The Penny
By Paul S., Cohasset, MA
Should the penny be abolished? Many things are priced with an odd number of cents, which is unnecessary. All prices should either end with a five or zero. For example, a bag of chips should cost 90 cents, 95 cents, or a dollar, not 99 cents. Pennies are rarely taken out of people’s pockets and purses when they are buying items because it is a nuisance to count them. People just pay with bills and get the change, but this actually causes a problem. When people get change, they often toss the coins, especially the pennies, into a container where they sit for years. We don’t bother to pick up pennies we drop and think so little of them that we toss them into wishing wells without a second thought. No good comes of these acts.
The U.S. Treasury should not waste its time and resources making the penny because it gets no respect. Inflation is not a problem because the value of a penny is so small. Its value is another reason the penny should be abolished. One penny cannot buy anything; it is useless. No one buys one piece of penny candy, they buy a hundred penny candies for which you need a dollar, not a hundred pennies.
Pennies are useless and a hassle, and now, with the price of copper increasing, they cost more to make than they are actually worth. When was the last time you bought something for a penny or counted out pennies to buy something? I thought so.
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