Penny Argument Essay

The penny was the first form of currency in the United States, it was first minted in 1787. Since the first minting in 1787 “Over 300 billion one-cent coins, with 11 different designs, have been minted since 1787”(pennies.org). The first pennies were made of one hundred percent copper and the metal composition is going to drastically change over the years, by 1856 the composition of the penny changed to eighty-eight percent copper and twelve percent nickel. In 1864 the composition of the penny changed again to ninety-five percent copper and five percent Zinc and stayed that way up until 1982 when the composition of the penny change to what the penny is made today ninety-seven and five tenths and two and five tenths copper plated zinc. There

are two instances that the mints had to use other materials or even stop minting the penny because of a scarcity of copper. In 1815 the mints had to stop producing the penny because of the shortage of copper brought on by the war of 1812 during WWII the mints steel was used to make pennies.
There many reasons the penny should be taken out of the United States standard currency and there are many reasons that the penny should be kept. If the penny was to be taken out of U.S currency it would have to be brought before Congress as a bill to halt production of the penny. The mints would stop minting the penny and start rounding prices to the nearest nickel, the U.S would follow Canada in the path they took on the question what to do with all of those pennies that have no use now in the market. Canada had asked all businesses will be asked to return pennies to financial institutions, “The coins will be melted and the metal content recycled” ( Jordan Vesey). Bills have already been introduced to Congress that would have halted the production of the penny, but these bills have been turned down, there has been a debate for the abolition of the penny even our previous president has lobbied to getting rid of the penny.
One of the strongest arguments for abolishing the penny is that they cost the government more to produce than what the currency costs itself.

In 2016 each penny cost 1.7 cents to produce so to produce one dollar it costs a dollar seventy. Minting these lower denomination coins cost the government more than what they are actually worth. The U.S Mints have tried to use cheaper metals to be more cost effective at making the coinage, but they are still not able to bring the cost of the coin to what the coins are actually worth. “ In 2014, the Mint shipped out more pennies than nickels, quarters, and dimes put together – over 7.9 billion coins. That adds up to a loss of over $55 million for that year alone”(moneycrashers.org). That is 55 million dollars lost in that year alone because the production costs outweigh their face value, the penny isn’t the only coin that costs more money than their face value to produce the nickel costs eight cents to produce. Compared to the penny which costs a dollar seventy to produce a dollar's worth, the nickel costs a dollar sixty to produce a dollar's

worth.
Another argument to get rid of the penny is that we know it would work we would be able to follow directly in Canada’s path. Canada has halted the production of the penny since 2013, they had stopped producing the penny because it was costing them more to produce the coin than what it was worth which is a big reason that getting rid of the penny is in discussion in the U.S. When Canada released their 2012 budget plan Ottawa had called the penny a “burden on the economy” the budget also stated that “ it costs the government 1.6 cents to produce each new penny “, just with the elimination of the penny in Canada they will save 11 million a year. In Canada, they only have rounded prices to the nearest nickel in hand to hand transaction, on online sales all prices are to the nearest penny. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty “ announced the impending withdrawal of the penny in last March’s budget, saying the government would save 11 million a year in production costs.” The U.S would be saving more in 2014 “ the U.S spent almost 132 million to produce less than fifty million of circulating currency”(U.S Mint) , altogether when “ production cost is added to the opportunity cost of using the penny economists say that the penny drains almost 900 million from the national economy every year” (U.S Mint).
There are many good reasons to keep the penny varying from a genuine fondness over the penny to the idea that they will keep and maintain prices low.

The first reason that the U.S would keep the penny is that they do keep prices low if the U.S were to get rid of the penny all prices would be rounded to the nearest nickel which would result in losses to the consumer up to three cents. The merchants would always raise the price to benefit themselves rather than the consumer, there is no way to make these business owners round down because they would have changed the price before the concept and the rounding would be initiated. The statistics also show that “ incomes under $10,000 non-whites and Hispanics, and those adults with less than 12 years of education pay for more than half of their of their total purchases in cash.” Getting rid of the penny would hurt the lower class more because they use more money for purchasing, this is an unforeseen circumstance that will have a great effect on the lower

classes.
There are many charities that have a varying impact on different groups of people to the make a wish foundation to America red cross which thrives on donations. The most common money denominations that get donated are loose change such as nickels, dimes, and pennies, people are happy to give this loose change because it has little value to them and is seen less desirable. This change adds up over time and the charities are happy to accept any donations not caring how long the denomination is. “On the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birthday, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society celebrated the 1.5 billionth penny” (pennies collected) which add up to 150 million dollars over time. This is a prime example that the donations of the penny really does add up exponentially over time. The World Wildlife Fund is the leading conservation charity its job is” conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth”. The Wildlife Fund relies heavily on the microdonations over six years they made out with five hundred thousand just from loose change. Pennies do really add up for these charities and are a major factor in their fundraising.