The penny should be eliminated. The cost to produce the one-cent coin increased to 1.5 cents during 2016, the Wall Street Journal reported. So not only is the penny completely unnecessary, it loses money when produced.
I find all types of change to be utterly despicable. There is nothing I like less than emptying my pocket at the end of the day and spilling 15 coins out on my bureau that total $1.43 from daily transactions. If I’m lazy and don’t want to put my coins into my ever increasing change bag, they continue to pile up and make a mess. I can count on one hand the amount of times I purchase an item and reach into my pocket to produce the exact change without having to break a bill.
If we removed the penny and nickel, and had every item rounnd to the nearest 10th, the world would be fine. How many items cost 1ยข? A tootsie roll? A night out with Mrs. Gourlay? The point is, not a lot. Change needs to change.
Approval Rating at 40%
This goes hand in hand with the hundred dollar bill. When someone gives me a hundred I know the first thing I’m doing is going to the ATM, depositing it, and withdrawing 20’s. People don’t always have change for 100’s. It’s an inconvenience to 95% of stores who do business in small bills. Unless you’re a casino or bank, the $100 has no place. People don’t use cash anymore for big purchases. You don’t buy a TV with a roll of 100’s or else you’re looked as a thief, gangster, or drug dealer. The only people who use 100’s are people who don’t pay taxes.
The problem with changing the money is that the cost to do so is generally more than it’s worth. How does the Gov’t stop circulation? “Send us all your pennies and we’ll issue you a check?” The paperwork alone would cost the American people billions of dollars. Unless you could set up US Gov’t coin counting machines around the US (also costly because you’d need 1000’s of these machines), it won’t be cost efficient. What a mess.
Jon Oliver actually did a whole episode I think on the penny and your post topic. You should check it out. Apparently their is a “Penny Lobby” and Abraham Lincoln enthusiasts working to prevent it from being phased out.
He also notes in the piece that it actually costs the US Government MORE than 1cent to produce the penny. We actually lose money making the penny.
Big Marketing won’t let the government replace the penny. There would be no more $3.99 items that people would be more likely to buy rather than if they were $4.00. Also, you wouldn’t be able to end wedding gift checks to your friends with .69.