America can no longer afford to make cents.
In 1857 America stopped producing half cent coins, worth 12 of today's cents. This made the penny the lowest-valued coin in production with a buying power of $0.25 in 2010 dollars.
The least valuable coin the federal government has ever minted gets more worthless every year as its buying power continues to drop with inflation. Yet the cost to manufacture and ship pennies (and nickels) has exceeded the face value every year for five years, rising to 1.79 cents for the penny in 2010. While it has a minuscule monetary value, the penny costs Americans valuable time every time someone fumbles through a pocket or cash register for change.
Without pennies, prices would simply be rounded to the next smallest denomination and life would go on.