How significant is the penny for you? In the 1970’s, two pennies would buy a newspaper from the street vendor. These days, people don’t even bother picking up pennies off the street. Should the penny be retired?
The penny was the first currency of any type authorized by the United States, and for over two centuries, the penny's design has symbolized the spirit of the nation. The design of the first one-cent coin was suggested by Benjamin Franklin. The original penny was over five times heavier and almost 50% larger than its equivalent. The word penny is derived from the original British coin of the same name. Over 300 billion one-cent coins, with 11 different designs, have been minted since 1787.
There are many reasons the penny should be kept. Supporters point out that if pennies are eliminated, all cash transactions will have to be rounded off to the nearest nickel. This will lead to a rounding tax as stores manipulate their prices to ensure that transactions are always rounded up instead of down. It is also opinionated, by many Americans, that it is disrespectful to the memory of Abraham Lincoln. The penny is the only coin bearing the image of Abraham Lincoln, probably our nation’s most revered president.
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One reason is that pennies are now worth so little that people often don't pick them up off the street, despite the lucky-penny saying. Second, minting pennies are a waste of money. The U.S. Mint produces about 7 billion pennies a year at a cost of $100 million. Pennies are made of copper and zinc, two metals that have recently soared in price. Because of the high value of those metals, a penny is worth more melted down than as the U.S.