The Copper-Colored Penny

Did you know the first penney the u.S. has ever seen was created and produced in the year 1857? The penny we know of has been in the states for 161 years. In the year 2012 there was a proposal that the United States get rid of the penny, the least valuable coin in the money system. The penny has so little value, but cost too much to make. Although the U.S. loses millions of dollars a year to the production of pennies, American pennies should not be ceased minting because of the risk of economic changes,the piece of culture they each possess and their “ power in numbers”.

The penny debate has been going on for many years. Many people want to get rid of the penny, but others want to keep the penny. We should keep the penny. The penny is a benefit in our society.

"The Penny Debate " by Brad Andrew is an article written to inform Americans about an ongoing conflict. Both sides are supported with good reasons; However, I think It would be beneficial to keep the penny. Based on the article, which implies that fellow Americas would lose much more than we're gaining. Things such as; Getting rid of the penny, Charities ran on coins will lose profits, putting U.S. Mint further in debt, and prices would rise. Many may think that eliminating the penny will be a plus, but aren't looking at both pros and cons in-depth for future references. Rather than getting rid of the penny altogether we could use a cheaper metal to produce

On top of not having a use, the penny is a big waste of time, literally. Gore, a graduate student at the University of California at Berkeley has made a calculation that approximately “four hours per person per year” is wasted on rummaging for pennies which in turn costs the nation “over $15 billion per year.” (Kahn) These $15 billion could be used to create jobs, invest in renewable energy, or invest in education, all of which would greatly improve the nation while at the same time getting rid of a pointless coin.

“A penny saved is a penny earned,” to quote Benjamin Franklin. Unfortunately a penny saved is not worth a whole lot anymore. Like many other once useful things the penny has become obsolete. The production and use of the penny in the United States monetary system should be abolished.

The penny is important to many because it can help with charity , sentimental and historic value.

Finally, the United States should get rid of the penny because many other countries have dropped the penny. In source number one it says, “Countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and Britain have already dropped their penny.” So this quote says why don’t we just stop making the penny when all these countries have already dropped them and they are still doing good.

In America, there is still a debate if the penny should be eliminated. If it was to be eliminated it would still be used, but in a minimal way. In Canada, the Canadian penny was eliminated due to cost, time, and the country believed it was a waste of money, “inflation reduced its purchasing power by 95% since it was first minted domestically in 1908: back then the cent could buy goods of the cost of $0.20, today in other words.”(The Economist). Once a small coin can no longer be used to buy individual items at that price, but it is only used to make change, it becomes more trouble than it is worth. Canadian pennies cost “1.6 Canadian cents to manufacture, and the government expected to save $11 million a year by eliminating them”(The Economist). But that sum equivalent to 0.0006% of GDP is small change. Canadians feel that eliminating pennies is that their feeble purchasing power means dealing with coins,

The U.S. penny has been a standard in our currency system for almost as long as our country has existed as a sovereign nation, but due to inflation, production costs, and the changing times we live in, it is no longer a sustainable unit of currency and only serves to increase our national deficit and waste our time. When the penny was produced for the first time in 1792 by the U.S. Mint, it was made of pure copper, featured a woman with flowing hair, and was inscribed with the words “Liberty”. Since then, the design and composition have changed numerous times to reflect our changing nation. Despite its fading glory, the penny has been kept alive by numerous false lobbying fronts and a stubborn ideology, but

Not only has the penny been around for more than one millennia, but it has become very important to our society, even if its cost doesn’t mean a whole lot unless in a large group. It has worked its way into the zinc

The penny has a lot of history, through the 200 years the penny changed design and value. Based on the article “The Ever-Changing Penny.” The first pennies were minted in 1857, they were very large, larger than a modern day quarter and had different images of the statue of liberty on the front(4). With this example, one can see,there were several visions for the penny before the final product of the Abraham Lincoln penny in 1909. The history of the penny reveals more than just a coin, it exposes a piece of american culture. The penny has influenced our language, giving us a number of idioms, such as “A penny for your thoughts” And “Not one red cent”(4). Despite its cultural influences the penny is under attack currently, the reason? Because making the penny also costs money, more than its worth,in 2011, it costs the U.S. more than 2.4 cents to produce the penny. The History of the One-Cent piece is a curious one. How long it will remain a part of your spending currency is yet

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.

Though some parties may claim that the penny holds value to the United States, majority of the arguments presented are invalid or out of date. Examples such as the man who has saved “90 pennies a day” (Source B) are an extreme case that cannot be used to argue for continuation of the penny. In the average lifespan of an American denizen, it is improbable that one will have the time to collect this many pennies. In addition, on order for this man to reach his grand total of $13,084.59 took about forty years, making this argument illogical as the process is time consuming and one can save even more by simply collecting larger denomination coins. In addition, arguments made those countries such as the “EU … and Canada” that have kept their “penny”

How many pennies do you have just lying around the house, not being used? I can answer that, TOO MANY! The use of pennies should be discontinued in the United States. Pennies are more trouble than they are worth, literally. They are costing the United States more money than they are even worth.

How often do we use the penny in everyday transactions? In most cases when getting change from the cashier or when going through the household change jar containing all the change bombarded with all of those unwanted copper colored coins. The penny has such a low value compared to the other money increments we use, such as the quarter and dime. Its usefulness is running out in the society we have today and it is doing way more bad than good. It's time to discontinue the penny and take it out of circulation due to the benefits it would provide to us all.