Pennies are useless. In the 1960’s and prior, pennies had some retainable value, however in today’s world, there is nothing someone can buy for a single penny, and multiple pennies are not much better.

Abraham Lincoln’s coin will not be accepted at vending machines, or at parking meters and are not the norm when handling a transaction. Pennies are such a hassle to use, that most people would rather just put them in a mason jar.

In 1857, the United States Mint stopped producing “halfpenny” coins, which, in 2015 were equivalent to 14 cents. So in the time it was acceptable, the “useless” halfpenny was worth more than a dime in today’s currency.

Those “copper” pennies are actually 97 percent zinc and copper only makes 2.5 percent of the coin, according an article from Money Crashers. Producing pennies uses a great deal of energy. According to “DesignLife-Cycle”, a website designed by students at the University of California, calculates that just the transportation of the pennies to banks puts about 1.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

In fact, pennies cost the U.S government more to make then they are worth. Each penny made costs approximately 1.7 cents to make. This would not be such a bad deal if pennies were circulated more often. A single penny could be used thousands or millions of times without falling out of circulation, however, as noted, people do not use pennies.

Economist Henry Aaron of the Brookings Institution says that if the United States got rid of all pennies and nickels, all transactions would be rounded to the nearest tenth, making it easier math and would eliminate the nuisance of carrying a pocketful of change everywhere.

Pennies are a worthless currency that is more expensive to make then what they are worth. They should be revoked as a form of currency in the United States. People will be living care-free and penny-free.