe, a United States Representative, renders the penny coin useless and even introduced a proposition to congress to rid the U.S. of its smallest coin. The penny is often overlooked by the money hungry economy for bigger and better tribute. There are many people who favor the abolishment of the pesky one cent piece for its considered useless and a waste of time at the register. However, little Lincoln is used in the everyday pricing system, is a historical piece in the nation, and the copper coin, even in its small stature, can bring children hope when given to them for a wish.
The United States has a lot of history behind her, therefore she
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America’s entire pricing system is based in units, to get rid of the penny would cause all prices to be rounded to the next small coin, the nickel. The stock market is based around the penny, therefore changing it would be extremely hard, the countries that have changed their pricing system or who have tried ended up not wanting to completely leave the one cent out. In source D it states that, “The EU also sought to avoid the systematic rounding of prices.” This quote is a direct example of how even the European Union has adopted the “one cent euro” which equivalent to the penny. Source D also includes the annual rate of a penny dropping out of circulation and how it is comparable to the rate of other coins. “...the annual rate pennies disappear from circulation is surprisingly similar to all other forms of our coinage.” This quote is against the abolishment of the penny because it explains that not only do Americans lose pennies but they lose all other forms of pocket change and the copper coin is not the only one. Surprisingly, the penny even in it small stature is not the only one to be lost, thus probing it is not a useless forgotten form of money but has a regular rate. Overall, the penny is still popular and is used widely throughout the world. Little Lincoln is far from forgotten but otherwise, those for the abolishment, are …show more content…
For me it’s the waste of time I object to.” This quote directly tells how the one cent piece is a struggle to use when checking out and how many people do not care if they get it back. Nevertheless, if it was a quarter, dime, or nickel the customer was waiting on, they would want it. Time is not the issue because it takes as much time to open a bag of pennies as it would to open a new bag of quarters. The only thing different between the two is not the time it takes but the fact ones quantity is greater than the pennies. Abolitionists of the penny also believe that President Lincoln would be ashamed to be seen on the penny, the exact same President who did not like paper money (source C). On the contrary, President Lincoln was put on the penny to shame him for the emancipation of the slaves, but what was seen as the shameful movement Lincoln created was one of his greatest achievements. Lincoln knew what he was doing when he fought for the rights of all people, so he would not view the penny as a way to embarrass him but a way to display his own
The Penny is a wonderful coin. It might only be worth one cent but that one cent can help people in all sought's of situations. The penny should kept in circulation. There are many people that use the penny still in today’s society.
We should keep the penny because it has history, in fact it was “the first currency authorized by the United States” (Lewis). The penny no longer has the value that it used to have, but it is still necessary to make purchases as accurate as possible. The penny may seem like a waste of time to many Americans because it takes so long for cashiers to make change, forcing people to wait in line, but it is actually worth the time spent. The penny helps with keeping prices a cent lower, and therefore stimulating the economy. The penny is important to many people who need the money and for whom pennies still have value.
In 2001 United States Representative Jim Kolbe introduced legislation to Congress to eliminate the penny coin in most transactions. Although this legislation failed, there are still consistent calls to eliminate the penny as the smallest-denomination United States coin. Our nation is founded on passed traditions. Any American can look basically in any place to understand why America has thrived for centuries. Every tradition, sculpture, monument, or artifact gives Americans history about what has occured. The country struggles to destroy any of these long kept traditions. Although some traditions are completely relevant, the use of the penny is of little worth today. Whether the penny is rolling around in your pocket or resting at the
They must be eliminated, but you might think. Wont prices go up and charities lose money? No. new zealand , finland, and the netherlands stopped using the one cent or the one cent euro and noticed no change in cost instead they round to the nearest five cent. Anyways the US has already gone through this process without trouble like the half cent it was eliminated in 1857 because it was too little worth. Another thing is that everyone loves lincoln so they might think that his monument might be taken away but taking away the penny won't take away his memory we will still have him on our five dollar bill which won't go away. Yes you might think it is unpatriotic or disrespectful to take away lincoln but the us military is not using pennies because they have already realized that pennies are useless and not needed so they round to the nearest five cent. So basically pennies just aren't worth making, they waste people's time and they don't even work as money like they are supposed to, and because of inflammation lose more value every year making them making everything
According to source #4, it states, “The one cent has influenced our language, giving us a number of idioms, such as ‘a penny for your thoughts’ (a way to ask what someone is thinking) and ‘not one red cent’ (meaning no money at all).” This is significant because it shows that the penny has affected the English language, giving the language more idioms to use. It is often said that pennies should not be manufactured anymore due to their excessive cost of manufacturing and distribution. Yes, numerous people do acknowledge that fact, but the government can also propose that pennies are to use inexpensive metal, like steel, which makes the entire coin industry save money and has the cost of coins to be cheaper to make.
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.
There is a side to this debate where the penny could win and stay in circulation. To start, the penny has been around for years and years and it has seemed to work for this whole time. This is true, the penny has been around and can be used still in everyday life. The turn side of this, though valid, is with systems changing is is becoming more and more rare for the penny to have a true dire need. One other strong reason to keep the penny alive would be charity. Charity relies on those people who do not necessarily care enough to keep the pennies t drop them off in the donation box. That though, has a simple solution. If the penny were no longer around nickels and dimes would begin to be the change customers and users are no longer wanting. Charity then in result
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
Many of Americans view the every day penny as only one cent that carries only little to no value, which is why they wind-up stashed away at the back of drawers. What most people don’t have a clue is the value it once held back in the days where a can of coke was about one cent. Our very own citizens who once fought battles and came home scarred knew that the penny wasn’t just one cent, it was the blood shed, their fallen brothers, and the never ending tears that symbolized one single Lincoln. Pennies are worth more than their currency, they are the history of our home and the beginning of where we stand today.
Each month the U.S. mint produces one billion pennies a month. It would be better off to abolish the invaluable penny than to waste employees’ time in the government producing the little annoyances. Source C states how these 10 million shiny new useless items are a waste of time to the government workers. The employees could easily be more valuable if they were tracking counterfeiters. In addition, although the penny is a meaningful emblem of our president, Abraham Lincoln, we will still see his honorable face on the valuable five dollar bill. (Source G) The penny has lost its value as
Now a day, people do not even bother to pick them up when they see them on the street, the unit of a penny is too small to be useful. The one cent coin should be eliminated because they cost more money to produce than what they are worth, “A penny currently costs the United States government 2.4 cents to mint. Yes, that's right—the penny costs more to produce than it's worth! One-cent coins constitute a complete and utter waste of taxpayers' dollars—not to mention a waste of our time and energy,”(Prairie News Register, P.1 ). This shows that if the penny gets eliminated from the United States it will save more time and money. The Penny also means very little to society because when someone sees a penny on the ground they rarely will pick it up. “Production is up in part because of hoarding, and in part because more and more people are throwing them in jars or drawers and never taking them out again. Few people now bother to pick up a penny when they see it on the street. It's simply not worth the effort,” (John Fund, P.2). This evidence shows how picayune the penny is and how people do not really bother for pennies
A buyer brings along with him snacks that he would like to purchase in a dollar store: chocolate chip cookies, a Pepsi, gummy bears, and a bag of chips. He waits in line, eager to consume this huge delight. It is his turn, and he hurriedly placed his treats on the counter, waiting anxiously to pay immediately. The cashier replies to him, “The price will be $5.99, sir.” The buyer takes out five one-dollar bills and four quarters. Not an instance did he ever use a penny in this case, which he thought was useless and meaningless. As you can see, the penny has become quite worthless and diminished in purpose. Many citizens would prefer to round up and pay rather than spend time and look in their
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.
The one cent coin of the United States of America, or the penny, has been debated to be discontinued or not. Barack Obama, the former president of the United States, said that the penny is a symbol of government waste. The penny should be abolished because it is harmful to the environment during production, wastes the government’s money, and is of no use in any useful machines in our current day.
Today, the small cent is once again too expensive to produce, and too irrelevant to bother with. Eliminate the cent and round all cash purchases to the nearest nickel. There will not be a gain or a loss from two more cents on the transaction. There won't be any dwelling over the situation. It is time for the United States of America to grow up and abolish this meaningless Lincoln penny. The penny has been a complete fiasco.