Answer:
I personally believe that the United States should not continue producing pennies. I think this because the use of pennies are decressing in numbers, think about it when was the last time you have used one? Pennies are worth one cent, and is simply not useful to today's society.
Every year money is spent, and wasted on producing pennies just for it to go to waste. It has been reported that in 2016 that an estimated $62 million in pennies are lost every year in circulation. To make a single penny cost the goverment 2 cents, and they make millions and millions of pennies each year, this means money is being thrown away each year.
Pennies are made out of zinc and copper, and if you didn'y know zinc mining has a negitive environmental impact. Zinc leaches into the surrounding soil and water streams. Letting this chemical element into water streams could cause health concerns. Some of these health concerns include slow growth in infants and children, delayed sexual development in adolescents, and impotence in men. Zinc deficiency also causes hair loss, diarrhea, eye, and skin sores, and loss of appetite.
Lastly, pennies have no purchasing power. Now and days you can not purchase anything for less than 2 dollars. Back in the 1900s, it was useful but currently, in 2021 there is nothing you can do with it. Discontinuing pennies will not only reduce the use of zinc in our water but save us money.
