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The US isn't going to give up the penny, because doing so would be an official acknowledgement of inflation. We all know that the value of our money has been dropping, but none of us really wants to admit it. Also, giving up the penny would cause a lot of grief in states which have a sales tax, because it would introduce rounding in tax collection which could add up to surprisingly large amounts of money. The US mint hasn't made pennies out of copper for a long time now, because copper is too expensive. They're made of zinc, in fact, and then have a very thin layer of bronze electroplated on them to make them look copper-colored (bronze wears better than pure copper), and they still cost more than one cent each to make. But if you take a penny minted in the last thirty years and tear it apart with a pair of pliers, you'll see that the inside is white and not copper colored. I agree with Representative Kolbe that both the penny and the dollar bill have outlived their usefulness; the penny should go away and the dollar should be a coin. But since that would be a tacit admission of the decline in the value of the dollar, it won't happen. It ought to, though; these days it costs nearly a dollar to buy a pack of gum. (discuss) |
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