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As citizens of the U.S. and other nations increasingly adopt online solutions for payments, debate swirls over whether currency, especially coins, is needed at all.
Cash was used for just 16% of in-person transactions in 2023, down from 26% in 2019, prompting calls for an economy based almost exclusively on online transactions or cryptocurrencies.
With regard to coins, debate in the U.S. usually centers on the one cent piece. Detractors note that at 3 cents per, they are costly to make, racking up a loss of $86 million in 2023 alone; they comprise zinc and copper, whose mining and industrial use can have negative environmental and health impacts; they have virtually no standalone purchasing power; they’re heavy, with a dollar’s worth weighing about half a pound; and they’re underused, with an estimated 240 billion of them languishing in couches, jars, sidewalks, old clothing and elsewhere.
COVID-19 intensified the debate, as coins became scarce when people stopped spending them at places like laundromats, banks, restaurants and shops. “The pandemic has made it much easier to imagine a world without coins, and already reinvigorated the movement to get rid of pennies. For banks, credit card companies and some Bitcoin advocates, the demise of each unit of cash would be welcome news,” the New York Times reported in November 2020.
No new coins were minted in the United Kingdom in 2024, officials having decided that the estimated 27 billion coins in circulation were sufficient. New Zealand, Canada and other countries have dispensed with their lowest value coins altogether over the years.
But pennies, which the U.S. Mint makes in Denver and Philadelphia, have their supporters too. Some argue that several American charities rely on penny donations. Others point out that eliminating coins or currency can burden people who have difficulty maintaining minimum account balances or who lack ready access to online resources.
Consumer advocates voice concern that businesses currently offering prices that end in “.99” will round up to the next dollar. Moreover, cryptocurrencies are far from being a feasible, widespread replacement for cash.
And coins have stalwart defenders in organizations such as the American Numismatic Assn., a Colorado Springs, Colo.-based nonprofit that promotes coin collection and study. “I would really hate for us to become a cashless society,” says Rod Gillis, the organization’s education director. “You can learn so much about our culture from just learning about what appears on our coins.”
Dr. Fleur Kemmers, an archaeologist at Goethe University Frankfurt, adds that in their design, material makeup and discovered locations, coins can reveal clues about centuries of culture, politics, religion, industry, trade and household life.
In the first half of this 2024, the Mint struck more than 1.4 billion Lincoln cents, accounting for more than half of the 2.6 billion coins struck for circulation over that period, so these coins aren’t going away anytime soon. The debate is likely to continue along economic, social, historical and emotional lines.
But if Congress does get around to eliminating the penny, Northern Illinois University student journalist Lucy Atkinson noted, “wouldn’t finding and picking one up be that much more lucky?”
