Should We Make Cents? - CBS News PDF The Value of a Penny Accessed April 27, 2023. https://www.procon.org/headlines/should-the-penny-stay-in-circulation-top-3-pros-and-cons/, United States Mint, "United States Mint 2020 Annual Report," usmint.gov, 2021, Brian Milligan, "The Penny Coin: Should We Follow Ireland and Phase It Out?," bbc.com, May 8, 2016, The Harris Poll, "Penny for Your Thoughts? Most US coins have an expected circulation life of 20 to 30 years, meaning a single penny could be used thousands or even millions of times. To save time at the register, some businesses have experimented with rounding all transactions to the nearest nickel. To begin with, the Mint itself cant impose such a death penalty. 327 views, 5 likes, 2 loves, 11 comments, 2 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Mount Carmel Baptist Church: Join us as we send off our beloved brother in Christ Brother Carlton Pinney. The price of zinc has soared over the course of the last few years, and with that the price to produce the penny has gone up. Copyright 2023 AMAC, Inc. / AMAC Senior Resources Network. Most recently, in 2017, SenatorsJohn McCain(R-AZ) andMike Enzi(R-WY) sponsored ultimately failed legislation that would have suspended minting of the penny. I was recently given over 10000 wheat back Lincoln Cents for a YN program we run through the Pennsylvania Association of Numismatists. The price of zinc, which currently composes 97.5 percent of a penny, has tripled over the past 15 years. In 1792, Congress created a national mint authorized to make gold, silver, and copper coins, including the one-cent piece known as the penny. Anti-penny advocates scoff at this argument, pointing out that Lincoln would still remain on the $5 bill, which is actually useful to consumers. In fact, during that year the Mint accidentally made 40 copper pennies! Although the cost for printing a dollar bill is about five cents, only lasts an average of eighteen months. Despite the cost incurred by the Federal Reserve for minting pennies, many Americans still feel it important enough to honor Lincoln's legacy that they keep the coin bearing his image in circulation. In response to this Youtube chat, members of Common Cents, a main pro-penny lobbying group which represents Jarden Zinc Products (a major producer of copper blanks used to mint coins) conducted polls showing that most Americans favor keeping the penny. The US Mint produces coins as instructed byCongress, so a law would have to be passed by Congress and signed by the President in order for pennies to be removed from circulation. 16, 2015, United States Mint, "Fun Facts Related to the Penny," usmint.gov (accessed July 2, 2018), APMEX, "The 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent the King of Lincoln Cents," apmex.com (accessed July 2, 2018), United States Mint, "History," usmint.gov, June 19, 2018, Jennie Cohen, "10 Things You Didn't Know about the Penny," history.com, Mar. There are reasons for the elimination of the penny, mostly having to do with the inconvenience of the small coin. The U.S. Mint does lose money on pennies and nickels. Last modified on July 2, 2018. Yes, the penny should stay in circulation as it is a reminder of our country's history and serves to keep the cost of goods low. 3. To access extended pro and con arguments, sources, and discussion questions about whether the penny should stay in circulation, go to ProCon.org. -Prices will increase because all purchases will have to be rounded to the . And nickels cost 10 cents to make. In some respects, we can make the same argument for the paper dollar. )," YouTube.com, Sep. 6, 2010, Greg Mankiw, "Get Rid of the Penny!," gregmankiw.blogspot.com, Apr. The C.O.I.N.S. Discover what happens, how to avoid it, and what you can do if it's too late. Penny opponents such as Kolbe, Whaples, and Mankiw have all expressed the hope that the pandemic and the resulting coin shortage will finally provide the incentive for Congress to get this virtually worthless coin out of our pockets and our lives. Another piece of evidence against Lombras claims comes from Canada, which stopped minting its penny in 2013. Finally, small-change drives aren't always enough to raise funds - clean sorting and counting are required before any money can be collected, and many organizations are now accepting donations electronically over coin drives for this reason. This could potentially have a big impact on charitable organizations that rely heavily on donations from their supporters. And since each nickel is worth five times as much as a penny, charities would gather five times as much money with each spare coin tossed into the jar. We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. First, consumers benefit with a low denomination coin. While countries such as Australia, Canada, and New Zealand have phased out their one-cent pieces, Harris Poll found that 55% of Americans are in favor of keeping the penny and 29% want to abolish it. It also says there are "many reasons to believe" that time spent at the register could actually increase, rather than decrease, if pennies are eliminated. Illustration: The Spruce /Danie Drankwalter. Learn how to protect yourself when the bank takes your car. Susan Headley is a well-respected coin collecting expert and writer with over 30 years of hands-on numismatic experience. A penny can be used for decades and is more cost-efficient to produce than a nickel. Top 3 Pros and Cons,", ProCon.org, "Should the Penny Stay in Circulation? According to William Safire, in 1950 a penny would buy what a dime would buy today. Even the US Mint admits that the cost of producing a penny in 2007 could be as high as 1.4 cents. New Zealand got rid of its penny and two-penny coins without incident back in 1989, and in 1991 replaced their two lowest paper denominations with coins. The penny debate gained renewed attention when the coronavirus pandemic led to a nationwide coin shortage as consumers moved towards contactless payment methods. Its the only coin we have that has Lincolns face on it! Another significant change in U.S. coinage occurred without any catastrophic effects on commerce. The $2 bill, however, might be making a comeback. The penny is an interesting coin to discuss. Eliminating pennies would save time at the point of purchase without hurting customers or businesses financially. 7 Reasons to Get Rid of the PennyIt's a Money Loser for the Government. One-cent pieces account for nearly three-fourths of the coins now being made by the federal government and critics maintain that the Mints facilities and workforce could be used to better advantage, and much more profitably, by devoting them instead to higher-value coins that yield substantial profits. She has written about personal finance and shopping strategies for a variety of publications, including ConsumerSearch.com, ShopSmart.com, and the Dollar Stretcher newsletter. As debate continues on both sides, let's explore 8 reasons why we should keep or eliminate it. [1] Aaron Klein, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy at the Treasury Department, estimates that the United States could see $1.78 billion in losses over the next 30 years if the penny remains in production. At a time when federal spending is under intense scrutiny, this strong public support seems somewhat surprising, for analysts say it now costs the U.S. Mint two cents double face value to make a single penny. Among other things, we may receive free products, services, and/or monetary compensation in exchange for featured placement of sponsored products or services. 10 reasons why we should keep the penny - elzanproperties.com How Much Does it Really Cost (the Planet) to Make a Penny? For example the article Should we get rid of the Penny 8 Reasons to Keep it vs Eliminate it says,"Design Life-Cycle.org a sight created by students at the University of California, calculates that just transporting pennies to banks-not even counting any other stage of . Charities worry that if the nickel becomes the smallest denomination, then people will value change more. Instead, the coins will be gradually pulled out of circulation. http://www.moneycrashers.com/get-rid-penny-reasons/Are you in favor of getting rid of the penny? The Department of Defense banned the use of pennies at overseas military bases in 1980 because the coins were deemed too heavy and not cost effective to ship. We may have financial relationships with some of the companies mentioned on this website. Add it all up, and it comes to more than 25 million hours wasted each year. No, we can't, for some reason. The existence of pennies helps raise a lot of money for charities. 4. 10 reasons why we should keep the penny. Benefits of Keeping the Penny | Bizfluent On its website, the group marshals an array of arguments that eliminating the penny would lead to disaster for consumers, charities, the government, and the economy as a whole. 10 reasons why we should keep the penny. Act, which would stop the minting of the penny for ten years to assess the repercussions. There will be no sanity in D.C., fiscal or otherwise, until a electoral majority recognizes there is a crisis and places people in office wholl effect a cure. Creating the penny releases C02 into the air. Although originally made of pure copper, pennies today are composed of 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper. Economist Greg Mankiw of Harvard University argues that if people start leaving pennies at cash registers due to their lack of purchasing power (in 2020 dollars, 15 pennies would be worth one monetary unit), then maybe then the useless halfpenny will finally be stamped out too. There's a downside to life without pennies. He believes that knowledge is key to understanding and progress, which he strives to bring to his readers through his work. The United States mint stopped minting pennies for general circulation after 2013 but cash transactions still make up less than 8% of all payments while credit and debit cards, as well as old-fashioned checks are used more often now than ever before according to Trading Economics. If the penny is discontinued, then merchants must round all prices. Thus, it couldnt affect government expenditures or trigger widespread inflation. [17], You cant buy anything for a penny; vending machines and parking meters wont accept them. Are culture would be forgotten shops prices . Millions of pennies are produced every day and sent out all over the country. Summary: Pennies are made of zinc and copper, and zinc can be harmful: Zinc mining and industrial use has negative . ProCon.org is the institutional or organization author for all ProCon.org pages. Penny supporters point out that if we get rid of the penny, all-cash transactions will have to be rounded off to the nearest nickel. There are plenty of DIY penny jewelry ideas out there, including a bracelet, a lucky penny necklace, and a bejeweled ring. According to CNBC, adults who make less than $30,000 per year are about four times as likely to make most of their purchases with cash as those who earn $75,000 or more. That's why last December, Congress directed the United States Mint to nd ways to produce our coins more cost-effectively. "Open an IRA in 15 minutes." In 2020, the penny debate gained new attention as the coronavirus pandemic led to a nationwide coin shortage. Former Representative Jim Kolbe of Arizona sponsored two bills in Congress to eliminate the penny. Get DIY project ideas and easy-to-follow crafts to help you spruce up your space. The melt value of pennies ranges from more than two cents for thepre-1982 copper pennies, to nearly a full cent for the copper-plated zinc pennies. Pro-penny groups argue that even if pennies seem worthless, they actually add up to hundreds of millions of dollars in charitable donations each year. The American Council of Science and Health calculates that just transporting pennies to banks not even counting any of the other stages of their production put about 107 million pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere between 1982 and 2016. Several Chipotle restaurants tried this in 2012, but customers who had extra cents added to their bills complained. The cost of producing them is higher than face value. This article was published on July 2, 2018, at Britannicas ProCon.org, a nonpartisan issue-information source. Top 3 Pros and Cons." TD Ameritrade. Letting us know his views on keeping or eliminating the penny will help us determine how important or unimportant the penny is for us to keep or not keep. November 29, 2022; did jesus walk on water before or after his resurrection . [29] An estimate from Citizens to Retire the penny says that the 107 billion cash transactions in the United States annually add up to 120 million hours of time between customers and employees at a cost of $2 billion to the US economy. It's a Money Loser for You. More recently, a 2017 paper by economist Robert Shapiro estimated that each penny only gets used around twice per year, or 55 times over its lifespan. Since then, the U.S. Mint has issued several hundred billion Lincoln pennies, making this the most heavily produced coin in human history. [12], Organizations such as the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the Salvation Army, and the Ronald McDonald House ask people to donate pennies to raise funds. 30, 2012, Army & Air Force Exchange Service, "Retail & General FAQs," aafes.com (accessed July 2, 2018), David Kestenbaum, "What Is Seigniorage?," npr.org, Jan. 9, 2009, Business Wire, "Strong Support for the Penny in Recent Poll," businesswire.com, Apr. However, it is removed from circulation when tendered at a Canadian banking facility. If Cash is No Longer King, What Does that Make Stupid Pennies? Why We Should Kill the American Penny | PBS NewsHour In all, it lost $58 million - and the Mint, keep in mind, is a federal agency that traditionally makes money in more ways than one. For the first 50 years, the Lincoln cents reverse displayed two sheafs of wheat framing the statement of value. And in 2010, the Mint introduced a permanent new reverse depicting a Civil War-era Union shield. We Won't Forget President Lincoln. (5) The United States should follow the lead of other countries and discontinue the penny, because it is obsolete and costs more than it is worth. The Mint made nearly 6 billion pennies in 2012 and lost a cent on every single one of them. And its very easy for a child to say, Will you help me support this nonprofit, will you give me your pennies? [6] Elementary school students in Los Angeles, CA, gain significant leadership and civic engagement experience from USCs Penny Harvest program by choosing how to donate the money they raise. Get tips on managing costs, finding financial assistance & more! Consider the con arguments from NPRs Planet Money reporter Greg Rosalsky. The U.S. Mint reports that it costs nearly 1.6 cents to product one single cent (Grenoble, 2013). The cost of producing them is higher than face value. Push for the position and policies you support by writing US national senators and representatives. In Defense of the Penny - InsideSources Shopkeepers would have to either change the prices on all of the items in their inventories or reprogram registers to round automatically when an item is charged. It would also cause prices to rise. All of this numismatic change took place without any significant problems. That means that annually, the United States loses 60 million dollars in pennies every year! [14], Dagmar Serota, who created a nonprofit called Good Cents for Oakland, said, Pennies are easy to ask for and they are easy to give. PDF 5th Grade Opinion Writing Prompt - uen.org All information published on this website is provided in good faith and for general use only. In the rare case you have never heard of or used a penny, it is the one cent coin in U.S. Anti-penny advocates are fond of pointing out that today, the penny costs taxpayers more to produce than its actually worth. The penny should be abolished because it costs more to produce than it is worth . the penny under one cent. [31][32][33], 2. Or will the Law of Supply and Demand keep putting upward pressure on metal prices and make it impractical to keep producing cents of any kind? [27], Rounding transactions to the nearest nickel instead of using pennies wouldnt harm consumers or stores. Vending Machines Don't Want Them. All Rights Reserved. To access extended pro and con arguments, sources, and discussion questions about whether the penny should stay in circulation, go to ProCon.org. A second reason this should happen is that it is bad for the environment. For one thing, consumers benefit from having the penny. Pennys also teach kids about money like there 1, 5, 10, 25, and dollars bills if we didn't have the penny they wouldn't even know what they penney is an advanchley we would forget about . [23], Making pennies also has environmental consequences from mining and transportation. More recently, the mint changed the cupro-nickel clad dollar coin (the Susan B. Anthony) to the "golden dollar" type used in theSacagaweaandPresidential Dollartypes. And as it grows ever easier for charities to accept donations electronically, coin drives are likely to play a diminishing role in fundraising. A few people groused about it, but commerce continued unabated. ProCon/Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. The current cost for manufacturing a nickel is 7.29 cents per coin. These arguments arent based on logic which, ironically, makes them much harder to counter. Also the penny is a big part . Rather than drop the practice completely, however, the stores decided to simply round all bills down to the nearest $0.05 instead. Any action you take based on the information found on cgaa.org is strictly at your discretion. Some say the United States should stop using pennies because the cost of producing the coin is now higher than the value of the coin. Most recently, in 2017, Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Mike Enzi (R-WY) sponsored ultimately failed legislation that would have suspended minting of the penny. Here are both re. Although these arguments aren't based on factual evidence, there is something to be said for keeping the penny around. However, a newer study by economist Robert Whaples, published by the Eastern Economic Journal in 2007, contradicts Lombras findings. I personally think that we should keep pennies for these reasons. That adds up to $2,100,000,000 every generation of only pennies. However, the nickel is in just as bad a shape as the penny. In fact, it has been struck in greater numbers than all other coins combined including not just U.S. coins but the coins of all other countries throughout recorded history. In his spare time, Dominic enjoys running along the Hudson River and exploring the citys art galleries. Below are the proper citations for this page according to four style manuals (in alphabetical order): the Modern Language Association Style Manual (MLA), the Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago), the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), and Kate Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (Turabian). PDF Statement of purpose Focus and Organization Conventions memorial service for bro. Carlton Pinney | Join us as we - Facebook It was first authorized in 1776 to help fund the Revolution. Low rated: 2. The Lincoln cent, now more than 100 years old, is by far the longest-running coin in U.S. history. Pennies don't last forever, and the US Mint explains that the copper surface can corrode away after a few years. 325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200 The melt value of pennies ranges from more than two cents for the pre-1982 copper . Not if we want to keep ination in check, protect America's With more consumers moving toward contactless payment methods, news sources from Fortune to NPR began asking: Is the penny finally on its way out? It takes a lot of time for volunteers to pick up, clean, sort, and count all those coins, and the more pennies there are in the mix, the less value the charity gets for each coin it handles. -Pennies are less costly to make than nickels, as 5 pennies, costing 6.3 cents to make at 1.26 cents per penny are less cheaper than nickels, which are cost 7.7 cents to make. 4. Should We Get Rid of the Penny? - Reasons to Keep It vs - YouTube [22], At a total per unit cost of 1.82 cents, it costs nearly two pennies to make one penny. Susan also belongs to the American Numismatic Society (ANS) and CONECA (error and variety coins club). You don't want to lose it. We should be keeping the penny! In 2013 alone, this cost taxpayers $105 million. (This is true for lots of U.S. ,Sitemap,Sitemap, richard sargent obituary new providence nj. 2023 Money Crashers, LLC. Whats less clear is why Americans are so committed to a coin with so little monetary value. The US Mint shipped 8.4 billion pennies for circulation in 2017, more than all nickels (1.3 billion), dimes (2.4 billion), and quarters (1.9 billion) combined. Aaron notes in his Brookings Institution editorial that eliminating both pennies and nickels would round off all cash transactions to the nearest $0.10, making for easier math and less stuff in our pockets.. Last year, almost 60% of the coins that the U.S. Mint churned out were . Preserving the penny keeps consumer prices down and avoids harming low-income households. THE PENNY DEBATE sample essay.docx - " THE PENNY DEBATE - Course Hero The folks who want to retire the penny also have some compelling arguments, including those below. Want to learn more? Why America Should Get Rid of the Penny - Ontopwiki Apr 08, 2023; By ; In nmaa all district teams 2022; camscanner premium account id and password At no point did it rise above its historical average of 3.2%. The content on Money Crashers is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as professional financial advice. The penny-pinching . The problem was resolved by reducing the size of the cent and changing its composition from copper to an alloy of copper and nickel. To pay the exact amount, we have to either hand over some pennies or receive some in change. There are multiple upsides as well as downsides to America discontinuing minting the penny. If we keep the penny we would get more taxes over time. At the G-8 summit next week, the Brits and the French -- even the French! So instead of penny drives, charities could start holding nickel drives, putting out bottles or wishing fountains to collect the new useless coins. Despite what the old song says, pennies dont really come from heaven. A lot of pennies never get spent. Dont get rid of it! 2. Should the United States Stop Using Pennies? The bills, according to the Federal Reserve, cost only $0.155 to print, far less than their $5 face value. If more businesses follow Chipotles example and start rounding down their bills, their customers will find themselves with fewer pennies in their pockets. Analyze the pro argument of Mark Weller from Americans for Common Cents. The Penny Debate: to Keep or not to Keep - Free Essay Example - Edubirdie The problem is, too many believe the present administration and government in D.C. is reasonable, when its actually FUBAR. After all, we still need the coin for a number of reasons. These composition changes ranged from temporary wartime alterations during World War II, to more permanent switches like using zinc instead of copper for the penny. Politics latest updates: NHS 'on the brink' says nursing union; 10% According to Americans for Common Cents, this will lead to a rounding tax. In other words, stores will deliberately manipulate their prices to ensure transactions are always rounded up instead of down. Dominic Townsend is a successful article author based in New York City. Four decades ago, the Mint made more than 1.5 million prototype aluminum cents during a similar crisis, with every expectation they would soon see use in circulation. 5. People will start rounding up to five cents. Reduced coin usage linked to the pandemic has already had an impact. Faced with a similar sea of red ink, Canada stopped making cents in May 2012. Whaples, by contrast, analyzed actual data from more than 200,000 convenience-store transactions in seven states. The penny's diminishing role means that it may not be here for much longer - so get rid of those spare coins you have tossed around in your pocket! shutterstock.com Around 8% of coppers are thrown in the bin every year. Men are nearly twice as likely as women to favor dropping the penny (39% vs. 20%). For all its current problems, the penny has a long and proud tradition dating back to 1793, when one-cent pieces were the very first coins produced by the fledgling U.S. Mint. The penny helps keep high prices in check. It takes energy to extract the zinc from the ore, roll it out, stamp it into coins, and transport the coins to banks. The penny no longer serves that purpose. Why Keep The Penny? - AMAC But penny opponents point out that even if the Mint stops producing pennies, charities won't simply lose out - they'll gradually be pulled away as stores stop accepting pennies and consumers switch to other coins. the pennyare affected by higher metal costs. Charities such as the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and Ronald McDonald House raise funds through penny drives, encouraging people to donate their unwanted pennies for important causes. For example, a pizza shop that sells a slice of pizza for $1.98 might start charging $2.00 instead. Dominic Townsend is a successful article author based in New York City. Why We Should Get Rid Of The Penny - The Odyssey Online Whatever the reason, I think it's clear that no matter how you add it up, it just makes more sense to get rid of the penny. When people start leaving a monetary unit at the cash register for the next customer, the unit is too small to be useful. [19] Former US Mint Director Philip Diehl said, [T]he value of a penny has shrunk to the point that, if you earn more than the minimum wage, youre losing money stopping and picking up a penny on the sidewalk. [20], Comedian John Oliver noted, Two percent of Americans admitted to regularly throwing pennies in the garbage, which means the US Mint is spending millions to make garbage. [21] Two-thirds of the billions of pennies produced are never seen in circulation again once they reach a consumer via the bank. PDF Yes No Should The Penny Be Retired - warrencountyschools.org The Department of Defense banned the use of pennies at overseas military bases in 1980 because the coins were deemed too heavy and not cost effective to ship. Aaron notes in a Brookings Institution editorial that eliminating pennies would help with cash transactions as well, since it would make calculations easier without having to deal with fractions of cents. Maybe this is another consideration that the U.S. government should look at. The process of making pennies is costly both financially and environmentally. Pennies are basically worth pennies today, and they consume vast quantities of natural resources to produce. The COVID-19 pandemic could accelerate this trend. Despite President Abraham Lincoln's face adorning the single penny, most people don't use or even expect pennies as payment anymore. This is backed up by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; they state there are 343 million consumers in this country adding up to over 25 million hours wasted on counting pennies.
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