The first coined money in the United States was introduced in 1793. The coinage included the half-dime, dime, quarter dollar, half dollar, cent, and half-cent. Since then, the value of these coins, like all other forms of monetary currency, has deteriorated due to inflation. One dollar in 1793 has the buying power of $24.39 in 2016, and one cent has the buying power of 24 cents. Never-ending inflation has deteriorated the value of these coins and caused them to have detrimental effects of the economy, rather than stimulate and facilitate the exchange of goods and services like they were intended to. Because of these effects, the half-cent was discontinued in 1857, but the resistance to do the same with the penny has caused unexpected and ongoing
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Won’t rounding to the nearest 5 cent cause consumers to lose money? Research from Wake Forest University, based on 200,000 transactions from seven different states, concludes that on average, the consumer would lose nothing, and the consumer and business would break even nearly all of the time. Would companies that benefit from the production of the penny be at a loss and therefore weaken the economy? The fact that companies that benefit from the production of the penny will be at a loss is true, but here’s the thing, there’s only one of them; Jarden Zinc Products in Greeneville, Tennessee. Above all, Americans hesitate from abolishing the penny for one reason; sentiment. Many feel attached to the penny and don’t want to see such a continuous part of American history and their own lives go. When addressed about the issue President Obama himself even said “It’s one of those things where I think people get attached emotionally to the way things have been”. For one, if the penny goes out of production, government officials won’t be coming to anyone’s house and taking their pennies away. Everyone will still have their pennies and the sentiment attached to them. Even if you’ve developed an emotional connection to spending your pennies at the store, if we implement a plan to take pennies out of circulation similar to Canada’s (which would be more than likely), pennies will stop being minted, and the penny will remain legal tender until it eventually ceases to
Won’t rounding to the nearest 5 cent cause consumers to lose money? Research from Wake Forest University, based on 200,000 transactions from seven different states, concludes that on average, the consumer would lose nothing, and the consumer and business would break even nearly all of the time. Would companies that benefit from the production of the penny be at a loss and therefore weaken the economy? The fact that companies that benefit from the production of the penny will be at a loss is true, but here’s the thing, there’s only one of them; Jarden Zinc Products in Greeneville, Tennessee. Above all, Americans hesitate from abolishing the penny for one reason; sentiment. Many feel attached to the penny and don’t want to see such a continuous part of American history and their own lives go. When addressed about the issue President Obama himself even said “It’s one of those things where I think people get attached emotionally to the way things have been”. For one, if the penny goes out of production, government officials won’t be coming to anyone’s house and taking their pennies away. Everyone will still have their pennies and the sentiment attached to them. Even if you’ve developed an emotional connection to spending your pennies at the store, if we implement a plan to take pennies out of circulation similar to Canada’s (which would be more than likely), pennies will stop being minted, and the penny will remain legal tender until it eventually ceases to