Should Pennies Be Eliminated Essay

Why Eliminating the Penny Just Makes Cents It is an undeniable fact that pennies are a large part of our culture. In America, pennies in many forms, have been around since 1787. However, in today’s day and age, they are almost entirely useless. Pennies need to be eliminated- but it won’t happen overnight. It’s going to take time, effort, and a lot of education about what the one-cent piece is costing us. Once upon a time, long ago, pennies were very valuable. You could buy candy with just one penny, a newspaper with two, or a shave with only a few more than that. Now, you can’t buy anything at all with a single penny. At least sixty-six percent of pennies are not circulated. Compare that to quarters, which are being circulated at a rate of eighty-eight percent (“US News & World Report”). The truth is; inflation has rendered pennies all but useless. The economic effects would not be catastrophic if the penny was removed from the U.S. economy, that has been …show more content…
The official reason given is that they simply cost too much to produce, that Canadians were hoarding pennies rather than using them, and the environment. On February 4, 2013, Canada officially stopped using the penny. They stopped production and distribution, and they asked all businesses to follow a new rounding tax. To this day, the government is being sent pennies to recycle into new things. They are sorted, and then melted down and sold for building projects and electronics. So far, they’ve gotten 4 billion pennies. If people go directly to the mint, they receive a credit for the pennies. Otherwise, they can give it to any bank and donate it to be sent to the mint by them. It was an almost seamless transition, with no real downside. The economic effects so far have been negligible, if all positive. The rounding tax will be explored later, as well as how Canada handled charities that once depended on