The one-cent, better known as the penny, was first introduced by the Coinage Act of 1864 (pennies. Since then, the penny has become a respected tangible reminder of our American heritage. But how significant does the one-cent hold in the present day American economy? This question has ignited a controversial debate over the issue of whether to keep the penny. While one side would like to see its ongoing production, the other wants to see it dropped. However, in a world possessed by a constant drive for innovation and development, the penny is a thing of the past. So why continue its meaningless existence? .
The penny may have been the star of its time two centuries ago when it was of economic worth, but in todays age, its long overdue for retirement. Pennys arent what they were back in their day when people were able to buy things with it. Today the penny is a bothersome, worthless, nuisance circulating in production within todays currency. The penny is literally worthless. I repeat, WORTHLESS! The reason for this is because it costs substantially more to make a penny than its actual given market value. According to a 2011 report, it cost 2.4 cents for every penny that was produced. Within that year alone, 5,000,000,000 pennies were produced, 60% of annual coin production. This resulted in a fee of $120,000,000. What was the profit out of that production cost? Less than $50,000,000 of the circulating currency. If you added production cost to the opportunity cost of the one-cent, an annual $900,000,000 dollars is consumed out of the national economy. In fact, pennies are so invaluable that for over 30 years the Depart of Defense has stopped importing them due to its inconvenience in weight and their unnecessary expense of shipment. Five pennies weigh a total of 12.5 grams as where one nickel, the equivalent, weighs only 5grams (latimes.com). When applied to the whole United States, millions of dollars in shipment costs alone would be saved.
