Argumentative Essay: Keep The Penny

Did you know that Canada just quit making their penny? (Source 1) They aren't the first of many countries to have made this decision. Whether or not to keep the penny is a surprisingly heated debate. The penny should be removed from American currency for a variety or reasons, it costs too much money to make, it wastes money, and plenty of other countries have gotten rid of it and they're fine. So why do we still have it? The penny is outdated and unnecessary.

The penny costs an irrational amount of money compared to what it's worth. The penny, a one cent coin, costs 2.41 cents to make, which is nearly 1.5 times what it's worth (source 1). That means that annually, the United States loses 60 million dollars in pennies every year! (Source 1) That is 60 million dollars we didn't need to lose, and 60 million dollars that won't be spent if we eliminate the penny, and then some. If we were to make a

Some say we should keep the penny since lots of schools have penny drives and those coins go to charity, and if we stop making the penny, these won't be as successful. These people forget that 60 million tax dollars are wasted on this coin, and that if they care so much about charity, they can donate the money they save in taxes to the charity of their choosing. People are also concerned that since there won't be any penny, prices will have to round to the nearest five cents. If all the retailers decided to round up, consumers could lose up to 600 million dollars a year. (Source 2) But on the other side, retailers could be aware of this and bring all their prices down to the lower round and sell them cheaper, which benefits the consumers. Supporters of the penny say we should keep the one cent coin but simply make it cheaper. (Source 2) But if we cut out the penny entirely, we can save even more. A near useless coin can be eliminated and we won't need to spend nears as much money making