I didn't notice anyone else mention this. The Feb 4th edition of Time magazine has a 3-page article on the pros & cons of eliminating the penny. Doesn't really cover any ground that members of this forum probably haven't already seen, but you don't often see coins in the national (albeit dying) media.
The link below only refers you to a brief intro to the article and some video, but does have a lot comments if you're into reading that kind of thing ...
http://business.time.com/2013/01/24...e-u-s-penny/