First, the government would save millions of dollars from minting production alone. Couple this with the savings from less federal employees on staff, and we may just have a tax cut coming to us.
Second, the penny is a black hole of true money. Each day, thousands of pennies are lost and forgotten, or thrown away, because they are meaningless. But in the end, hundreds of thousands of "real" money is never spent. Hundreds of thousands of "real" income is never realized. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are never put into our economy each year. This has great weight in our market-based economy that relies on small-businesses flourishing.
Third, if minting of the penny is ceased, and we do not in turn produce that many more nickels, dimes, quarters, or dollars to make up for the lesser value minted, the U.S. will print less money. That means more value for our dollar... deflation.
The elimination of our penny is a win-win situation. Those who are against the idea usually state historical reasons for saving the penny. We brought the penny from England, and England doesn't even have a pound anymore, moreless a penny. (Theirs is the eurocent.) We never even had a pound. Oh the nostalgia...
Opposers to cease penny production should look at the costs to continue the penny, and look at the savings in discontinuing the penny. I don't really understand their steadfastness in keeping it. Maybe they are scared that penny-loafer sales will drop.
