10 reasons why we should keep the penny

In theory, a single penny could be used for hundreds or thousands of transactions before it drops out of circulation. This is the least substantive argument in favor of keeping the penny, and yet, ironically, its probably the most effective. Every year charities like the Lymphoma Society and Ronald McDonald House raise funds through penny drives, encouraging people to donate their unwanted pennies. At the time it was eliminated, the useless halfpenny could buy as much as 15 pennies can today. Author: www.thebalancemoney.com. You're saving it. They support keeping the penny because pennies represent the most expendable part of pocket change. [1] Thats a bargain for how many times it gets used. By clicking Accept All Cookies, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Can We All Just Agree That Pennies Are Stupid And Need To Be - HuffPost It's clear that the modern penny is no longer necessary in our financial system. How Much Is My Modern Jefferson Nickel Worth. CGAA will not be liable for any losses and/or damages incurred with the use of the information provided. PDF 5th Grade Opinion Writing Prompt - uen.org Aaron notes in his Brookings Institution editorial that eliminating both pennies and nickels would round off all cash transactions to the nearest $0.10, making for easier math and less stuff in our pockets.. According to an old superstition, its good luck to find a penny on the sidewalk. Their reasons differ. Keep or Get Rid of the Penny? 8 Reasons to Do Either For all its current problems, the penny has a long and proud tradition dating back to 1793, when one-cent pieces were the very first coins produced by the fledgling U.S. Mint. A Penny For Your Thoughts: Why Pennies Are Still Necessary But if we get rid of the penny we would have to stick with the nickel. His mission is to use his platform as an author to bring awareness and perspective on important issues affecting everyday life. However, it would hit low-income Americans especially hard. 327 views, 5 likes, 2 loves, 11 comments, 2 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Mount Carmel Baptist Church: Join us as we send off our beloved brother in Christ Brother Carlton Pinney. If we were to get rid of the penny, cash transactions would be rounded to the nearest nickel. Lombra also argued that this small change in prices would trigger an increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). People think we should not make pennies because they cost 2 cents to make. If we keep the penny prices will go up to five cents. Some are opposed to change, and others are attached to the penny for sentimental reasons. We like to give back to our local art community by presenting presidential line of succession 2022 - A fresh look at a contemporary and traditional southwestern art work. In 2010, it cost 1.67 cents to produce each penny. One 2012 survey found that more than two-thirds of the respondents wanted Uncle Sam to keep making them. A Dozen Money Facts You Should Know | Cheapism.com For every dollar's worth of coins it shipped out the Mint made 45 . Should the United States Stop Using Pennies? ", ProCon.org. In 2006, New Zealand eliminated the nickel, and while they were at it, they significantly shrunk down the rest of the coins. She also maintains a personal blog. 1. According to CNN, the Mint has researched the possibility of making pennies from cheaper materials, but it could not find a way to bring the cost of producing them below their face value. This organization has conducted polls showing that more than two-thirds of Americans favor keeping the penny. The American Council of Science and Health calculates that just transporting pennies to banks not even counting any of the other stages of their production put about 107 million pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere between 1982 and 2016. Pennies are worth so little now that by taking five seconds to pick one up, youre earning just $7.20 an hour less than the federal minimum wage. Some are opposed to change, and others are attached to the penny for sentimental . [29] An estimate from Citizens to Retire the penny says that the 107 billion cash transactions in the United States annually add up to 120 million hours of time between customers and employees at a cost of $2 billion to the US economy. He believes that knowledge is key to understanding and progress, which he strives to bring to his readers through his work. If consumers in 1857 could get along without halfpennies, then modern consumers can almost certainly manage without a coin thats worth less than one-tenth as much. In 2017 it cost the U.S. Mint 1.8 cents to make each penny and 6.6 cents for each nickel. Pennies are so hard to spend that many people dont even bother they just store them all in jars, or even throw them away. This change was likely an attempt to cut costs further as the cost of copper had risen again by this time. [ 36 ] 6. Get DIY project ideas and easy-to-follow crafts to help you spruce up your space. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, zinc ores contain only 3% to 11% metallic zinc. Unlock the Ultimate Benefits with the United 1K Guide! E-Trade. The melt value of pennies ranges from more than two cents for the pre-1982 copper . In response, some penny charities started holding nickel drives instead of penny ones, putting their faith in wishing fountains that accept useless coins. [ 34 ] 5. That will save Canadian taxpayers $11 million a year, our northern neighbors government reports. Hardly anyone uses them anymore. There are notable points that both sides make. Many people thought that 2009, the 100th anniversary of the Lincoln cent, should have been the last year of penny manufacture. The United States has eliminated small denomination coins in the past with relatively little trouble. [7] Raymond Lombra, Professor of Economics at Pennsylvania State University, says the extra rounding charges would exceed $600 million annually and would be regressive, affecting the poor and other disadvantaged people groups disproportionately. [9], One study found that penny rounding in Canada costs grocery store customers an estimated 3.27 million Canadian dollars (2.5 million USD) annually. Consequently, all government payments tied to the CPI, such as Social Security, would rise, costing the government $1.5 billion ($3 billion in todays dollars) over five years. 12, 2012, United States Mint, "United States Mint 2015 Annual Report," usmint.gov, June 2016, Associated Press, "US Penny Campaign Benefits Blood Cancer Research," newsday.com, Feb. 10, 2009, University of Southern California, "The USC Penny Harvest Wrapped up Its Third Successful Year," communities.usc.edu (accessed July 2, 2018), Common Cents, "Non-Profits," commoncentsdallas.org (accessed July 2, 2018), Mary Hance, "Penny Drive Sets Record in Raising Money for Second Harvest," tennessean.com, Feb. 17, 2017, Vlogbrothers, "I HATE PENNIES!!!! Get Rid of Stupid Pennies," acsh.org, June 17, 2016, Mike's Bikes, "Pennies Don't Make 'Cents,'" mikesbikes.com (accessed July 2, 2018), Retire the Penny, "It Makes 'Cents,'" retirethepenny.org (accessed July 2, 2018), Sebastian Mallaby, "The Penny Stops Here," washingtonpost.com, Sep. 25, 2006, Greg Mankiw, "How to Make $1 Billion," gregmankiw.blogspot.com, Sep. 25, 2006, Consumer Affairs, "The Penny's End Is Near," consumeraffairs.com, July 2006, Courtney Waite, "The Origination of the Lincoln Penny," livinglincoln.web.unc.edu, Apr. No, we can't, for some reason. In 2013 alone, this cost taxpayers $105 million. And its very easy for a child to say, Will you help me support this nonprofit, will you give me your pennies? [6] Elementary school students in Los Angeles, CA, gain significant leadership and civic engagement experience from USCs Penny Harvest program by choosing how to donate the money they raise. Getting rid of the penny would save time since customers wouldn't have to search for their nearest nickel and wait in long lines while customers ahead of them try to count out exact change. Their reasons differ. Should we keep the penny. This makes sense. [10][11] So what if it costs 1.8 cents to make? In Grey's video, he notes that in 2006, even with pennies only 5 percent copper and 95 percent zinc, "the value of copper rose to more than the value of the penny, meaning they were worth more . The penny-pinching . And just five years after that, in 1864, the government changed the coins content again this time to bronze, an alloy of copper, tin and zinc and slenderized it further to 3.11 grams, a weight that remained unchanged until 1982. But penny opponents point out that even if the Mint stops producing pennies, charities won't simply lose out - they'll gradually be pulled away as stores stop accepting pennies and consumers switch to other coins. Aside from its Lincoln portrait, though, it has undergone a number of major changes in design and composition. The cent has served the nation well since then, and many Americans view it with affection a sentiment that has grown even stronger since the coin began featuring the likeness of Abraham Lincoln in 1909. Economist Greg Mankiw of Harvard University argues that pennies are simply no longer useful as a means of exchange: When people start leaving a monetary unit at the cash register for the next customer, the unit is too small to be useful.. Pennies are still good but, many people think not. As you can see, both sides have some good points. The only real muscle the electorate has is the vote. For example, the mint made the first dime in 1796 that weighed 2.7 g and had 89.24% silver. Learn how to pay for IVF with these strategies for fertility financing. The reason that we should continue the production of pennies is because the citizens of the United States do not deserve more change than is needed. He has written for many top publications, such as The New Yorker, Huffington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. Despite President Abraham Lincoln's face adorning the single penny, most people don't use or even expect pennies as payment anymore. Companies would need to update their price catalogs. Anti-penny advocates are fond of pointing out that today, the penny costs taxpayers more to produce than its actually worth. How would removing pennies impact people who primarily rely on cash transactions? Dominic is passionate about writing stories that have the power to make a difference in peoples lives. One problem with this argument, according to penny proponents, is that if there were no pennies, the Mint would have to produce more nickels. Should We Make Cents? - CBS News Or should the U.S. keep it's smallest coin? 29, 2017, Andrew Stelzer, "Phasing out Pennies in a Bid for Change," npr.org, Nov. 29, 2009, Shaun O'Brien, "Consumer Preferences and the Use of Cash: Evidence from the Diary of Consumer Payments Choice Working Paper," frbsf.org, June 2014, Raymond E. Lombra, "Eliminating the Penny from the U.S. Coinage System: An Economic Analysis," Eastern Economic Journal, Fall 2001, Vancouver School of Economics, "Penny Rounding Profitable for Canadian Grocers: UBC VSE Student Research," economics.ubc.ca, Nov. 16, 2017, Reuters, "Pennies: The Throwaway Coins We Can't Let Go Of," latimes.com, May 31, 1994, Amy Livingston, "Should We Get Rid of the Penny? Should We Get Rid of the Penny? - Scholastic Although debate continues today about whether we should get rid of the penny entirely or not, its long history is something worth noting and its clear that it has undergone some monumental changes over time from its composition to its patterns on both sides - which makes it an interesting part of our nations history. In the rare case you have never heard of or used a penny, it is the one cent coin in U.S. But today, vending machines don't accept pennies, parking meters are coinless and automatic toll booths won't take them either. Should We Get Rid of the Penny? - Scholastic A dollar coin can last up to forty years. So can we do without the penny? [28] Harvard economist Greg Mankiw says that this wasted time costs the US economy around $1 billion annually. There are precedents for getting rid of coins that are too small to use. Convenience stores across the nation have been showing how handling pennies adds up in cash transactions, but that doesn't sound like a huge issue until you look into the 2019 Federal Reserve study that shows the average consumer makes 11 cash transactions in one week. The penny was first minted in 1857. Citizens to Retire the U.S. Penny points out that in countries that have retired their one-cent coins, charities have not reported a significant drop-off in donations although the group doesnt provide any sources to back up this claim. That doesnt sound like much, but a 2019 Federal Reserve study shows that the average consumer still makes 11 cash transactions each month and according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are over 343 million consumers in the country. Or will the Law of Supply and Demand keep putting upward pressure on metal prices and make it impractical to keep producing cents of any kind? More recently, the mint changed the cupro-nickel clad dollar coin (the Susan B. Anthony) to the "golden dollar" type used in theSacagaweaandPresidential Dollartypes. A nonpartisan organization called Citizens for Retiring the Penny, founded by students at Wake Forest University in 2006, supports eliminating it from circulation. Danielle DeLee began writing in 2010. It may even save money in production costs, as fewer pennies would need to be minted. The $2 bill, however, might be making a comeback. 2023 Leaf Group Ltd. / Leaf Group Media, All Rights Reserved. For instance, penny supporters claim that eliminating the coin could harm the economy or hamper charities in their fundraising efforts. It takes energy to extract the zinc from the ore, roll it out, stamp it into coins, and transport the coins to banks. If more businesses follow Chipotles example and start rounding down their bills, their customers will find themselves with fewer pennies in their pockets. There's a downside to life without pennies. Vending Machines Don't Want Them. 8 Reasons to Keep It vs Eliminate It," moneycrashers.com (accessed July 2, 2018), Rodney J. Bosco and Kevin M. Davis, "Impact of Eliminating the Penny on the United States Mint's Costs and Profit in Fiscal Year 2011," pennies.org, Apr. 10 reasons why we should keep the penny - elzanproperties.com He is also heavily involved in numerous charities and volunteer efforts throughout the city. After reading the pros and cons on this topic, has your thinking changed? The total amount doesn't end when coins and citizens are debating the penny and whether or not it should be kept. Removing the penny removes grades of information that could be available to investors, consumers and manufacturers. But without its namesake coin, many of these penny points saw a significant drop-off in donations - as much as 90%, according to one group that doesn't provide further details. )," YouTube.com, Sep. 6, 2010, Greg Mankiw, "Get Rid of the Penny!," gregmankiw.blogspot.com, Apr. In 1959, the 150th anniversary of Lincolns birth, this wheat-ears reverse gave way to a likeness of the Lincoln Memorial. Because pennies are worth so little, theyre much heavier than any other coin in proportion to their value. The group's mission is to keep the penny in use. Is My Penny Solid Copper or a Copper-Plated Zinc Cent? Companies would need to update their price catalogs. Whats less clear is why Americans are so committed to a coin with so little monetary value. Americans were wary of underweight coins at that time, so the government decreed that all U.S. coins even copper coins must contain enough metal to be worth very nearly as much intrinsically as their monetary face value. The pro-penny group backs up its claim by pointing to the work of economist Raymond Lombra. Unlike its hefty predecessor, it had much less value as metal than as money. 10 reasons why we should keep the penny - 247healthandfitness.com This means that taxpayers are losing money every time the mint produces a penny. Most recently, in 2017, SenatorsJohn McCain(R-AZ) andMike Enzi(R-WY) sponsored ultimately failed legislation that would have suspended minting of the penny. 5. Would love your thoughts, please comment. [11] In 2009, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society announced that school children had collected over 15 billion pennies in support of its charitable work thats $150 million dollars for blood cancer research and treatment. 3. The official name for the US penny is one-cent piece, according to the US Department of the Treasury, but early Americans were allegedly in the habit of using the British term penny. [4][35], 4. [15], Common Cents, a nonprofit based in Dallas, TX, has run a Pennies from the Heart program for 20 years, and the student-led efforts have raised over $850,000 for local charities.

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