Abolishment of pennies

Introduction - Minting of Coins in the U.S.

Coin Value Cost to Mint

Quarter 25 8.95
Dime 10 3.91
Nickel 5 8.09
Penny 1 1.66

• Pennies are by far the U.S.’s smallest form of currency.

• They cost more to be minted than they are worth.
• Very few Items can be purchased with pennies.
• They are mostly used in exacting larger purchases.
 Current Situation – problems with pennies

• Pennies unnecessarily cost the government money.

• There is almost no items that cost little enough to require pennies.
• Pennies cause unnecessary waste of time purchasing items.
• Are not easily stored for their value (a property of currency).
 Project Plan – Discontinuing the penny
1. The mint must stop minting new pennies .
2. Businesses must change prices to count by increments of
0.05.
1. This could either become law or just be done voluntarily
when the companies run out of pennies for change.
3. Todays pennies will be removed from circulations as
normal.
1. The mint will remove the pennies from circulation the
same way it does currently and then melt them down
for their metals.
People Involved – Mint Workers and business
owners
• Mint workers to stop minting pennies and dispose of the already
made pennies.
• Business owners to change their prices to increments of 0.05.
• Programers to change online and electronic payments to increments
of 0.05.
 Costs to Change
• Businesses may lose money if they round prices down to the nearest
multiple of 5 cents.
• People must be paid to change the prices.
• The mint must get rid of penny making equipment.
 Benefits to Change
• The government will save about 105 million dollars on minting .
• Workers will save transaction time counting pennies.
• Less resources will be wasted on pennies.
• Less pennies will be littered.
 Conclusion
In the past before large inflation, pennies were
more necessary for every day transactions. Now they
are worth to little to be worth their value in time spent
worrying about them. They are no longer accepted by
most vending machines. It would save everyone a lot of
time and money to just stop minting them and conduct
transactions by units of 5.
 Resources
• Should We Get Rid of the Penny? – 8 Reasons to Keep It vs Eliminate
It
• https://www.moneycrashers.com/get-rid-penny-reasons/

• It cost 1.7 cents to make a penny this year, and 8 cents to make a
nickel
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/12/15/it-
cost-1-7-cents-to-make-a-penny-this-year-and-8-cents-to-make-a-
nickel/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.b56c29a54777