Nov 30, 2011
Death to the Penny — A case for killing the United States’ 1-cent coin
I’ve posted another compelling anti-penny argument before, and this one makes the same points, but that other one was over a year ago and this one is just as good, so I’m posting it, too…
(via Laughing Squid)
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THANK YOU!
I’ve been thinking the same, although in simpler terms, for literally a decade. As a 10 year old boy, I realized the folly of the penny. Who wants the extra change, and who cares if we round up a little bit? I’m so glad to know that there are people who make videos about this!
but when they do get rid of it, will that mean that the value will go up on the older ones because you can’t get them anymore? kind of like an artist who becomes really famous after they die…or maybe it’s not like that at all.
A counterpoint. In general, people are using debit/credit cards more and more these days- making pennies less and less of a problem. So even though I hate them, and want to kill them all for being an insanely useless coin, I think in general the problem of the penny isn’t really getting worse.
Rather than rashly taking the penny out of circulation, shouldn’t we consider why the penny is so bothersome and irrelevant? At one time, the penny had almost the same value as a 2011 quarter. What has changed? The inflationary policies of our government have turned those same pennies into nearly worthless scraps of metal.
The old copper pennies are worth more than double their face value due to their 95% copper content. The new 97.5% zinc pennies aren’t even worth half their face value. This is likely the main reason pennies are still in circulation.
As long as the Treasury can make money by coining pennies (arbitrage), they’ll remain in circulation. But once they are no longer able to do so, they’ll stop.
Those paying attention to these changes should be alarmed, not cheering its demise. Debased coinage is a sign of decline, and with it our standard of living, not to mention morality. Let us learn from history, rather than repeat it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_currency
Anyone who doubts the inefficiency of government, need look no further for indisputable proof. Kill the penny! and while you’re at it end the Fed!
Ive heard its actually a myth that it costs more to make the penny