The American penny has been in circulation since the early 1900’s. For about 8 years now, the production costs of the penny have exceeded the face value; it costs 2.4 cents to make a penny. We are losing about seventy million dollars a year based on the production of pennies. Citizens involved in the discussion are split evenly and there is no majority for the decision on whether or not we need the penny as formal currency. There is a fair argument for either side.

There are more realistic and practical reasons toward the discontinuation of the penny. Due to the fact that the government has been losing so much money, it seems to have become a burden. Canada has recently discontinued their coin equivalent to a penny and they seem to be doing fine with little economic issues. Plus there is always the annoyance of pennies. They take up so much space and are worth so little. A pocket full of pennies will not get you anything at the end of the day. Some people may argue that pennies contribute to donations that charities receive from the pockets of passersby and because of that charities will lose support. However, this is just a small factor and there is a slim chance that people will be less likely to donate due to lack of pennies.

However practical it would be to eliminate the penny, there are some equally strong arguments to keep it. Due to the penny being a large part of American culture for so long, it has a high sentimental value for the Americans that support it. Even with the inflation of production some people are still in favor of keeping the penny around. One question that is frequently brought up is that even if the discontinuation brings down the hassle, would it really save the government money? That is up for debate, but it is more likely to have little effect on anything like the national debt. On top of all of this, people must not forget all of the penny-centric phrases and idioms we use in culture. Those may not make sense if we did not have a penny.

Overall, it is up to you whether or not you think having the penny is worth it. Both sides have respectable arguments; it is the battle between practicality and sentiment.

For more information you can check out the website where the facts in this article came from:

http://www.retirethepenny.org/