If you’ve got some pennies hanging around in a piggy bank or coin collection you might want to hang on to them. Yesterday, November 12th, the U.S. Mint minted the last round of pennies.
The penny has been tossed across sales counters and burned holes in pockets for 238 years, but apparently it cost almost four cents to make one, which certainly seems like a losing proposition.
Not to worry though. If you’re not sentimental about the coin, it will still be considered legal tinder. Although some retailers are looking to round things up to the nearest nickel to avoid having to deal with them.
As for the “pound foolish’ part of this post’s headline, if retailers do follow through on rounding prices up any savings generated by no longer printing pennies will probably be outweighed by the costs of printing more nickels, which costs substantially more than printing a penny.
Setting aside the costs, somehow “a nickel for your thoughts” and “nickels from heaven” just don’t sing the way the originals do.
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Life on the Wicked Stage: Act 3 