THE VIEW FROM HERE: A penny saved

What does China¹s economic boom have to do with Representative
Jim Kolbe, a Republican Representative from Arizona, and the
American penny? If your answer is zinc ‹ go to the head of the
class.
Kolbe has introduced the Currency Overhaul for an Industrious
Nation (COIN) Act which would stop the production of the penny and
require that all cash transactions be rounded to the nearest five
cents.
Kolbe¹s reasoning is that China consumes enormous amounts of
zinc, the metal inside the copper penny, and therefore it now costs
our government 1.23 cents to produce the penny. In addition most
Americans either dump or save pennies in the nearest receptacle. It
is estimated that $10.5 billion in pennies is stashed in piggy
banks, purses and jars in this country. Kolbe says, ³The penny has
no purpose ‹ we should get rid of it.²
According to The Week, ³Under the new system the bills ending in
one, two, six or seven cents would be rounded down, while bills
ending in three, four, eight or nine cents would be rounded up.
Merchants would value credit and debit card transactions to the
nearest nickel.²
Raymond Lombra, a Pennsylvania State University economist says
³That moving to the nickel would cost consumers $3 billion over
five years.² Another reason critics question Kolbe¹s motives is
that if the penny is retired the copper based nickel would become
our most common coin. Which state produces the most copper? If you
said Arizona (Kolbe¹s home state) you are batting a thousand.
Proponents to save the penny note that culture, history,
tradition and nostalgia are equally important. Charitable
organizations often use the penny to raise funds. ³Pennies for
Patients² has collected more than 68 million since 1994. And if you
are in my age bracket you were brought up on the aphorisms and
values of the penny: ³A penny saved is a penny earned;² ³See a
penny ‹ pick it up, otherwise you¹ll have bad luck;² and of course
the old adage, ³A penny for your thoughts.² Being a female child my
thoughts did not have a high cash value.
The trouble with legislation is that you have to look for the
motives behind the bill which too often are very murky. In this
case the Chinese demand has also pushed up the price of copper. It
now costs our government 5.73 cents to produce each five cent
piece. Kolbe¹s bill only eliminates the penny.
According to The Week, the zinc industry is bankrolling a group
called Americans for Common Cents, and the two companies, who
produce 38 million pounds of zinc blanks for the government each
year, say they will have to close their doors if the penny is
eliminated. This will throw several hundred people out of work. It
seems to be a case of ³dammed if you do and dammed if you don¹t.² I
certainly hate to see all those epigrams I was raised on become
useless. The 200th anniversary of Lincoln¹s birth is 2009. You can
help save tradition by rolling up all those pennies accumulating at
your house and putting them back in circulation.
Lucie Jensen is a Healdsburg resident.