The United States government wastes over $50 million dollars a year minting new pennies for circulation. Ceasing the production of pennies and their gradual removal from circulation would have no negative effect on families, business, or the economy, but would save the government millions of dollars per year.
In 2011, it cost 2.4 cents to manufacture a penny for a total cost of over 100 million dollars. This is akin to the federal government depositing $100 million in the 1st national bank by check and receiving back only $43 million in coins, therefore losing $57 million dollars in the process. We should follow other countries' lead by stopping the production of our smallest denomination of currency and remove it from circulation.