Pennies don’t make cents:
-It costs nearly TWO cents to make a penny (FY12). We lose a cent, per cent!
-Treasury minted 5.8 billion pennies, losing $58 million. Penny foolish!
-The half-cent was eliminated in 1857. Adjusted for inflation, that “unnecessary” coin would have >12 cents of buying power today.
-Penny for my thoughts? At minimum wage that’s not worth 5 seconds of my time! For a quarter we can talk.
Centsus data shows consumers fear change. Smart people know this is non-cents; the penny isn’t penny wise.
It is no tribute to Lincoln that his coin is a novelty run over by trains. Revalue the tribute: Create the “Lincoln Penny For Your Thoughts” scholarships in the land-grant universities established by President Lincoln in 1862… using the $60M of annual Treasury savings.