Goodbye To The Penny

The very first penny that required more than one cent worth of human time and effort to produce and distribute was a crime. This had certainly occurred by 1974 when the mint spent millions of tax payer dollars to tool up for conversion of the one cent coin to aluminum. Instead of flushing more money down the drain they should have discontinued the thing or simply announced they were 2 1/2 cent pieces and designing this new coin with a hole in the center so existing one cent coins could be converted.

There were many missed opportunities so instead we had hundreds of billions of worthless slugs made over half a century longer.

Maybe now we'll do something with the nickel instead of wasting vast resources and continuing production until they cost a couple dollars to make.

I liked the copper alloy cent. The nickel has intrinsic value based on the metal content. Money should have some basic value. Why should the government produce cheap clad coins and tell us they have value beyond their cost to produce? I don't mind a small rebate on my taxes paid.

The most surprising thing to me is how they've essentially just disappeared. I've tried asking several banks, and none have any that they're willing to part with

I asked my bank (wells Fargo here in Phoenix - we can still buy pennies, AND they will also buy them back (up to $100.00 per transaction)

HERE! HERE!

Powerful lobbyists and ignorant congress members pushing the false narrative of "it will hurt the poor".

I haven't had problems getting them from the bank yet