I found a disturbing article about how 4 new variations of the penny are being created and released this year.
Apparently, in honor of Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday, the US Mint is releasing 4 new versions with smiling Abe this year. While I am all for honoring our country’s heros, it just seems that with all the challenges our government is having cutting spending, this might be something that could be put on the backburner. The kicker is that production and material costs are greater than the face value of the coins they are printing…
“these days, given the rising price of zinc and copper, it costs about 1.4 cents to make a penny.”
Let’s do away with pennies!
I have heard talk for years of people who wanted to do away with pennies altogether. Every year with inflation they become increasingly worthless. To me it is no longer a standard of measure of money, but a technicality at the cash register.
I propose that we eliminate pennies and round everything to nickels.
So, when I make a purchase that would have cost $2.98, it now would cost $3.00 instead. Now the cashier doesn’t have to open his drawer to give me two (nearly) worthless metal coins that I will probably just dropkick when I get outside anyway. 
I don’t know how many minutes would be saved each day from cashiers not having to make change as often, but it would add up – and probably would save the companies money!
What do you think? What is the downside to eliminating pennies?
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New Zealand only has 10c, 20c, 50c and $1, $2 coins – and we manage just fine. Our 1c and 2c were phased out about 15 years ago and we dropped the 5c a couple of years ago with no huge dramas… you guys can do it too!
I’m with you. Get rid of them.
I disagree. I don’t use cash — I’m a debit card gal and the pennies add up! I’d rather the Mint find a cheaper way to make pennies.
I’m with Kacie. I put all my purchases on a credit card so small change doesn’t bother me. But every cent does add up. If the cost every item at every store was increased by 2 or 3 cents – a can of tuna, a package of ramen, a carton of milk, a cup of yogurt, etc. – it would quickly make a difference.
Think of every single item you buy for your daily life and how often you buy it. When I go to the grocery store (to shop for 2 people and 2 dogs who eat home cooked food) I probably buy at least 100-150 separate items at a time (it’s not unheard of for me to buy 50 packs of ramen in one trip).
3 more cents for 100 items is $3.00. In one year, that’s a significant difference. And that’s just food. If the hardware store, and Walmart (where I buy things like soap, shampoo, household things, etc.) did the same, we’d be spending a lot more.
And for the sake of sentiment and tradition, I just don’t like the idea of the penny being eliminated. Pennies are the original building blocks of our childhood financial education. Remember when it was really exciting to find a penny in the street?
And if you save all your pennies in a jar, they do add up.It’s not hard work to pick up loose change and toss it in a jar. I recently took a jar of small change to a Coinstar machine and got back $19.
Of course, I don’t like the idea of the penny costing more than its worth to make, so I hope they can find a cheaper way to do it.
they may look cool i will take them for collection of coins
The only downside I see to eliminating the penny is the US Postal Service then gets to raise the cost of a stamp by a nickel every time. Talk about inflation!
Penelope, I don’t think they would round the price of every item you buy up individually, but once your bill is totaled for everything you bought it would round up or down to the nearest nickel.
And maybe they could only do that if you’re paying in cash? Pennies on credit cards and checks don’t cost the mint anything.
It’s called sales tax my friend. Most states have it so it does not matter whether or not it’s legal to charge 1.99 or 2.00. The government needs it 6%. And that last little calculation will 4 out of 5 times require a penny.
If we get rid of pennies, what am I going to give to my children and have them think they are rich?
It does seem extremely wasteful to be spending money on special pennies with the economy the way it is…..no matter how awesome Abe was! I think he would fully understand if we didn’t spend money we didn’t have to commemorate him!
I agree that the US mint needs to come up with a cheaper way of making up the penny.
I find it interesting that there are competing organizations on both sides of this issue….
http://www.pennies.org/
http://www.retirethepenny.org/
Pennies are pretty dumb, agreed. I hate how just about every item you buy is $4.99, or $1.49, or something that is supposed to make me feel like I’m spending less than I am. Or the ultimate aggrivation – gas that is $1.99 9/10 per gallon. Seriously? 9/10 of a cent? That has to be the dumbest universal practice out there.
Yep downunder here in Australia we got rid of one & two cent coins over 15 years ago as well, we still have the 5 cent coin. Makes for a much lighter wallet without those pesky copper coins.