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Arizona representative Jim Kolbe has introduced for a second time legislation to do away
with the U.S. penny. It calls for the rounding off of all transactions to the nearest 5 cents. Transactions ending in 1, 2, 6, or 7 cents would be rounded down to the nearest 5 cents, while transactions ending in 3, 4, 8, or 9 cents would be rounded up. Turns out, the little Lincoln-headed coins have become more expensive to produce due to rising zinc costs (the main ingredient in pennies) driving the cost to produce each penny to 1.4 cents. The U.S. Treasury will spend $44 million creating pennies this year, up $14 million from 2005. Cutting costs for the U.S. Treasury may not be Kolbe’s (R-Arizona) only motivation though:
“Kolbe’s home state of Arizona is the largest copper producing state in the nation. Copper is the main material of the nickel which would benefit by becoming the lowest denomination of currency in circulation.”
What do you think? Is it time to be done with the penny?
4 Comments
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Oh man, I agree completely: pennies are nothing but a nuisance!
but without pennies…what will i have to throw at people
Seems silly to produce a penny for 1.4 cents…
Life would be emptier without pennies. Sure, they make our pockets heavier and we don’t even bend to pick them off the sidewalk (unless they’re heads up - good luck!), but there’s something conforting to a penny, something limbic and hardwired, a feeling of pleasure when accurately completing a financial transaction.
In Australia they have done this. The 1c and 2c coins were phased out in 1990 and they round off to the nearest 5c, as is proposed here. And they are all miserable.