Penny Argumentative Essay

Remember the old, fun times as a kid when you found a few coins or dollars lying on the floor, smiling at you from below? Those memories are definitely some of the finest. A dollar bill, a quarter, even a dime are some pretty fun finds and can boost your mood for the rest of the day. The penny however, wasn’t exactly the best coin to add to your pocket collection. What could you buy for a few cents? You have to admit that it’s a pointless coin and you wouldn’t gain anything bad from it’s loss. In fact, there are actually many benefits that come from the penny’s end. Despite the conflict surrounding the cent, it is evident that the penny is a completely futile coin and the distribution of it should be ended due to the fact that it costs double

the amount of money needed to create it and that the loss of it could bring a decrease in prices for stores and restaurants across the country.
To begin with, the fact that it costs double the amount of money needed to produce a penny is absolutely absurd! Jeff Sommer’s Penny Wise, or 2.4 Cents Foolish? as well as The Ever-Changing Penny by Maria Story states that it costs the U.S. Mint over 2.4 cents to create one penny. That’s like paying the price of two slices of pizza, but only getting one! The idea of this is completely incomprehensible and saying it aloud just sounds ridiculous. Why would you pay 2 cents for something worth 1 cent? The penny only fills up the space underneath your cushions and rarely gets put into anything besides tip jars and fundraisers. In addition to, Jeff Sommer’s article states, “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: $24.4 million in 2010 and $19.8 million in 2009.” With this, it is evident that the coin brings about the waste of tens of millions of dollars earned by the public. Millions of dollars wasted for a small metallic coin worth one cent. Why is something so small worth so much? It just doesn’t add up.
Despite the vast amount of evidence provided that shows the reasons why pennies should be gone, some still believe that pennies are useful.

Penny drives in schools around the US are great ways to help charities and other fundraisers. However, removing the penny and replacing the fundraisers with nickel drives or dime drives could help raise the money earned from the penny drives by 5 to 10 times! Another essential point that demonstrates how ending the penny production is a useful plan is that the loss of the penny could result in the decrease of prices all around the country. Multiple countries like Britain, Brazil, and Canada have dropped the use of the pennies without any dire consequences according to page 3 of Penny Wise, or 2.4 Cents Foolish? Not only that, but ending the penny could also bring a few benefits. “‘...in a competitive market, you might as well see price decreases,’ says Mr. Velde. ‘In a place like New York, a 99-cent price of pizza might go down to 95 cents rather than $1 to avoid crossing that higher price threshold.’” Mr. Velde’s statement proves cutting the penny production short can allow businesses to lower their prices due to the tough competition around the world. Businesses know the public will go for the item with the cheapest price, for example $495.95 versus a $500 phone. The business with the cheapest price is the business people will by from. Getting rid of the penny could change and lower the costs of everything you buy

from.
Overall, it is evident that ending the penny production could provide benefits for people all across the United States. There may be controversy surrounding its deserved removal, but because it costs 2 times its worth and how we could get cheaper prices after its end shows that the penny is a little bit useless. Removing the penny from our nation couldn’t cause much harm and besides, what’s so bad about a feel lost cents?