The penny is as enamored in US history as the Declaration of Independence, and has been around for almost as long as well. It saw Lincoln abolish slavery, and helps us remember that with his profile on the head side of the coin. However, pennies are not worth what they used to be. With everyone paying with credit and debit cards, many wonder “Why don't we get rid of the penny?” The answer to this problem is this: we should get rid of pennies. In 2001, Jim Kolbe suggested we do just that, but it didn't happen. The penny should be gotten rid of, but not using Kolbe’s proposed method of rounding up. Rounding up would bring negative effects to the economy; pennies also hold historical value, and are mainly used by the less financially stable members …show more content…
Kolbe’s solution, as described by Source A, is this: the legislation wouldn’t ban pennies but merely make them impractical and unnecessary by rounding to the nearest nickel during transactions. By rendering the penny unnecessary, all you do is discourage the circulation of a certain form of money. Therefore, taking money out of the economy by encouraging people to keep the currency at home, instead of putting it back into the economy. A single man is a wonderful example of the money that would leave the economy without this solution. Source B states that a man named Edmond Knowles saved around 90 pennies a day for almost 40 years, when he recycled those pennies through Coinstar, his total money came to $13,084.59. The economy, no matter how stable, is always negatively affected by money leaving the economy. The removal of all pennies and their monetary value could be a detrimental blow to the US economy. Another reason to find a different solution to Kolbe’s is the historical value of pennies. According to Source B, the penny was deemed a rock-solid money symbol. As money goes, the penny is the most recognisable of all American coins, and is therefore a symbol that America has had since nearly the country's …show more content…
Former President Abraham Lincoln helped maneuver the country through the Civil War, and abolished slavery with the 13th amendment to the US Constitution. Getting rid of the penny in all cash transactions would lead to the loss of a daily remembrance of Lincoln and the lives lost to the Civil War and slavery. Now, critics of this viewpoint might say that the penny is pesky, and outdated, taking up valuable time searching for them, and should therefore be gotten rid of at the soonest possible moment. However, Source E shows that the majority of people who want to abolish the penny are typically higher income citizens, and those in favor of keeping it are mostly those whose income is less than $25,000. Getting rid of or keeping the penny doesn’t really affect the high income members of society as they can just avoid it. Lower income citizens, however, would be negatively affected by this change. The rounding up would cause prices to rise, even just a little bit would add up, and it could cause them to struggle financially, if they aren’t
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.
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
In 2001, United Sates Representative Jim Kolbe proposed a legislation to Congress to dispose the penny coin from the currency of America because of its small impact. Although his legislation failed, most people currently argue about the penny’s existence today. Even though the penny stood as a mark of history, it is useless and should be eliminated from America’s currency.
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
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
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.
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
It seems the all day good luck from picking up that penny, may be coming to an end. At least that is what some of the members of Congress are trying to make happen through legislation. Multiple acts of legislation have been introduced to either use rounding, essentially eliminating the need for pennies, or stop minting the penny altogether. They say it has been a nuisance for years, that the cost of a penny exceeds its value. None of these acts have yet to pass. In 2012, Canada has begun the process to phase out the one-cent piece, providing a boost to the effort here in the U.S. Lobbyists groups on both sides continue to fight for what they think is right. Does it really cost more to fabricate and distribute pennies? There are statistics and economic forecasts from both sides. Two-thirds of Americans polled want to keep the penny. Many Americans have anxiety over what might happen if the penny was to be removed from circulation. What effect would rounding have on business pricing? Would businesses really round down when asked? What would be the direct and indirect effects of the “rounding tax”? Charities would also be effected, many depend on the small donations including pennies. There is also the sentimental value, and not to mention Abraham Lincoln, to consider. So is a penny saved, a penny earned? The debate to abolish the penny relies on economics and cost, but in the end it is still currency, and has value to many Americans and charities.
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.
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.
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
America has always drawn strength and patriotism from its traditions. Symbols and landmarks, no matter how big or small, remind Americans of our history and give us hope for the future. Hence, these traditions must be kept alive in order to symbolize the importance of our country and remind people of its potential. Americans throughout the country can see pennies and remember them as a symbol of our country’s roots and why it has thrived for so long. Although at times pennies may seem insignificant and trivial as they often are lost or lying around, ultimately the penny plays a fundamental role in everyday life, would inadvertently impact the lower class if abolished, and is a tribute to our history, thus it should not be eliminated.
The obsession with innocence and more specifically the loss of it has been a common theme in the world’s most widely consumed literature. In a contemporary sense, we have coming of age novels like J.D Salinger’s ‘Catcher in the Rye’ and on the more twisted side of things, Vladmir Nabokov’s Lolita, but this phenomenon goes further than just the past few centuries. In the Life of Lazarillo De Tormez, nothing in sacred. From experiencing the most primitive depths of humanity to learning the complexities and corruptions of religion, government, and the individual, our young Lazarillo is an archetype of coming to know and what that means for the soul.