[4mycountry]

Pennies are a nuisance, but you really can't dump them.

Think about it: You go and buy a candy bar and it costs 13 cents. You give the guy a dime and two two-cent pieces. Well, you need one-cent in change. If there's no penny, how do you do that?

[Cable225]

Think about it: You go and buy a candy bar and it costs 13 cents. You give the guy a dime and two two-cent pieces. Well, you need one-cent in change. If there's no penny, how do you do that?

More importantly, where do you buy a candy bar for 13 cents? All my candy bars cost a buck!

[Atlas Sneezed]

"Think about it: You go and buy a candy bar and it costs 13 cents. You give the guy a dime and two two-cent pieces. Well, you need one-cent in change. If there's no penny, how do you do that?"

Tell me what kind of real world transactions involve increments of less than ten cents? Paying a day laborer for ten seconds work? Buying an ounce of flour? A sip of Pepsi? A half-cup of gasoline?

The fact is that throughout most of the 20th century (during much of which prices were one-tenth of current prices) no one complained at having to round up or down to arrive at an even hundredth of a dollar. Shop keepers didn't agonize whether to price candy at one cent or two, or whether the one cent piece was too large to enjoy.

I'm hard pressed to think of a transaction that requires pennies and nickels. And consider the real economic waste cost to society for all the time and resources spent keeping those tiny coins in circulation. (For those who like the penny, why not a return to the half-cent, for some ultra-precise calculation of sales taxes? Should I feel screwed by the sales tax rounding that costs me up to a half of a cent on some transactions?)