Covanta Holding Corp. said in 2016 that Americans toss $62 million worth of coins in the trash each year. So why are coins still minted?
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00We've all been stuck with a pocket full of coins or had them pile up on our dressers.
00:05In fact, Covanta Holding Corp said in 2016, 62 million dollars worth of coins end up in
00:10the trash.
00:11So if they're getting tossed and don't seem very useful, why do we still have them?
00:15You might have heard that pennies cost more to make than they're actually worth.
00:18According to the United States Mint, one penny costs 1.82 cents to make as of 2017.
00:24But if we ditched pennies, costs of items would be rounded to the nearest nickel.
00:28And Americans for Common Sense say this could lead to a rounding tax when stores round prices
00:33up rather than down.
00:34Coins are made of metal that lasts for decades, while bills are made of cotton.
00:38The Federal Reserve say most bills last less than 8 years, so more always need to be printed.
00:43Former U.S. Mint directors Philip Deal and Edmund Moy wrote in a CNBC article that changing
00:48dollar bills to coins could save taxpayers up to $16.3 billion if paired with other currency
00:54reforms like making the nickel out of cheaper metal.
00:57According to a YouGov.poll, 51% of Americans were actually in favor of keeping the penny,
01:02and 71% would stop and pick up a penny if they saw one on the ground.
01:07Not to mention, charities like the Salvation Army and the Ronald McDonald House also make
01:11tons of money through penny drives.
01:13People are more likely to donate to these causes with unwanted coins.