This week's Ada Icon poll asks the question, "Should the United States stop producing the penny?" We pose the question since Canada has decided to quit producing its penny. We invite viewers to provide opinions by voting in the current Icon poll.
Here is the basic breakdown of the penny debate. This is a synopsis of this article on About.com. http://coins.about.com/od/uscoins/i/penny_debate.htm
Yes Penny
Prices go up because everything will get rounded up, not down.
Poor people make more small purchases and so will be burdened most heavily.
Lots of little charities rely on people's willingness to give away pennies.
No pennies means more nickels. They cost more to make than pennies.
Nostalgia. Sentimentality. Change is hard.
Lincoln.
No Penny
Because they have no value as currency.
They cost more to make than they are worth.
They waste time. We average 2.4 hours per year handling pennies or waiting for someone else to handle pennies.
Making enough pennies takes the Mint as much time as making all the other coins combined.
They cost a lot of money to transport everywhere for something that isn't worth anything.
Rounding up will only cost us cents to the transaction. We don't value cents.
