I'm not sure if I buy that whole "cost more to produce" argument all the way. I think getting rid of the penny is primarily a way of getting people to spend more. They've already implemented it here in Canada for a year now and when they were discussing implementing it beforehand, I remember how they were saying how much more the government would make in sales tax just by getting rid of the penny. The reason why I'm sceptical that how much it costs to make the penny is a primary reason is: what are they doing with all the old pennies that are taken out of circulation? Don't they simply remelt them and make new pennies? It's not like they have to keep going to mine new copper every time they need to make a penny. Of course whoever is manufacturing pennies can charge however much they want to charge, but if they're using recycled material, I don't see how it's inevitable that the cost of making a penny can't be reduced to less than the value of a penny.
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