In recent years, there has been a growing movement to “retire” the penny or take it out of circulation. This movement has been countered by people passionate about preserving the penny. There are compelling reasons to eliminate the penny and to preserve it. What do you think?
ELIMINATE THE PENNY
According to the U.S. Mint, it costs 2.4 cents to produce one penny. In other words, the cost of making a penny is more than double its value. Since the United States Mint produced $50 million worth of pennies in 2010 at a cost of $120 million dollars, $70 million was wasted.
Advocates of “retiring” the penny claim the coin is obsolete and virtually worthless. Nothing can realistically be bought for a penny any more. In addition, simply handling pennies reduces the efficiency of the United States economy. Studies have shown that handling pennies adds at least two seconds to transactions at convenience and department stores. With over 107 billion cash transactions that occur in the United States per year, handling pennies wastes 120 million work hours per year, costing the economy over two billion dollars.
PRESERVE THE PENNY
Supporters of the penny believe its elimination would cause prices to rise as the prices of items would be rounded up to the nearest nickel (which, incidentally, costs eight cents to produce). Poor people, who tend to make smaller purchases, and who are more likely to use pennies would suffer the most. Penny supporters also believe that organizations that rely on pennies as charity would be adversely affected. Many people who give money to organizations do so in the form of jars of pennies. Finally, the penny honours Abraham Lincoln, perhaps the most cherished figure in American history (although Lincoln is also on the United States five-dollar bill).
Answer the following questions
1. Those who support eliminating the penny believe….
a nickels should be eliminated too
b making pennies is a waste of money
c pennies make the economy more efficient
d pennies can still buy things today
- Which of the following is not a reason that supporters believe the penny should be preserved?
a Prices would fall
b They believe eliminating the penny will have the greatest effect on poor people.
c Charities would be impacted
d To honour Abraham Lincoln - It costs…
a more money to produce a penny than it is actually worth
b the same amount of money to produce a nickel as it costs to produce a penny
c less money to produce a penny than it is actually worth
d more money to produce a penny than a nickel - What would those who support eliminating the penny most likely say in response to the following point?
“We should keep the penny because it honours Abraham Lincoln.”
a Abraham Lincoln is already honoured on the five- dollar bill
b Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president
c Abraham Lincoln wasn’t even that great of a president
d We can find other ways to honour Abraham Lincoln - Why does the author include this line:
In other words, the cost of making a penny is more than double its value.
a To question why people would want to eliminate the penny
b To explain what was meant in the previous sentence
c To question why the penny is still in circulation
d To make the argument longer
