Lincoln’s Second Assassination
“Be careful who you call your friends. I’d rather have four quarters than one hundred pennies. (Al Capone) The quote from Al Capone is saying that the pennies don’t mean very much and that they aren’t worth having, but having four quarters mean more. In the last few years the U.S Treasury has been debating on whether or not to stop making the penny. The last time Congress voted on getting rid of the penny was July 18, 2006 and was not passed because the price of the metal was not as expensive as it is now. Currently no one is voting in Congress on the elimination of the penny. So far many other countries have gotten rid of the penny such as, Australia, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and recently Canada. The United States should eliminate the penny as a form of currency due to the price it costs to make it and how the harmful affects the penny has on the environment and also the inconvenience it causes for people.
…show more content…
The United States should eliminate the penny due to the high cost to produce the penny.
In recent years the cost of pennies have risen to about 1.7 cents to produce one penny. The cost of producing one penny is nearly the worth of two pennies. In 2014 the United States lost nearly 130 million dollars by producing eight billion pennies which is an exorbitant amount of money.The last time Congress voted on whether or not to get rid of the penny the consensus was to keep it since the price to keep it was not very much over the worth of the coin. The non-sensible price of producing the penny is just one of the reasons the United states should abolish the penny. One of the main reason that the penny is so high in price is due to the main metal component of the penny which is zinc that has risen greatly in
cost. Another key reason for the United States to eliminate the penny is that it is harmful to the environment due to the immense amount of zinc found in the make of the penny. Studies have shown that high amounts of zinc prove to be very toxic for wildlife. The penny is made up of more than 97% of zinc. The zinc ores contain very toxic metals like Cadmium and Lead. When zinc is mined there can be runoff that can go into nearby water sources. This runoff is very toxic to the animals that either drink from the water source or live in the water. One pathological finding in four Goldeneyes which had ingested one or two pennies and were diagnosed with zinc poisoning included necrotizing ventriculitis. This shows that even a couple small pennies can be harmful to wildlife. This shows that something as small as a penny can be very detrimental to the environment. In addition to the harmful effects of the components in the penny it is not the only one reason for getting rid of the coin, there is many more such as the inconvenience it makes for people. Another key point to eliminate the penny is that it is not convenient for the average person to carry or use. The National Association of Convenience Stores estimate that handling pennies adds 2.5 seconds per cash transaction. This shows that the penny wastes more time than is needed to make a simple cash transaction. Also if someone drops a penny onto the ground most people don’t see that it is worth their time to pick up, proving that the penny means nearly nothing to the average person. Most people today sees pennies as a nuisance and not worth the time to carry. People today use debit/credit cards to purchase most things which renders the penny useless since no one wants to use except in a last resort. Today charities and other organizations rely on penny drives because people don’t care for it and are happy to get rid of it but, it would be just as easy to do the same thing with nickels or any other coin and possibly raise more money if they did so. Also if the United States abolished the penny it wouldn’t affect prices very much, in fact it could possibly be a good thing for consumers. For instance if a sweatshirt was $8.92 it would simply round down to $8.90, so in turn it could save consumers money. The truth is that the penny is just more of a hassle to keep it than it’s worth. Even though pennies are a hassle some may see them as money savers. Some people argue that eliminating the penny would raise prices and in turn hurt the poor and middle class. If the United States were to eliminate the penny then if something costs $12.98 then it would be rounded to an even $13.00, because if the penny was abolished, prices would be in fives and tens, so therefor in some cases consumers would have to pay more. However if the United States did abolish the penny it could help consumers save money just as much if not more than it would be to pay more. In fact even the United States military bases has stopped using the penny. The United States military bases has discontinued the use of the penny since the 1980’s because of how much of an inconvenience it is. The military also has found that to transport the pennies to their base because it was too expensive. Also the military thought that by eliminating the unavailing coin it would just be less difficulty when making purchases on the military base. All in all the penny is more of a hassle than it’s worth. The United States should eliminate the penny as a form of currency due to the price it costs to make it and how the harmful affects the penny has on the environment and also the inconvenience it causes for people. There are a plethora of reasons to eliminate the penny as a currency for the United States but some of the main ones is that the cost of the penny to make is very non-sensible. Yet another reason that the penny should be abolished is the detrimental effects it has on the environment. Another key point that the United States should get rid of the penny is that it’s an inconvenience for people to use or carry around. People think that if the United States eliminated the penny that it would cost consumers a substantial amount of money if we rounded to the nearest five or ten. In turn by rounding the price it can also save the consumer money by rounding down. When thoroughly thinking about whether to get rid of the penny it makes sense to get rid of it because it would make life easier when making purchases. Also the fact that it can save money by getting rid of the penny is very nice. Also it would help stores to save a stupendous amount of money.
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.
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 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 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 influence the United States because the government would not have to devote millions of dollars for pennies. While many other people think that eliminating the pennies would negatively influence 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.
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
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.
"As of 2014, the cost of making a penny was estimated at 1.7¢. So yeah, it almost costs two pennies just to make one penny- which makes no sense (pun intended)". Over time, many people have called for the U.S. to stop making pennies. Three reasons why are, we have a lot of coins and bills, not many people carry around cash, and making pennies can waste time, money, and minerals. That is why I believe the U.S. should stop making the penny.
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.
Why should the penny be abolished? Because it is only worth one cent, Or like Mark L...
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
The tale of the penny is a saddened fate of how history changed the tide from once revered and valuable to now uninspiring and a burden. Inflation has diminished its value to where now taking 7 cents to buy what a penny brought in 1956. Today this U.S cent is no longer pivotal in American currency and is finding itself to be more trouble than it’s worth. One of the glaring issues is producing a penny costs more than its own worth. The time is now for the penny to end the 230-year journey and fade away as dust in the wind. But, this coin continues to persist while evading every effort to meet its demise.