9/26/16

Dear Future President,

I know that you have a lot of pressing matters to attend to, but if you would spend the next five minutes or so reading this letter you’ll see why you should give this issue your attention.

We need to take the penny out of circulation. Each year the United States spends 1.7 cents to make every penny. If the United States mint makes $6460.00 million worth of pennies per year we’re spending $4,522 million dollars more on the production of these coins than they’re worth. Now, this may not seem like a lot when we compare it to the national debt considering that’s trillions of dollars, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be conscious of it. Every little bit counts and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be taking every opportunity we can to reduce the amount of money we spend.

In 2012, Canada decided they would discontinue the penny for a number of reasons. First of all, the production cost was more than the actual value of the coin with it being 1.6 cents per coin. Secondly, due to inflation, the penny had lost 95% of its original purchasing power since it was first minted domestically in 1908. Finally, they were simply impractical. Canada reasoned that it was uneconomically wasting the time of everyone involved from consumers to businesses. They’re not the only ones who think this. Australia ditched the copper coin way back in 1990! Where have we been?

Bringing it back to the United States, eliminating the penny will not only save money, but sanity. Many citizens of the US no longer use change when paying for any purchase. We’ve reached an age where almost everything is paid for by credit cards. To a majority of Americans, little amounts of change like pennies and nickels can be considered worthless. Pennies aren’t even accepted by vending machines and parking meters and we can all agree they’re a nuisance to fill our pockets and wallets with. That’s why a lot of customers leave their pennies in the Take A Penny Leave A Penny trays without taking any. Why bother? However, if you’re wondering what people can do with all these suddenly useless pennies, I propose that they should be able to give them to charity. We get rid of our pennies and worthwhile charities get money. Everybody wins!

All in all, pennies have shown us that they’ve lost their place in society. As much fun as counting coins can be, we’re going to have to sacrifice the red striped rolls. It’s in our best interest financially and mentally.

Thank you for your time,

Rory