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A Penniless America? Does It Make Cents?

POSTED: 1:36 pm PDT July 2, 2006
UPDATED: 1:44 pm PDT July 2, 2006

PLYMOUTH, Mass. -- A penny bought a loaf of bread in early America, but it's a loafer of a coin in an age of inflation and affluence.

It's slowly sliding into monetary obsolescence.

For the first time, the U.S. Mint has said pennies are costing more than 1 cent to make this year, thanks to higher metal prices.

A Maryland man who heads up a group called Citizens for Retiring the Penny says the very idea of spending 1.2 cents to put 1 cent into play strikes many people as "faintly ridiculous."

Gallup polling has shown that two-thirds of Americans want to keep the penny coin. There's even a pro-penny lobby called Americans for Common Cents.

The Mint's announcement is a milestone, though, because coins have historically cost less to produce than the face value paid by receiving banks.