Re:EU considers phasing out 1 and 2 cent coins
by grecy on Tuesday October 06, 2020 @03:48PM
(#24701631)
Of course it's easy to see why Pennies are still made in the US (at a loss, as you said), and it's the same reason so many things are the way they are (Healthcare, education, roads, etc.)
Someone is making a lot of money from the status quo, and they will fight very hard to keep it.
Such as when traveling by air or making expensive purchases. There's nothing so satisfying as plunking down a sack of pennies when purchasing stuff and saying "just let me know if it's not enough."
The above is sarcasm. I hate pennies. They are pretty much useless these days. The only joy I get from them is when someone annoys me, I can throw them at the person.
They are so useless, in fact, that it actually costs nearly twice the value of a penny ($0.0183)[0] to mint one.
That said, I'd really like it if larger denomination coins ($1/5/10) were common in the US as they are in the EU. Generally coins with value more than $0.25 aren't used (yes, $0.50 and $1 coins exist, but are rarely used/distributed).
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_(United_States_coin)
Edit: Added forgotten link.