Nuisance or Necessity: The Penny

The debate over the penny’s place in American currency circulation is essentially futile because the penny’s historical significance resonates positively with the majority of American society and the arguments against it are based in personal convenience rather than absolute necessity.

Source E – The majority of Americans, on all income levels, agree that the penny should stay in circulation.  The highest present of opposition comes from the income level of $75k and above at 32%, still not even coming near the 53% against its abolition in that income bracket.

Source F – “the penny is perhaps the visible and tangible reminder of Lincoln’s significance in American history”.  “For the first time, a US coin depicted a real historical figure”.  The coin is not only important to American history and the preservation of one of its most honored figures, but an innovation of its time.  It became a model for all American currency, which now preserve American history through the faces of those who shaped it.  The penny is more than just a coin; it is a microcosm of America and her history.

Source B – “the point of currency is to facilitate transactions” which the penny does just fantastically.  President Gore said, “for me, it’s the waste of time I object to”, referring to the fishing around needed to find the pennies needed for a purchase.  Well that is simply a personal statement by the President, who, in fact, makes a lot of money and probably finds no need for silly one-cent coins.  The majority of Americans, as previously examined, do not mind the penny or the fishing around or the extra time it takes to find them because they value its worth and significance.