The student news site of Carlmont High School in Belmont, California.

Scot Scoop News

The student news site of Carlmont High School in Belmont, California.

Scot Scoop News

The student news site of Carlmont High School in Belmont, California.

Scot Scoop News

The first signs of the penny apocalypse

Will+the+penny+no+longer+continue+to+exist+in+our+monetary+system%3F
Will the penny no longer continue to exist in our monetary system?

What if we lived in a world without pennies?

Vermont business owner Caleb Magoon has decided to ban the penny in his store.

Magoon’s business, Power Play Sports, will accept the penny from customers but it will no longer distribute the penny as change. Instead the store will round the change from a purchase in the customer’s favor. If a customer is supposed to receive $2.13 in change, the store will give back $2.15.

If history is any indication, small change can add up fast. Such a radical ban can lead people to question if Power Play Sports will stay afloat.

“Eighty-five percent of my transactions are by credit card or check, that’s why it was an easy thing to do,” said Magoon.

For Magoon, who views the penny as an “outdated, outmoded, overpriced nuisance of coinage” banning the penny doesn’t have a giant backlash. Which begs the question: Do we really need the penny?

Carlmont student Claudia Meza said, “I think the penny is important because if your change was supposed to be $9.51, it’s less expensive to use two quarters and a penny than to give someone an extra four cents.”

Stores in the Bay Area have yet to adopt Magoon’s policy, but this trend could pick up in the future leaving a plethora of valueless copper coinage in its wake.

Will the penny no longer continue to exist in our monetary system?
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The student news site of Carlmont High School in Belmont, California.
The first signs of the penny apocalypse