Should Penny Stay in Circulation? Essay on Money in the United States
A great debate has occurred in recent years about the penny. Some people want to cease producing the penny, and others argue to preserve the penny. The United States should keep minting the penny to help keep consumer prices down and avoid harming low-income households, to honor its history, and the Americans like them.
According to the Article “Should the Penny Stay in Circulation” One study found that penny rounding in Canada costs grocery store customers an estimated 3.27 million Canadian dollars (2.5 USD) annually.Which means through rounding, stores found that a typical Canadian grocery store collects an estimated $157 in revenue from rounding on cash transactions. Preserving the penny keeps consumer prices down and avoids harming low-income households.
According to Americans for Common Cents, this will lead to a “rounding tax,” as stores manipulate their prices to ensure that transactions are always rounded up instead of down. Consumers using credit wouldn’t be affected by this, since their transactions could still be counted out to the cent. However, low-income Americans who, as the Federal Reserve Bank study shows, are more likely than other consumers to pay for their purchases with cash would be hit especially hard. Even though if we eliminate, the penny In Canada, eliminating the penny won't lead to a widespread increase in prices. Is the penny a major feature in American History?
A Major Factor, The Penny Honors President Lincoln which is the second reason the penny should stay in circulation. According to the passage The Birth of the Lincoln Penny “The Lincoln, pennies have become an American icon after it was first minted in 1909 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth.” From my perspective, The introduction of the Lincoln penny marked a significant change in the imagery on American currency when Lincoln became the first President to have his image immortalized on a coin.
To be honored in such a way is especially ironic in light of how public perception of Lincoln transformed from being a fairly controversial and even unpopular public figure during his lifetime, to a celebrated American hero by the turn of the twentieth century. The bills, according to the Federal Reserve, cost only $0.11 to print, far less than their $5 face value, making them a much more cost-effective way to honor Lincoln than a penny that costs $0.017 to mint.
Furthermore, My opponents may argue that destroying the penny will make it harder for charities to raise money. However, my opponents may need to consider the amount of money the cost it takes to produce a penny; 2.4 cents, which are double the actual value of it. According to, "Penny Wise or 2.4 Cents Foolish," the author states, "The United States government lost $60.2 million dollars on the production and distribution of pennies in the 2011 fiscal year." This is a strong point, since the penny is actually hurting the United States government. If we destroyed the penny, the United States government could save money, and help fund more for charities. In addition, charities could still raise money without the penny, so there would be no real harm done.
To conclude, As you can see, both sides have some good points. As the U.S. Mint faces the prospect of having to find more cost effective substances from which to make the nation's coinage, the debate about the continued existence of the humble penny is sure to carry on. Many people think that 2009, the 100th anniversary of the Lincoln Cent, should be the last year of penny manufacture. They feel this is the perfect time to make a graceful exit for a coin that has outlived its usefulness. But others have a vested interest in keeping the penny alive - the zinc metals lobby, and the Coinstar Company (who make those change-counting machines in the grocery store) will both fight hard to keep the penny in production.
