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The Sociological Significance Of The Penny

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Pennies: a debate about their value in United States currency There has long been discussion about the penny, which is the smallest coin in the United States. Some people think we should continue using it because it’s been around for a long time, it’s good for small purchases, and it’s part of our history. Others think it’s not worth it because it costs more than it’s worth, isn’t used much, and isn’t very practical. This essay will analyze both sides of the debate, using research and reliable sources. Trading the penny has some historical and sociological perspectives. The penny has an important place in American history and society. According to Daniel Spector, his dissertation "In Pennies We Trust: But Should We?" by Northeastern University …show more content…

Simply put, the penny is important in our lives. Roberts in his journal, Roberts, Ian. "The Sociological Significance of the Penny in Everyday Life." show us how the penny affects our daily lives and what we believe is normal. He teaches us how we use it when we buy things, how it makes us think about prices, and how it affects the way we handle our money. He also shows us how the penny is part of our culture and how it influences the society we live in. These ideas show why the penny still exists, even though some people say it’s not worth it financially. On the other hand, some people say that earning a few cents costs more than they are worth. In his article, Whaples, Robert. "The Case for Eliminating the Penny: A New Argument." Economic Inquiry, Vol. 78, No. 1, pp. …show more content…

In the article, “Death to Pennies: A Majority of Voters Support Stopping the Production of New Pennies.” by Bella Kumar, MacKenzie Wilson, and Lew Blank, published on Taforprogress.org on 18 August 2022, it was found that many people want to stop earning pennies. The study found that there are a large number of people who are in favor of stopping producing pennies, meaning they want the government to stop making this currency. But Rosalsky in his article, "Is It Time To Kill The Penny?" by Greg Rosalsky, aired on NPR on 14 July 2020, 6:30 AM ET, discovered that not everyone agrees, that there were different opinions among people. This shows how difficult it is for policy makers to make everyone happy and at the same time think about the economy. In conclusion, deciding what to do with the penny is a big topic because it involves many things such as its history, how much it costs to make it, how people spend money, and what people think. This essay analyzes all of these factors to help better understand the penny debate. We need to find a fair way to deal with the penny that respects its history but also makes sense for the way we use money

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Others may still believe that the penny should be minted and distributed because it is a part of American history. The text “The Ever-Changing Penny” argues, “The history of a penny reveals more than just a coin—it exposes a piece of American culture. The one-cent piece has influenced our language, giving us a number of idioms, such

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(6) Furthermore, the studies that have shown that the presence of a rounding tax will increase prices are a myth. These studies were funded by the zinc industry in an effort to maintain the circulation of the penny in the economy. Also, we can look to other countries that have eliminated their one-cent currency such as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand with no ill effects. (1) From this evidence I can conclude that the fear that the elimination of the penny may cause unforeseen consequences is completely irrational.

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There is the controversies of a debate between whether or not the penny should be stopped being made in the United States. But there is economically pros and cons of producing this coin known as the penny. Although, the penny has some pros, the cons outway the pros by a lot, which is because of what actually happens when processing the penny and to ust having the penny alone. To start with, Pennies are often not really used, they’re left, thrown away, and no one really has used them as they’re intended for.

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Research conducted by The Harris Pole shows that on average, 23% of the entire population supports abolishing the penny (Source E). Why are we putting such a large emphasis on an issue that is supported by less than one-fourth of the entire population? This is yet another example of how this debate is backed by politicians that will enjoy personal benefit from the abolishing of the penny and is not an accurate representation of the majority. Furthermore, a proponent of the abolishing, U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe, represents a state that would benefit economically if the penny was abolished (Source A). What Kolbe doesn 't care to mention is the damage that would be caused to other states that have a large impact on manufacturing pennies, and the jobs that would be lost due to the

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Another piece of evidence I have is that in Canada the Canadian senate committee held a meeting on whether the penny should be spared and if they did think that it should be spared to come forward to say why. No one came forward and said why the penny should be spared. My last piece of evidence is that already some countries have already the retired the penny. Those countries made a smooth transition in retiring the penny and that the people were okay with it.

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700 million dollars isn 't worth the one cent piece, we could be using this money on charity or something else important. Though the penny has been part of the U.S for more than a hundred years, it should not be minted anymore because of the high production cost and other countries such as canada don 't even bother using them at all. People argue that the penny should stay because of its long time and history with the US, but what they don 't know is that the penny cost more than 2.4 cents per penny. “The US Mints budget in 2010 was 27.4 million dollars in penny production”(source 1). The time wasted counting money could add up to over 700 million dollars, this money could be spent on something important.

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Over the years, Ira placed his pennies in Folger's coffee cans, and he had accumulated a fair amount of them. It was not until 2015 that Ira decided it was time to cash in all his loose change. Over time, the pennies had built up an impressive weight of around 500 pounds, and he put each coffee can in his car and carted them off to the bank. This mindset took all the banker back. Kari Lewis, a personal banker, said that most people take pennies for granted.

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All in all the penny should not be printed anymore because they cost more to make then they have value, then they are a waste of time as in counting the, and finally reason is that pennies are losing the government money. A reason pennies should not be minted is because the penny costs more to make then it has total value. As stated in the text,” Because the penny costs more than a cent to produce, the Treasury loses more than $100

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Pennies should not be made anymore. Pennies should not be produced anymore because they aren’t worth having,society doesn’t want them and think they are a nuisance, the only people who want to keep them are the big banks and the government. Pennies aren’t worth having. “Material prices have driven the cost to produce the coin to 1.4 cents and above. Every year, our government is losing money in making these things.

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They think that having to round up in prices will cost the U.S 600 million dollars a year (Source 2). But we have also found out that all that time wasted counting pennies over a year will cause us to lose 700 million. Which means that staying with the penny will cause us to lose an extra 100 million. While we would gain 100 million plus the cost of making the penny (Over 60 million) in revenue.

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According to William Safire, in 1950 a penny would buy what a dime would buy today. Millions of pennies are produced every day and sent out all over the country. Several of these coins are removed from circulation from people placing them into piggy banks or losing them behind couch cushions. The penny is more trouble than

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The 14th penny. through the 16th penny. was a time of financial flux in Europe; the most broad changes occurred in Italy. After the passing of Frederick II in 1250, heads lost power in Italy and all through Europe; none of Frederick's successors rose to him. Force fell

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John Green, a well known NY times author proclaims, “If Abraham Lincoln were alive today, he would say ‘why is my face on a coin that is worth 1/26 of what a penny was worth when i was president?’” Lincoln and his monument would still be on today 's $5 bill. Even the United State government stopped using the penny and are now rounding to the nearest

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Dollars by the inch? See? It just doesn’t seem to have the same meaning or ring to it. The penny in the title kind of “symbolizes” that every cent counts. So it doesn’t matter how much you

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Before the penny press, there were partisan papers which were supported by a certain political paper. After the introduction of the penny press, may papers became more nonpartisan and turned more journalistic than editorial. With the penny press the voice of the people were better represented as well as the events of the community being properly

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