Today is the last day the penny will be in production in the United States.
It will probably go out unnoticed for the most part, as durable as the reddish currency has been for centuries. Made now out of just a speck of copper (mostly zinc), it’s apparently more expensive to make than it holds as currency, so some people say it shouldn’t be minted anymore. Not a terribly good reason (currency doesn’t hold value as the value of itself), but pennies are pretty worthless nowadays so there are only a couple of reasons why not to send it the way of the buffalo nickel.
I mean, a good reason why not to kill it is that retailers will now round up on prices. That seems bad for customers. But good for business! I guess it depends on who you care more about. Although, it seems retailers aren’t psyched.
It’s also one of two pieces of currency Abraham Lincoln is on. The other is the five dollar bill, I had to remind myself because I can’t remember the last time I touched cash. Guess the current president, and his followers, just need one less reminder what a decent president looks like. Did you ever look super closely at the back of the penny, where you can see Abe sitting in the memorial? Of course you have. But if not, do it. It’s pretty cool.
Honestly, if I were in charge, I’d just get rid of coins altogether. The dollar is only worth 25 cents in 1980 money, let that be the lowest unit. Coins are annoying. They don’t fit in your wallet. They jingle jangle in your pocket. The person in front of you in line is counting our exact change from their coin pocket. Those things are heavy en masse—I’m sure transporting them around the economy isn’t terribly good for the environment. And we’re bothering with this inconvenience because of tradition and inertia, not because coins are actually worth anything.
Remember when you could buy a bunch of albums for a penny? Guess I’m showing my age. But that was awesome.
Anyways, here’s a new video from Kill Lincoln:
I went to the store today and they had a sign that they were no longer giving out pennies as change and rounding to the next five cents. Can’t believe it.