The Big Debate Over The Tiny Penny

How much is the American penny really worth? To some people a lot - to others it's a worthless piece of coin that should be abolished, especially given that it costs the U.S. Mint almost two-pennies to make one. Yet year after year, they keep producing the shiny little coins - welcome to the penny debate.

The anti-penny campaigners believe that the time we spend dealing with them (sorting & counting them), could be better spent doing something more productive. In fact one anti-penny crusader has even calculated the amount of time each one of us spends on pennies - 2.5 hours a year!

However, there are many people who feel as strongly about keeping the penny, arguing that if everything is rounded off the nearest nickel, the cost of things would go up substantially. Moreover they argue, that people find it easier to part with pennies for charities than they would with their nickels. Also, there is the fact that everyone's favorite President is on there. In fact they feel so strongly about it that they even have a website called 'Americans for Cents' (www.pennies.org), which talks about how important the penny is to our daily lives and well being.

The debate on the penny is not new - it has been going on for at least the last five years. However, with U.S. mint (where money is made) redesigning the back of the penny to mark the 200th Anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birthday and the 100th Anniversary of the Lincoln penny itself, we get the feeling the penny is not about to disappear any time soon - so remember the next time you see a penny lying on the ground - don't just ignore it - for it's worth much more than ..............just a penny!

What do you think - should we keep the penny or abolish it? Make sure you add your thoughts below!

Sources:cbsnews.com, Americans for comman cents