Canada Abolishes Pennies: Should America Do the Same? The federal government is often pegged as an inefficient machine. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the production of our little copper-plated zinc friend: the penny. Did you know that, as a result of rising materials prices, it costs 2.41 cents to make an American penny? That’s almost double what it cost to make a penny just half a decade ago. Is it finally time to ditch the virtually worthless currency? Canada, our friends to the north, had the good cents sense to do just that, which got a big cheer from anti-penny cheerleaders like C.G.P. Grey, the Internet’s foremost Explainer. </noscript> So Canada is in for penny in for a pound on this whole money restructuring thing. But is it the right thing to do for America? C.G.P. Grey explains in his “Death to Pennies” segment: </noscript> Author and vlogger John Green gets pretty worked up about the penny, but he ups the ante. Nickels suck, too. Should we get rid of the penny *and* the nickel? Green explains why we should: </noscript> So do they make a good case? Is it high time to ditch the penny? Weigh in below … Go on, go ’head and click and Follow Us for more updates straight to your news & nonsense feeds. PREVIOUSLY FROM C.G.P. GREY: • Know What’s F—king Crazy? Leap Years • 10 Common Misconceptions Debunked • What Is Groundhog Day? • It’s [Not] the End of the World as We Know It • A Brief History of Santa Claus • The United Kingdom Explained • Daylight Saving Time Explained • So You Think You Know How Many Continents There Are? Think Again. • Copyright Law Explained