It sure looks like the penny’s days may be numbered, with 42 percent of Americans saying they support the elimination of the penny, up 8 percentage points in just over ten years. At the same time, opposition to its elimination has plummeted from 51 percent in 2014 to just 30 percent in 2025. The real impediment here is going to be nickels. While pennies are wasteful and cost more to make than they’re worth (three cents a penny), it’s actually way worse for nickels at 11 cents per five-cent piece. The elimination of the penny might cause demand for nickels to spike, which would end up being even more expensive. However, the nickel problem isn’t anywhere near as well known as the penny problem, and so just 26 percent want to eliminate nickels, while 48 percent are opposed. No, the right move is to be decisive here, and when it comes to coinage, work at the level of dimes and dimes alone.
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