Nobody likes pennies. They aren’t valuable enough to buy anything. They sit at the bottom of your pocket or purse, taking up space until you begrudgingly throw them in a change jar. And whenever you’re in a rush, the person ahead of you in line pulls out some change and starts slowly counting out the pennies.

Seriously, though, there are many downsides to the penny:

They’re expensive. It costs more to make a penny than it’s worth, costing US taxpayers about $70m a year. And most of the zinc that goes into them comes from China, adding over $2m to the trade deficit. Mining the zinc and copper needed to make pennies is bad for the environment. Counting out pennies at businesses adds up to almost 50m hours each year.



Businesses that accept cash will save time and effort, and charities that rely on pennies can expect to see donations increase as people start sending nickels along. And with all the money saved, we can invest in a way to honor one of our greatest presidents that doesn’t involve losing his image in our couches constantly.