Letter to the Editor: Eradicate the Penny! Jacob Abdallah Do you ever look at something just laying down on the ground and wonder, how did you last this long? And no, I’m not talking about a pet rock, I’m talking about the infamous one cent in the U.S. currency called the penny! This iconic coin is more costly than you think. It costs about double the value to produce, and the U.S. government has lost over $72 million making this useless coin. Let’s not forget that we United States citizens ultimately pay for that production and to see our hard-earned money go down the drain like that is just wasteful. As an 18-year-old, I am new to taxes and the tax-paying process, but I sure know that $72 million isn’t cheap. With this knowledge, and just simply working at a nearby Wegmans, the disappearance of the penny in the economy would not be a burden to anyone. Heck, I see pennies lying all over the ground everywhere I wander. If the penny were so important, wouldn’t people go back and retrieve it? Not in this case. Of course, there will be few people affected by this elimination process, including but not limited to penny collectors, some miners, and U.S. mint workers. Those workers would probably thank us for saving them the hassle and so would the legendary Abraham Lincoln. Ultimately, this change would be the best for the economy and everybody. If we were able to eliminate the ½ cent-coin in 1857, surely, we can retire the penny in 2020!
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