Posted 8/15/2007 05:52:00 PM by Douglas

Why are we stuck with the penny? Who knew that the big Zinc industry was responsible for not rounding up to the next nickel.

The U.S. penny is not what it appears to be, and some in Congress would like to see it change further, if not disappear entirely.

Finally! Who is dragging their feet on this one?

Because of a surge in the price of copper, the U.S. Mint decided 25 years ago to manufacture the coins almost entirely with zinc, save for the coating on which Abraham Lincoln's profile is engraved.

Now, the fate of the penny is up in the air once again. With the price of zinc soaring amid a worldwide commodities boom, it costs the government almost 2 cents to make each 1-cent coin — a pretty penny considering roughly 8 billion new ones are placed into circulation annually.

While it is unlikely the penny will be pulled from circulation, there are some lawmakers who would like to ditch zinc as a raw material and instead use steel or some other less expensive metal.

Well why not. Our most worthless coin should represent our most worthless metal, shouldn't it? Problem is, the way the FED is devaluing our currency, no metal is going to be worthless enough to represent just 1¢, so what other choice do we have?

The nation's sole supplier of zinc "penny blanks," Jarden Zinc Products, is lobbying the federal government to protect its interests.

The subsidiary of Rye, N.Y.-based Jarden Corp., paid Baker & Daniels LLP $180,000 in 2006 to fight legislation that would have allowed retailers to round off cash transactions to the nearest nickel, effectively creating a penniless society. Fortunately for Jarden, the House legislation did not gain traction, and its author, Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., has since retired.

So now that the penny isn't represented, I don't have to pay $2.99 for shit anymore? I can pay $2.95 or $3.00? Good lord, this costs $100 Million a year. Enough already.

Labels: seigniorage