# Best political way to get rid of the penny **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 31, 2008, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-political-way-to-get-rid-of-the-penny/443451 "2008-03-31T21:11:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![onions\_without\_tears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c37758/32.png) [@onions\_without\_tears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/onions_without_tears)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-political-way-to-get-rid-of-the-penny/443451/1 "2008-03-31T21:11:17Z")
Inspired by Cecil’s current discussion of coinage, I considered that since dropping the penny has not been done on practical grounds, it must be done on emotional (i.e., political) grounds. Some ideas: 1. Appealing to economics has failed due to people’s love of the penny. So why not go directly to that. Replace the familiar Lincoln profile with an unfamiliar face, like Sacajawea, or unpopular figure, like Susan B. Anthony. 2. Another way to make them unpopular would be to return to the rusting steel pennies. 3. The politics of excuse making does wonders in lots of areas. So just ceasing to make any more and saying the future is pending will force the marketplace to make up it’s mind how to live without them. I suspect that almost instantly all will be withdrawn hoping they beome scarce, in the same unrealistic premise that makes state quarters seem scarce. People just can’t do the speculative math. 4. My own pet theory is to mint new nickles in the exact size as the penny, and declare all existing pennies in circulation as worth 5cents. Sure there will be tales of some people getting windfalls, but windfalls happen a lot of different ways, like every time the government changes which crops get price supports. Or… Your plans: ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-political-way-to-get-rid-of-the-penny/443451/2 "2008-03-31T21:22:34Z")
Keep the Penny. Seriously, why does it need to be out of existence? There’s got to be a reason against it for me to think about why to get rid of it. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-political-way-to-get-rid-of-the-penny/443451/3 "2008-03-31T21:24:15Z")
I was never clear on why so many people want to get rid of penny. Wouldn’t whatever problems people have with the penny then simply be moved to the nickel? If it’s not too much of a hijack, maybe somebody can explain the whys a bit. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-political-way-to-get-rid-of-the-penny/443451/4 "2008-03-31T21:31:06Z")
It now costs more than 1 cent to make a penny. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-political-way-to-get-rid-of-the-penny/443451/5 "2008-03-31T21:31:13Z")
[QUOTE=Revtim] I was never clear on why so many people want to get rid of penny. Wouldn’t whatever problems people have with the penny then simply be moved to the nickel? If it’s not too much of a hijack, maybe somebody can explain the whys a bit. [/QUOTE] The penny is such a low value coin that having it around is a pain in the ass. The time spent tracking pennies would be better spent doing other things. At some point the amount of money becomes significant in relation to the time spent tracking it and it is worth while to pay people to track it. ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-political-way-to-get-rid-of-the-penny/443451/6 "2008-03-31T21:42:46Z")
[QUOTE=Revtim] I was never clear on why so many people want to get rid of penny. Wouldn’t whatever problems people have with the penny then simply be moved to the nickel? If it’s not too much of a hijack, maybe somebody can explain the whys a bit. [/QUOTE] It [costs](http://www.usatoday.com/money/2006-05-09-penny-usat_x.htm) more than it’s worth (another [cite](http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB116360150549923901-QULpxfRmAJU6Dkxcxo8V93AhaY8_20071117.html?mod=blogs)) > [@](#): > > Due to rising demand in China and other developing countries, the price of zinc (which makes up 97.5% of the metal in a penny) has soared to nearly $2 per pound. At this price, the value of the metal in a penny is MORE than one cent – exceeding the face value of a penny by about 10%. Add to this the cost of minting each coin, and the U.S. Mint is now losing about 0.75 cents on each penny it cranks out. Assuming that it continues the current pace of producing nine billion or so pennies a year, this would add up to an annual loss of about $67.5 million. Some European countries have dropped both the 1 and 2 cent Euro pieces without any discernible effect on [prices](http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20040916/ai_n12808602) as a whole. In addition, people generally feel the admin costs, the time wasted stocking and giving back change, and the fact that people generally recirculate the penny at a lower rate, to be reasons to axe the penny. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-political-way-to-get-rid-of-the-penny/443451/7 "2008-03-31T21:52:10Z")
[QUOTE=E-Sabbath] It now costs more than 1 cent to make a penny. [/QUOTE] …and a nickel costs about 10 cents to make… I linked to [this](http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/03/31/080331fa_fact_owen) article in another thread. It addresses the questions in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-political-way-to-get-rid-of-the-penny/443451/8 "2008-03-31T22:15:42Z")
I think the best political way to get rid of the penny is to bring up a bill to abolish the damn thing, and then used ether-soaked rags to drag any penny proponents from the floor of Congress into the cloakrooms just before the vote. Otherwise, perhaps our scientists could come up with a virus which can only be sustained on copper (like the cover of a penny) that causes a minor rash on the hands. Then tell everyone the Bird Flu has mutated so that it thrives on pennies. Then round up all the coins, burn them, and save the world. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-political-way-to-get-rid-of-the-penny/443451/9 "2008-03-31T22:37:14Z")
I thought you guys used cents? ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-political-way-to-get-rid-of-the-penny/443451/10 "2008-03-31T22:50:00Z")
[QUOTE=Revenant Threshold] I thought you guys used cents? [/QUOTE] Not commonly. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-political-way-to-get-rid-of-the-penny/443451/11 "2008-03-31T22:54:08Z")
Executive Order? Why not? No one has stopped any other Executive Orders. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-political-way-to-get-rid-of-the-penny/443451/12 "2008-03-31T23:04:38Z")
You Americans are just like pre-decimal, tuppence-era Brits. Your coinage makes no sense, and by God it’s going to stay that way! Ditch the penny, ditch the dollar bill. Trust me, the rest of the world does just fine without them (or their equivalents). ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-political-way-to-get-rid-of-the-penny/443451/13 "2008-03-31T23:47:35Z")
[QUOTE=Alessan] Ditch the penny, ditch the dollar bill. Trust me, the rest of the world does just fine without them (or their equivalents). [/QUOTE] Which to me is a perfect reason to keep them. The rest of the world can go piss up a rope. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-political-way-to-get-rid-of-the-penny/443451/14 "2008-03-31T23:50:43Z")
Eliminate demand for it. It’s happening already, piecemeal. There are already a number of businesses that don’t deal with them at all, they just round prices to the nearest nickel. Over time, any odd cents balance out for all involved. As the practice becomes more widespread, and pennies are no longer given out in change, they’ll disappear naturally. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-political-way-to-get-rid-of-the-penny/443451/15 "2008-03-31T23:54:24Z")
[QUOTE=Alessan] You Americans are just like pre-decimal, tuppence-era Brits. Your coinage makes no sense, and by God it’s going to stay that way! [/quote] What makes no sense is to carry heavy coins around instead of paper conveniently folded into a wallet. BTW, we were either the first country or close to it to \*adopt \* decimal currency, ya know. What makes no sense to you about it? > [@](#): > > Ditch the penny, ditch the dollar bill. Trust me, the rest of the world does just fine without them (or their equivalents). Dollar coins get tried regularly, but never catch on - paper and plastic are much easier to carry around. So why does the rest of the world prefer to wear out their trouser pockets instead? ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-political-way-to-get-rid-of-the-penny/443451/16 "2008-04-01T00:48:55Z")
How does this differ from any other change in policy? Surely whoever’s reponsible for this sort of thing (I don’t know what body that is in the USA): - announces that it’s considering abolition of the one cent coin; - does the appropriate analysis of the costs and benefits; - gets input from those likely to be affected most; - looks at what other countries have done to see what problems have emerged, or lessons have been learnt; - makes a decision; and - implements it. If the decision is to do nothing, then fine. If it’s to abolish the coin, then production ceases. And everyone adapts to whatever system replaces it. ---
**Author:** ![Gozu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gozu/32/6615_2.png) [@Gozu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-political-way-to-get-rid-of-the-penny/443451/17 "2008-04-01T00:50:12Z")
Get rid of the penny, the nickel and the dime. Keep the quarter and the dollar bill. Oh, and pass a federal law mandating all consumer prices (stores, restaurants, cab fare, etc.) include sales tax. If an item costs less than a quarter, sell it in packs. Round all prices down or up to the nearest multiple of 0.25. For internet sales, no coins are used so leave them alone Problem solved. Now, I can finally use ALL the coin slots in my next car to store useful quarters, not stupid nickels and dimes! What am i supposed to do with those? Go back to 1905 and give them as tips? ---
**Author:** ![silly\_ringtones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/0ea827/32.png) [@silly\_ringtones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silly_ringtones)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-political-way-to-get-rid-of-the-penny/443451/18 "2008-04-01T01:23:43Z")
I think if you just start refering to it as the “metric penny” then conservatives will demand its recall. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-political-way-to-get-rid-of-the-penny/443451/19 "2008-04-01T01:27:13Z")
Everyone is moving to digital currency anyway. In 100 years no one will carry paper or coin so it will be rendered moot. Since when is Susan B. Anthony unpopular? ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-political-way-to-get-rid-of-the-penny/443451/20 "2008-04-01T01:35:20Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] Which to me is a perfect reason to keep them. The rest of the world can go piss up a rope. 😃 [/QUOTE] Not doing something _just because_ the rest of the world does is one thing… not doing something sensible _specifically because_ the rest of the world does is… ummm… \ 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-political-way-to-get-rid-of-the-penny/443451.md?page=2)