This Sunday (Feb 10th), 60 Minutes will air on piece on the fate of the penny.
Should we abolish the penny? There are plenty good arguments to do so. First, the government loses about $900 million per year minting pennies (zinc, which makes up 97.5% of pennies, is very expensive). Second, it takes time to dig out pennies. Third, studies suggest replacing paper $1 bills with more durable $1 coins could save $500 million a year. Fourth, the penny is virtually worthless. Due to inflation, as of 2007, a nickel is worth approximately what a penny was worth in 1972.
What would happen if the penny is eliminated? All transactions would be rounded to the nearest nickel. I think we should do it. They are a waste of space, and handling them during transactions is not worth the time that is used up to get back exact change.
Let's put it to the vote meter to see how you all feel.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/01/business/01scenes.html?ex=1327986000&en=fc1b2020abae45d6&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
http://www.wfu.edu/wfunews/2006/2006.07.18.w.html
http://www.retirethepenny.org/
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