Read the passage. Is a Penny Saved Worth Anything?

Thank you for inviting me here today to speak about our currency. I have studied the history of currencies for many years and feel strongly that the United States does not fully understand the consequences of keeping the penny in circulation.

Consider your own experiences with pennies. For example, if you spot a penny on the ground, do you stop to pick it up or walk on by? Is it worth it to collect enough pennies to roll them? Can you even buy anything with a penny? I doubt it.

There might have been a time when a penny would buy a few pieces of candy or a bottle of soda, but those days are long gone. I was surprised to hear that many people feel quite strongly that pennies are still valuable. I am obviously not one of them! Not only does it make financial sense to take the penny out of circulation, but it also makes environmental sense.

The penny has quite a legacy in United States history; it was one of the first coins made by our government. In 1792, Congress passed the Coinage Act, allowing for the minting of American coins. Pennies were made of copper, but the rising price of this metal eventually caused the government to change the composition. Today, pennies are made of a mix of copper and zinc.

Over its 228-year-old history, the penny has seen many changes, both in its composition and design. You might not know that the first pennies were minted with an image of Lady Liberty. Coin collectors still hunt far and wide to find some of the earliest versions. But just because these old pennies have value to collectors doesn’t mean we should still be making them.

As the cost of living continues to rise, the value of a penny decreases. It is clear to me that the penny no longer has a place or a purpose in American currency. In 2019, it cost around two cents to make a penny. This means that it literally costs about two cents to make one cent, and that is ridiculous! According to the U. S. Mint’s annual report from 2018, penny production operated at a loss of millions of dollars.

Producing pennies is also bad for the environment. Today’s pennies are made of zinc and copper, and mining those materials causes a lot of pollution. For every ton of copper mined, there are more than two tons of carbon dioxide produced. This means that producing pennies contributes to climate change. I don’t think anyone here can argue that making a one-cent coin is worth destroying our environment.

If you need yet another reason to remove pennies from circulation, consider this: we waste an enormous amount of time during sales transactions because of pennies. Looking for and counting out pennies by customers and cashiers adds around two seconds to a purchase. This adds up to twelve minutes a year! I am sure you can see how this hurts the economy by slowing down lines and therefore decreasing the number of transactions completed in a day.

Some studies show that people are in favor of keeping the penny in circulation. However, it is likely that those people have a sense of nostalgia. Perhaps they have fond memories of stuffing piggy banks full of pennies. Or maybe they enjoyed earning pennies for childhood chores. Whatever the reason, times have changed and people need to see the bigger picture.

There are other arguments for keeping the penny in circulation—for example, people who still use cash to purchase things. Also, charities benefit from all of those pennies dropped into containers at store check-out lines or at the drive-through.

While these reasons are worth mentioning, the reality is that most charities will never see a significant number of pennies collected on their behalf. They have more effective ways to raise money. And saving pennies or being paid in pennies is a thing of the past. In fact, as a society, we are moving away from using cash. The penny should be removed from circulation, saving the government—and, therefore, all of us taxpayers—time and money.

What claim is made in "Is a Penny Saved Worth Anything?"

Few people feel strongly about the penny.

Rolling pennies is worth the time and effort.

Today's pennies are still made entirely of copper.

It makes financial sense to stop using the penny.