The US One cent piece is an unnecessary burden placed upon the United States tax payer. The penny, as of the US Mint's 2013 annual report, costs 1.8 cents to produce. Meaning the US Mint spent over $120 million to produce approx. $60 million worth of pennies in the previous year alone.
The purpose of money is to make the trade of goods and services easier, more efficient. A report by the National Association of Convenience Stores states that the handling of pennies adds upwards of 2 seconds of wasted time per transaction which equates to nearly $300 million/annually
The penny can no longer be produced efficiently and no longer facilitates the ease of trade - it's time to let it go. Many other nations have dropped their one cent pieces without negative repercussions - we must do the same