Credit: Nowiknow.com
In Panama, the balboa replaced the Colombian peso in 1904 following the country’s independence. The balboa has been tied to the United States dollar (which is legal tender in Panama) at an exchange rate of 1:1 since its introduction and has always circulated alongside dollars.
In 1935, bronze 1 centésimo coins (one cent) were introduced following the same coins pattern of the United States. Since this year, Panama has used the one cent in its economy. The $60 thousand question is: Do we really need the penny in our modern economy? I’m not sure we do. Nowadays you can’t buy anything with one cent; inflation has taken care of that.
Questions regarding the penny’s usefulness surfaced after Canada started phasing out this month its version of the penny. New Zealand and Australia also have discontinued their lowest-valued currency.
In the United States and Panama, the penny is safe—at least for now. According to the U.S. Mint, there are no plans to discontinue the penny, and it would require congressional approval to do so. But local coin collectors think the process of removing the coin will start within the next couple of years.
“I’m seeing a lot of people coming in wondering when the United States will follow suit,” said David Steckling, owner of Gold-N-Silver Rare Coin Co. in St. Cloud. “Most people consider them a inconvenience.” ”I don’t think people care about pennies at all,” Schaefer said. “It’s excess change. They drop them on the ground.” In Panama pennies are deposited in large glass jars and forgotten in closet or drawers. The stores and supermarkets are usually out of pennies and use sweets to replace the missing coins.
Politics might play into continuing the penny, Steckling and Schaefer said. The majority of pennies are made at the Denver Mint, and jobs would be lost if the penny was phased out, local experts said.
It costs 2 cents to produce a penny, Michael White, spokesman for the U.S. Mint, said. Pennies are about 60 percent of the Mint’s production. Pennies were first introduced in 1793, and were made of copper, according to the U.S. Mint. The coins made until 1982 were composed of 95 percent copper. Those coins are now worth 2.3 cents each, said Schaefer, who started collecting coins 65 years ago. But it’s illegal to melt down a penny for the copper, he said.
If the penny is eliminated, the two local enthusiasts say prices will either be rounded up or down. For instance, instead of something costing $4.56, it would either be $4.55 or $4.60. This is the most sensible thing to do considering the low value of a coin which is useless. It has lost its mojo.
A penny for your thoughts on this issue? Good Day.
